Global Risk Insights
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August 2021
A Good ESG Score Pays Off, Presenting a New Challenge to the Energy Sector
ESG, or Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance, is here to stay. Gone are the days of simply paying lip service to goals such as diversity and inclusion, sustainability, and corporate giving. Metrics are now needed to prove an organization’s commitment to ESG, and having a good ESG score pays off: “…companies with high ESG scores experienced lower costs of capital, lower equity costs, and lower debt costs compared to companies with poor ESG scores.”
While the Forbes article highlights the need to report on ESG metrics (the sustainability reporting rate for G250 companies is 96%, within the oil and gas sector, the rate is 100% for G250 companies) there are no winners yet at the individual company level. Only ESG and McKinsey pop up as positive mentions in our entity word cloud – most likely because ESG is now a financial imperative for companies, and McKinsey experts sounded that trend-bell the clearest. Meanwhile, oil and gas sector companies are reporting on sustainability but it’s unclear who is leading the pack in reductions in emissions, particularly carbon dioxide. This is represented in the strong presence of risk language featured in the article, as ESG becomes a necessity and challenge for the energy sector.
Prioritizing sustainability is no longer just trendy, it’s now backed by investment dollars.
Read our full article analysis here.
Photo by Tyler Casey on Unsplash
July 2021
The Benefits of Video in Marketing are Clear, How to Make that Content is Less Obvious
See our full analysis here: Entrepreneur
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Content marketing was once dominated by blogs, then with the surging power of platforms like instagram, photos became more potent marketing tools than text. Now video marketing has taken over the content strategy for many brands. It’s effectiveness in creating brand authenticity and sales has led to a boom in video on marketing channels. According to a recent study, 96% of consumers are said to have increased their video intake in the past year.
In our article analysis of a recent Entrepreneur article on marketing with video, we found that the mere mention of video marketing has a positive media sentiment. As the headline to the article has a strong positive score. However, when it comes to the actual ‘how to’ of video marketing, that media sentiment swings towards a neutral score. This could be due to the vague nature of article’s like this one. While the benefits of using video in one’s marketing strategy are clear, focus on the specifics of how to create content are slim. Mention of channels like youtube and google that allow for measurement of a video’s success are positive entities in our entity word cloud, along with mention of key KPIs. Demonstrating that clearly defined and identified steps are of utmost importance in this valuable tactic.
Video has taken hold as a serious tool in a marketer’s toolbox, but lack of definition of the best steps to jumpstart a video marketing strategy can make it difficult to take full advantage of its benefits. The slump from the headline’s media sentiment to article’s content highlights a gap in knowledge for marketers looking to engage consumers with video. What’s the largest missing piece? How to create this content. It’s seen as a daunting task, and one that can be perceived as very expensive if you’re looking to create sleek visuals.
Want to learn how to create effective and attention grabbing video content for your marketing channels? Learn more here.
June 2021
More Electric Vehicle Adoption, More Potential for Problems
As sustainability measures and mandates become the norm around the globe, the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) has surged. The proof is that in the last year alone 3 million new electric cars were registered around the globe last year, a whopping 41% rise since 2019. This number is only expected to grow as governments push to meet international energy and climate goals. For the environmentally conscious, this news will be taken as incredibly positive. But is there a hitch?
According to CNBC’s article, a surge in electric vehicles means the need for a more expansive charging network, and the reduced noise emitted by EVs can cause potential issues for drivers with vision problems. Legislation has been introduced in the EU and the UK to tackle the noise issue, but it brings to light the challenges facing widespread EV adoption.
Our article analysis picks up on the trepidation around EVs by registering the heavy presence of risk and security language throughout the piece. New vehicles can be targeted by new legislation that aims to have all new cars installed with an acoustic vehicle alerting system, but retrofitting older EVs is not possible. This presents a risk to both drivers and pedestrians. In addition the disparity to the positive score for the article’s headline vs. its content further demonstrates the positive news of increased EV sales dampened by issues of their use.
Take a look at our full MediaSignal article analysis to get more insights here.
Photo by Michael Fousert on Unsplash
May 2021
Tesla’s Cryptocurrency Blunder Demonstrates the Growing Importance of ESG
Cryptocurrency is making a big splash as of late in the news. Particularly when Tesla announced that it would accept Bitcoin in the purchase of its vehicles. However, the backlash was swift, and Tesla had to backtrack its decision due to the virtual currency’s poor environmental footprint. This story goes to prove that Environmental, Societal and corporate Governance (ESG) is fast becoming an arbiter of the moral high-ground for companies, and ESG reporting and disclosure requirements are becoming mandatory in the EU and other jurisdictions.
Our article analysis of a recent Forbes article on Tesla’s cryptocurrency announcement and subsequent walk-back, shows that although the article questions ESG’s value as a management discipline the sentiment attached to it is decidedly neutral . Our entity word cloud shows ESG is the most frequently mentioned, demonstrating that although its contextual sentiment is neutral, it is clearly the most important entity. Further proving the growing importance of ESG in corporate decision-making, no matter the questions surrounding it’s value, is that following Tesla’s crypto walk-back Bitcoin went on to experience an intense sell-off. While some might think ESG is purely an optics game, the ramifications of not paying it enough attention are monetary and swift.
Given what has now become evident, that ESG principles are guiding business decisions, it begs the question how Elon Musk could’ve missed this potential conflict? Particularly given Tesla’s very public commitment to environmental and sustainable practices, and it will be worth noting whether this lesson was learned in future announcements.
Take a look at our full MediaSignal article analysis to get more insights here.
Photo by Milan Csizmadia on Unsplash
April 2021
Alaska Airlines Looks to Highlight Diversity, Ends Up Shining the Spotlight on Itself
Diversity and inclusion has become a hot topic for companies to address as of late. This is not to say that the push for a more diverse and inclusive workforce or culture is not needed, but the prominence of this topic in the past years is difficult to miss.
Just look to Alaska Airlines’ new Boeing 737, which according to the company is “a symbol of our commitment to education and advancing racial equity at Alaska Airlines, and we hope it inspires others as well.” According to the airline the goal of the Boeing’s new paint job is to draw awareness to the importance of education, equity and belonging in the pathway to a more diverse future. A righteous goal that Alaska Airlines has illustrated with the faces of 14 students. who are related to employees of the airline, alongside the jet plane.
How much awareness is this initiative driving to its stated goal? According to our article analysis of a recent Forbes announcement, Alaska Airlines, itself, takes most of the focus. The airlines’ name is front and center in our entity word cloud; meaning it is the most frequently mentioned entity in the article, it is also positively coloured due to the context it is being mentioned in. There are several other positive entities, but the two most connected to the cause of diversity and inclusion (Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement) are outnumbered by mentions associated with Alaska Airlines (CEO Ben Minicucci makes the cut, alongside the artist of the plane and an Alaska Airlines photographer.)
This does not point to an intent by Alaska Airlines to pat itself on the back, but perhaps a more general trend where a brand will always outshine the cause it is seeking to highlight. It makes sense that in an article highlighting Alaska Airlines’ initiative that they take a big part of the spotlight, as it is the brand pushing the message, but it could serve as guidance for future press surrounding a noble and lofty goal.
A brand is a powerful thing, and can tend to overpower a subject. In order to avoid accusations of a sort of greenwashing, it would serve Alaska Airlines’ team to think of more ways to promote diversity, ways that will have more of a spotlight on the issue at hand.
See our full article analysis here.
“Alaska Airlines – N624AS” by InSapphoWeTrust is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Will $174 Billion Finally Convince Americans to Purchase Electric Cars?
See our full analysis here: The New York Times
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President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan is in part aimed at tackling climate change, with $174 billion set aside to encourage Americans to switch to vehicles that run on electricity (also known as EVs). Despite growth in the EV market in recent years, it’s still considered a niche market. For example, Tesla’s recent announcement that it delivered 185,000 electric vehicles in the first quarter of 2021 is double what it delivered last year, but these numbers are still small in a country of 328 million inhabitants.
Our article analysis on The New York Times article on Biden’s infrastructure EV push, shows that this plan, while not negatively received, is not a guaranteed win. Upon first review, the headline and content of the piece both have a positive sentiment. But the article is laden with strong risk and crisis language. With EVs comprising only 2 percent of all new cars, and 1 percent of all vehicles on the road, consumers are quite literally not buying into the trend. While Biden’s infrastructure plan is meant to bolster enthusiasm around electric vehicles, the article points out several issues with consumers’ current hesitance: the higher initial cost of EVs, the lack of public charging stations, and time it takes to charge.
Looking at our entity word cloud the reticence towards EVs is made even more clear. Only two entities appear as positive mentions: General Motors and Tesla. They are very small features in the article, and this is coming from a notoriously liberal-leaning paper that is seen to support the current administration much more than the last one. While there doesn’t seem to be a negative perception to this EV push, it’s one laden with doubt.
Read our full article analysis here.
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash