ESG Efforts: The Importance of Creating Effective Sustainability Report Videos

Sustainability in the corporate world has never been more important than it is now, and it’s only going to become more integral to the success of a company as we move forward. Corporate entities have social responsibilities (CSR), and those are qualified and quantified in ESG reports – analyses of their environmental, social and governance policies and efforts. Sustainability reports are meant to show stakeholders what you’re doing to engage environmental and social policies, and where you have room for improvement.

Sustainability reports used to be glossy packets of data, charts and stock photos. But many companies are switching to video production for their ESG reporting. Sustainability report videos are easier for stakeholders to digest and trust than bland numbers and figures on a page. ESG video production can make a 2-dimensional message into a dynamic, immersive experience that allows stakeholders to truly connect with your efforts.

What Goes into a Stand-Out Sustainability Report

First, we should discuss what goes into a sustainability report. How do you ensure you’re complying with requirements? How can you ensure the data you’re reporting is accurate? We’ve seen a few large corporate entities get punished for fabricating their sustainability reports in recent years. If anything, the overarching theme of any ESG report should be honesty and transparency.

Vital features of a sustainability report are:

Environmental impact: You should transparently report your company’s environmental footprint, including energy and material use, gas emissions, water usage, waste, waste management, etc.

Social efforts: Report on the parts of your business that interact with society writ-large. Does your company interact with the community? Do you contribute to charities or local businesses? What are your diversity efforts and human rights values regarding LGBTQIA+, minorities and immigrants?

Governance: What is your company tangibly doing to affect change in this area? This should include environmental policies, social policies, political involvement, and board structure.

Successfully Translating ESG Reports into Video

If you think about it, producing an ESG video as your method of sustainability reporting isn’t too different from a company culture video. Sustainability report videos are an engaging way to tell your stakeholders that you walk the talk; that the claims you make in your company values video are values you actually abide by and act upon.

The key to translating ink and paper infographics into an engaging, informative and digestible ESG video is to underline everything the video portrays with a story. Stunning graphics can be created to bring your figures to life. And an emotional music score can further encourage your audience’s connection with the environmental values values of your corporation.

Sustainability is a constant effort to maintain, and a struggle to improve. Your sustainability report video should highlight these efforts while portraying the story of your company’s efforts to become more environmentally friendly with time. Stakeholders are looking at the long term; your sustainability report film should show them that you are, too.

Sustainability in ESG Video Production: Two Sides of the Same Coin

On the other side of sustainability in ESG video production is the video production itself. In the past, producing a corporate video to highlight a company’s sustainability could sometimes be ironic, as the production of the video was anything but sustainable. But now, corporate video production companies are considering their own ESG efforts with things like:

Reducing emissions by reducing fuel use, travel and housing, and utility usage
Reducing waste by donating extra production materials and foods to local shelters
Putting carbon-offset efforts in place by switching to electric cars and biofuel for larger vehicles
Updating building efficiency and incorporating/switching to solar
Maintaining high-end, durable equipment
Finding ways to reuse, upcycle, or donate set supplies like props and wardrobe

Tribe Pictures: Sustainability Report Videos that Break the Mold

Our video production company helps corporations highlight their ESG efforts while adhering to our own, because sustainability is bigger than corporations and video production; it’s about all of us, everywhere. Environmental, social and governmental sustainability is a social responsibility.

Our core values of connection and authentic storytelling help companies making sustainability report videos two-fold. Not only are stories the best way to engage with and impact an audience, but things like patients testimonials, CEO video messages, candid workplace shots, and interviews with employees require no travel, no waste, no props. It’s just one of the many ways our unique corporate video strategy can help your company create a sustainability report video that stands out, makes an impact, and impresses stakeholders.

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Companies We Have Worked With

Our projects with this multinational financial services company include videos that supported CEO personal appearances, B2B marketing videos, talent acquisition videos and internal training videos for Code of Conduct.

Work with this medical device technology company included CEO / employee communications videos, important post-merger communications, videos promoting ethics and compliance, and various interactive medical training videos.

This leading global resources company turned to Tribe for CEO leadership videos as well as corporate communications, specifically around change management and community affairs videos.

For over ten years we have collaborated with this global consumer brands company on videos for their legendary employee recognition program. This partnership has literally brought inspirational stories of outstanding achievement from every corner of the globe to the annual board of directors meeting in New York. Tribe also produced videos on corporate values, sustainability and culture for Colgate-Palmolive.

Our partnership with Hess Corporation started with a small internal communications video project that grew over the years to include Brand videos for the company website, investor relations videos, CEO communmications, talent acquisition videos and community affairs videos.

Our work for this "big four" accounting firm has spanned decades and includes onboarding videos for HR, recruiting videos for both campus and experienced hires, leadership videos, ethics & compliance training videos and B2B marketing videos.

Our collaboration with one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world focuses on corporate affairs videos, video of facility tours, and executive communications films.

We helped this clinical laboratory document an anniversary celebration on film, and worked with them on their investor relations videos, corporate and employer brand videos, and produced videos for HR talent acquisition.

We've partnered with UBS Financial Services to create videos for client outreach, financial adviser support videos, and product and services marketing videos.