How dentsu international is Championing Meaningful Social Impact

The huge initiative was overseen by Anna Lungley the company39s Chief Sustainability Officer Under her guidance 194 volunteers acting as socalled Social Impact Reporting Champions worked for three months gathering data and case studiesThe results went through an external audit and were presented to a team of three people who wrote the narrative According to Lungley from there it was quotreally a question of connecting the dotsquot to come up with actionable steps for the company to takeWhy this report and why now quotThere39s a basic lack of understanding about the comprehensive nature of sustainabilityquot Lungley said quotIt involves everything we need to do to thrive without compromising the needs of each generation and that includes tackling climate change growing renewables strengthening healthcare and education and tackling inequalityquot She noted that all those moveable parts are quotdeeply interconnectedquotThe pandemic added another element and accelerated the sense of urgency as well quotFrom a sustainability perspective people have realized the fragility of our global economic system and how events in China can have a ripple effect on everything else that we doquot Lungley assertedquotIt has also made everything harder in the sense that it has further exposed and contributed to rising inequality which is a threat multiplier on global challenges including climate changequot she addedAt the heart of the report are a series of actionable steps for dentsu to take internally A good part of that required a change to their communications narrative that relates to the critical importance that the company plays in society and the real value that they can add to the world Wendy Clark dentsu39s Global CEO has made this narrative essentialThe Sustainability report lays out a series of longterm goals that the company would like to achieve by 2030 To develop them the company interviewed over 300 different stakeholders including employees investors and clients It also interviewed activists to challenge the company39s visionWhat was interesting Lungley pointed out quotwas this unifying theme that the biggest change we can make is our ability to inspire human and societal behavioral changequotDentsu39s 2030 Social Impact Strategy encompasses three areas where the company believes it could make the biggest differenceSustainable GrowthA sustainable model according to Lungley quotis about decarbonizing our business but really importantly recognizing the much bigger impact we have on society and our ability to help accelerate the shift towards sustainable behaviorsquot For dentsu that means encouraging people to eat more plantbased food and reduce resource use to recycle and switch to renewable electricityFair and Open SocietyAs part of creating a diverse inclusive workforce dentsu seeks to achieve a 50 gender balance in its leadership team levels The company is committed to progress for all underrepresented populations and has also set goals for US ethnicity announced in the dentsu Americas Diversity Equity and Inclusion report this spring at 25 BIPOC in the leadership team by 2025 with at least 30 BIPOC in total employee population Lungley notes that as dentsu transforms its business it will change how it is viewed by society as wellDigital for GoodThis pillar recognizes that a healthy world needs healthy digital media Dentsu is focused on using the power of media and advertising to challenge perceptions tackling misinformation and hate speech to make sure that it is operating in an ethical ecosystem along with ensuring respectful and accurate portrayal and driving equity with its media partners The staff is also working to equip and empower young people with the skills they need to recognize and manage the media environment in which they liveDentsu39s biggest goal for 2030 is achieving netzero emissions It has a longrange plan developed with stakeholders from across the business that includes its socalled Future of Work strategy This has been a collaboration between people in HR finance and facilities as well as from external consultantsThe company is working to make its plan open source so that anyone can easily calculate their major emissions at no cost and without technical expertiseDentsu settled on the actions laid out in the report because it believes they will make the biggest difference to society quotA lot of organizations don39t fail on this agenda because they lack passionquot Lungley said quotThey fail because they don39t know where to focusquotShe added quotIf we remember one thing it39s the incredible capability we have as human beings to come up with solutions that can change the world and give everybody optimism for the futurequotClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of 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How dentsu international is Championing Meaningful Social Impact

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Steven Stark

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