Fortune 100 Companies Put ESG Messaging In Olympics Ads
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) are three letters that have become a lightning rod.
This year alone, more than a dozen states passed bills that prevented local governments from doing business with companies that use ESG in their investing strategies. There are numerous examples of boycotts against ‘woke’ companies who spotlighted ESG topics like diversity & inclusion. This environment makes corporate America leery of sharing their efforts related to ESG. However, climate change, diversity and inclusion, and how companies ethically do business – all core tenets of ESG – are not going away, and companies’ key audiences will continue to demand they speak publicly on them. This creates a special needle that companies need to thread – talk about their work on ESG-related topics without directly inviting ESG backlash.
To do so effectively, companies need to lean into the right moments, leverage value-based messaging and be authentic to their brand and their audiences. The Paris Olympics – with its strong undertones of unity and inclusion and commitment to become the most sustainable games ever – provide an ideal ecosystem for companies to talk about their ESG efforts.
Here are 3 examples of companies who creatively showcased their ESG work during the Olympics:
This year, Visa announced its most diverse roster ever for its “Team Visa” effort. Launched in 2000, the campaign uplifts diverse Olympic athletes and aims to “ensure everyone, everywhere” can participate in the games via activations like a mobile app for exclusive content or Olympic World, an immersive Olympic experience on Roblox.
Their announcement this year underscored Visa’s underlying commitment to inclusion and diversity, highlighting the increase in diversity of the athletes chosen, and the quadrupling of the number of Paralympic athletes chosen since the 2020 games.
Ahead of this year’s games in Paris, Powerade unveiled its updated Pause is Power campaign that celebrates pausing to “refuel, rethink and recharge” and emphasizes the company’s underlying commitment to championing mental health. The campaign includes ads featuring Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, who has been vocal about her struggles with mental health, and also includes dedicated experiences at Olympic Village that offer athletes physical and mental health support.
The effort builds on a March 2022 campaign – also featuring Biles – that kicked off the company’s multi-year platform to celebrate “regenerative strength” over the “win at all costs” mentality.
The focus on mental health comes as Gen Z – an important audience for the brand – says they want to see companies feature mental health in their ad campaigns.
Toyota, one of the top sponsors of the Paris Olympics, unveiled three new ads that will run during the Paris Games that underscore a core company value of diversity and inclusion. The trio of ads – under the “Mobility for All” campaign – focus on breaking down barriers to mobility and build on the company’s 2021 program that provides monetary support to all U.S. Paralympic athletes.
“When everyone is free to move, we are one step closer to the inclusive and sustainable society that Toyota is committed to building. That is what ‘Mobility for All’ means to us at Toyota,” said Yoshihiro Nakata, Toyota Motor Europe’s president and CEO. “We share this vision with the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee. We want to support the athletes who devote their lives to sports and remove barriers to exercise their freedom to move.”
In addition, Toyota used the Olympics to highlight its continuing focus on sustainability – announcing it was bringing a 100% electric fleet to Paris, including 250 Accessible People Movers (APMs), electric vehicles designed to transport people with accessibility needs between Olympic Games venues, 500 vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel-cells and specially designed boats and pick-up trucks that will support Olympic operations.