Milan, January 2023 – The more environmental and social sustainability (ESG) is perceived by consumers, the more it translates into real value for the brand. This is what emerges from the “Sustainability Perceptions Index” Report produced by Brand Finance, a leading global research, evaluation and strategic consultancy company, in collaboration with the IAA – International Advertising Association, presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The first-of-its-kind study assessed how sustainable each brand is perceived to be, assigning a “Sustainability Perceptions Score” – after excluding the impact of revenues – to assess which brands consumers believe are the most committed to sustainability. The report thus revealed that major global brands such as Amazon, Tesla, Apple and Alphabet benefit from added value originating from careful management in terms of reputation and sustainability, which translates into a higher corporate value of billions of dollars.Indeed, the report shows that Amazon has a sustainability perception value of $19.9 billion. Other notable brands topping the list are Tesla ($17.8 billion), Apple ($14.65 billion), and Google ($14.6 billion). Furthermore, the study shows how 62% of consumers are attentive and permeable to what companies communicate on sustainability, but at the same time they are strict judges where 79% also stated that they have reduced the use of a brand having found that the latter acted in an ‘unsustainable’ way.

Among the brands at the top of the ranking Tesla, IKEA and Patagonia performed well in a wide range of markets as well as the British brands Lush and The Body Shop or the French brands Yves Rocher and Michelin. Instead, to meet the top Italian brands, you have to scroll past the 70th place “Italy is a country of big brands, often committed to very valid sustainability programs – comments Marianna Ghirlanda, president of IAA Italy - the gap a matter of communication which, I remind you, must be transparent, effective but above all aimed at a global audience.It often happens, even at an international level, that most of the messages on sustainability are not understood or believed. For sustainability to become a real driver of brand equity, in a credible, recognizable and convincing way, it must be simple. We need to break down the wall of complexity that necessarily exists around this topic. And more importantly, this communication needs to engage your audience. This last point is perhaps the most important success criterion.”

The full report is available here – https://brandirectory.com/reports/sustainability-index-2023