Greentarget

Measurement and ROI

by

Corporate social responsibility has factored into investment decisions for years, with the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) a big part of corporate decision-making for nearly two decades. But the focus on ESG reached a fever pitch in 2021. Indeed, there might not have been a more common three-letter combination in the world’s boardrooms.

That’s why international law firm Fenwick sought to unearth insights about how ESG and a growing cultural emphasis on diversity was affecting biotech companies. Specifically, the firm wanted to conduct first-of-its kind research and provide an analysis of marketplace reporting practices across the sector to create a resource for companies in biotech and beyond about key governance best practices at a critical moment.

Solution

Fenwick enlisted the services of Greentarget, specifically its Research & Market Intelligence and Content & Editorial teams, on a multi-faceted research approach. The first step was a unique review of the publicly available information of the top 50 biotech companies in the United States based on market capitalization. This review, which required nearly 100 hours of research-intensive time, included SEC filings and information on company websites, which was compiled and then summarized for key industry trends and other points of interest.

This in-depth review informed the development of quantitative survey questions designed to elicit insight from key decision-makers, including individuals who held C-suite positions, were heads of ESG or held sustainability and legal roles, as well as investors from hedge funds, investment banks and venture capital firms. A focus of the survey was to gauge sentiment around expectations and challenges regarding ESG, as well as expectations about SEC intervention and a medium-term forecast.

The results were then shared with Fenwick lawyers who represent technology and biotech companies on a variety of corporate governance and transactional matters, including ESG, to gather their analysis of the specific findings. Channelling these insights, Greentarget developed a report around the findings with an emphasis on providing actionable guidance about how companies can prepare and what they should consider when implementing and reporting on ESG.

Results

The final report, “Biotech’s ESG Crossroads,” was released in February 2022, combining what Greentarget found in its initial public review, the survey findings and the expertise of Fenwick’s lawyers. The report detailed how sector executives and investors compare when it comes to ESG’s growing prominence. And it discovered a lack of standard practices around ESG disclosures, that ESG would continue to surge in prominence and that biotech companies were just getting started when it comes to addressing ESG. The report, the first of its kind on this topic for Fenwick, is expected to become an annual offering.

The email campaign developed for the report launch yielded an open rate of 39.2%, with a click-to-open ratio of 5.9%. The report itself garnered 520 unique page views, with readers spending on average of four minutes and 46 seconds on the report page.

Media also took an interest in the data, with notable industry publications like STAT, FierceBiotech, BioCentury and Corporate Secretary covering the findings. Others, like Harvard Law School’s Corporate Governance Blog, republished the report in full.

Since the report’s launch, Fenwick lawyers have presented the data directly to biotech clients, speaking with their nominating and governance committees. One Fenwick partner who helped lead the data analysis told Law.com that companies in the biotech industry had been clamouring for this type of data on governance issues for a while, and being able to provide data that supports her legal counsel has been invaluable to her clients.

The report generated such strong attention that another law firm mentioned it during their own webinar about ESG issues.

by

Building on our longstanding partnership with the Berkeley Research Group, a world-renowned consulting firm, Greentarget created and executed a research and market intelligence campaign to assess the global state of M&A disputes across a variety of industries and sectors.

The research report, M&A Disputes Report: A Global Perspective, analyzed the survey responses of 225 lawyers, private equity professionals, and corporate finance advisors.

Key findings from the December 2021 report included:

  1. Most deals deals started during the pandemic had since been completed, and most practices experienced minimal slowdown in volume.
  2. The types of disputes encountered were those expected of a distressed market.
  3. Sector type was a bigger determinant of M&A activity and dispute probability than region or cross-border dynamics.
  4. Respondents had mixed feelings about the effectiveness of MAC/MAE clauses as contractual tools to guard against post-closing disputes.
  5. The increasing frequency of private equity deals had changed the M&A landscape and will continue to impact how disputes arise and are litigated in 2022 and beyond.

The report directly generated a slew of earned media attention for Berkeley Research Group and provided its clients with valuable data.

by

In this episode of Authority Figures, Aaron Schoenherr speaks with Chandran Sankaran, founder and CEO of Repustar, a novel fact distribution platform that partners with news organizations. The pair will discuss how technology can play a role in fighting so-called “fake news,” and journalism’s pivotal – but changing — role in that fight.

1:23 – Chandran discusses his path to Repustar, what motivated him to found the company and the problems he hopes to help solve through Repustar’s FactSparrow platform.

5:33 – Aaron and Chandran dig deeper into how the FactSparrow platform works and how it functions as an AI bot.

10:24 – Aaron asks Chandran about the reliability of FactSparrow’s sourcing, which is based on principles of good journalism.

16:01 – Chandran details how FactSparrow acts almost as a focus group, spotting topics that are potential areas of misinformation and disinformation.

18:14 – Aaron asks about Chandran’s monetization plans.

19:59 – Aaron and Chandran discuss how corporations might use the tool and consider the evolving importance of corporate responsibility in the era of fake news.

21:48 – Chandran discusses how social media companies, especially Twitter, are more in the business of checking the integrity of information.

23:24 – Aaron and Chandran discuss Greentarget’s 2021 Fake News report – and Chandran reacts to journalists’ perspectives on who is best positioned to combat misinformation and disinformation.

29:55 – If journalists aren’t a complete solution to combat fake news, what else can help?

33:08 – Chandran discusses why he’s hopeful, despite the challenges brought on by fake news.

36:35 – How news activists fit in, in Chandran’s eyes.

39:26 – Does fact-checking have a diminishing impact?

Click here to download Greentarget’s 2021 Fake News report.

by

Even with a contentious presidential election and the worst of COVID-19 behind us, journalists say the fake news situation isn’t getting better. And they don’t know how to address it.

But if journalists don’t know how combat fake news, who does? That was the focus of Greentarget’s 2021 Fake News report, which was released in late October.

In this episode of Authority Figures, Aaron Schoenherr sits down with members of the Greentarget team – including Betsy Hoag, Director of Research and Planning, Lisa Seidenberg, Vice President of Media Relations, and Paul Wilson, Vice President of Content and Editorial— to discuss the report and its findings. The team discusses how fake news can be combatted, what role regulation might play and how we can prepare the next generation to face the challenges presented by fake news.

Episode Highlights:

1:00 — Betsy describes the background behind the report, what went into devising the survey questions, and who answered them

4:26 — Paul defines fake news and discusses the term’s polarizing nature

5:47 — Acknowledging fears of journalism’s delegitimization, Lisa goes over what clients should take away from this year’s survey findings

7:37 — Betsy and Lisa talk about how survey respondents’ political beliefs challenge preconceived notions about who is affected by fake news, and how to counsel clients in such a polarized environment

10:23 — Paul and Betsy try to get at the heart of journalists’ hesitation to amend Section 230

13:40 — Lisa and Paul speak about how to engage journalists amid the fake news controversy, and what journalists can do to combat fake news

19:30 — Betsy, Lisa, and Paul examine the psychological impact of consuming a fake news story, and share their own experiences with fake news

25:39 — Knowing that trust in news media is at an all-time low, Betsy, Lisa, and Paul contemplate ways to prepare their children to navigate the fake news landscape

Click here to download Greentarget’s 2021 Fake News report.

by

The growing problem of fake news – specifically, misinformation and disinformation – isn’t going away. If you’re not convinced by your own experiences, just ask a journalist you know.

In recent months, that’s exactly what we did – 103 journalists, to be exact, in our second Fake News survey. For the second straight year, the results aren’t pretty. Here’s a quick sampling of journalists’ sentiment when it comes to fake news:

  • 93% say they strongly believe or somewhat believe that fake news negatively impacts journalism
  • 84% agree that the term “fake news” is contributing to the delegitimization of traditional journalism/news sources
  • 56% believe that fake news is more dangerous than no news
  • 14% think their own work has had a significant impact when it comes to combatting fake news
  • 9% think media literacy efforts have had a significant impact
  • 6% think Big Tech’s monitoring of social media has had a significant impact

Like we said, it’s not a pretty picture. The following report analyzes this year’s results, provides important context for our current moment and – we believe – offers some hope that journalists might be overlooking.

by

  • Greentarget secured more than 40 media placements for RBC Global Asset Management’s Responsible Investing Survey in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Chief Investment Officer, Financial Times and The Globe and Mail.
  • The report was viewed over 5,500 times on the survey microsite.
  • Social media posts about the report garnered over 225,000 impressions.

Challenge

As responsible investing continues to gain traction among investors, one big question remains: What is its material impact on the risk and return outcomes of investment portfolios?

RBC Global Asset Management (GAM), an established leader in responsible investing, firmly believes not only that institutional advisors can realize better long-term performance with environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors integrated into their investment processes – but that active managers who understand ESG will have a competitive advantage.

RBC GAM’s leadership thus saw this continued uncertainty as an opportunity to both elevate its brand and help educate its institutional audience.

Solution

Greentarget and RBC GAM conducted a survey of institutional asset owners, financial advisors and pension consultants to research the current state of responsible investing. The survey results would educate industry stakeholders, empowering them to make more informed decisions about integrating ESG into their investment processes

To that end, RBC GAM’s marketing team worked with its vice president of corporate governance and responsible investing as well as several senior portfolio managers to craft the survey questions. Nearly 800 financial industry professionals from the U.S., Europe and Asia participated, and their responses revealed a compelling divergence of views about the value of ESG on investment performance.

Greentarget and RBC GAM’s subject matter experts analyzed the results. Greentarget’s content team edited the survey report and a blog post series that highlighted specific topics from the survey.

From there, Greentarget’s media relations team went to work promoting the report through earned media.

Impact

Greentarget’s media relations team secured over 40 pieces of news coverage and 131 million impressions on the survey results. Placements included top-tier business publications like The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Financial Times.

The survey report itself was viewed more than 5,500 times on the company’s microsite, which was built exclusively for the survey launch. Meanwhile, RBC GAM’s global responsible investment website, microsite and ESG videos were viewed by over 3,500 people during the campaign.

Paid and organic LinkedIn and Twitter posts garnered over 225,000 impressions and over 2,000 click-throughs.

As a result of Greentarget and RBC GAM’s joint efforts, the survey report and promotional campaign won the Public Relations Society of America’s Silver Anvil Award in the B2B Integrated Communications category.

More importantly, the institutional investor audience now sees RBC GAM as an even stronger thought leader in the rapidly growing responsible investing space. 

Close
Close