Competitive Reputation Analysis

Sustainable business practices aren’t just valuable in themselves – they can be a competitive edge. To better position clients against their peers, we prepare a comparative market analysis report. This proprietary tool can not only help clients develop new products or lines of business, it can reveal opportunities to set themselves apart from their competitors.

Using our Competitive Reputation Analysis, we work with the client to build the list of competitors and/or peers we want to compare. From there, we:

Create a concise profile for each organization that documents and, when possible, quantifies its sustainability efforts.
Identify the factors that best differentiate each organization’s sustainability programs and market strategies.
Use statistical analysis to group the organizations with similar sustainability profiles.
Based on that analysis, identify gaps and potential market opportunities related to sustainability and CSR.

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What’s in a name?

Ask 10 people to define “sustainability” or “corporate social responsibility” – or better yet, distinguish between the two – and you’re likely to get 10 different answers. Here’s how we see it, borrowing from some well-accepted definitions:

“Sustainability” is…

“Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” – Brundtland Commission, 1987.

“Corporate social responsibility” is…

“CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-making.” – Wikipedia

“CSR is not a marketing or branding strategy – it’s a business and operational strategy, and an important way to manage business.” – Paul Argenti, chief advisor to Fleishman-Hillard affiliate CCW (Communications Consulting Worldwide)

Both sustainability and CSR can be measured by the “triple bottom line”…

An accounting and reporting framework that measures an organization’s progress along three lines: “economic prosperity, environmental quality and social justice.” – John Elkington, founder of SustainAbility and author of “Cannibals With Forks”