What is Cleantech?
Cleantech is an umbrella term for companies that offer products or services which work to improve the health of the environment. A large number of these businesses are in the energy sector and work to store and use power in both an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner. The cleantech trends dominating 2024 have included offshore wind energy, electric vehicles and clean energy long-haul transportation solutions.
The important environmental impact of this industry is clear, but there are also commercial benefits. The United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing collects and publishes data from a network of over 3,000 participating financial institutions. These institutions agree to follow six principles intended to place environmental sustainability at the heart of investment. As of March 2020, these signatories had combined assets under management of over $100 trillion. Prioritising environmental health clearly does not mean sacrificing profit.
Why is a PR strategy so important for cleantech companies?
Getting a PR strategy right can be crucial for cleantech companies. With the marketplace rapidly becoming more crowded, it is more important than ever to be reaching the right audiences with the right messages.
A 2017 survey found that 95% of affluent millennial investors preferred to make investments that had a positive environmental effect including investment into the renewable energy and cleantech industries. This more environmentally conscious and tech-savvy generation is an essential audience to tap into which can only be achieved through a targeted and well-considered PR strategy.
What should a Cleantech PR strategy focus on?
Whilst there is no one-size-fits-all PR strategy for a cleantech company, social media is clearly an indispensable way to reach the three-quarters of millennials who judge companies by their environmental impact. It is also vital that communications make clear the positive impact of cleantech’s sustainability ambitions – not just in terms of the environment but also long-term business health.
A strong cleantech PR strategy can enable a company to become an authoritative voice in the industry when it comes to ESG. Most cleantech companies have a strong vision that can be harnessed to build thought leadership through op-eds or blogs. A successful PR strategy can also help to build storytelling. Often a cleantech project might be difficult for audiences to easily relate to, but a PR strategy can focus on telling the story of a company’s wider impact allowing audiences to engage more easily with a business. Ultimately, a PR strategy must understand the cleantech business it caters to and be able to respond to the constantly evolving expectations and market pressures surrounding the cleantech sector.
At Sapience, we help our clients within the cleantech sector to navigate their PR strategy. We seek to work with companies who, like ourselves, prioritise the positive impact of their initiatives. At Sapience Communications we can help craft a cleantech PR strategy tailor-made to your company helping you to make a difference by reaching those you need to most.
Find out how we have helped clients within the ESG, cleantech and sustainability sectors or contact us for more information.
