The absence of some of the world’s most influential leaders, including the Presidents of the United States and China, from both COP and Davos in the past couple of years raises concerns about the events’ reputations. The WEF emphasised the increasing participation of business leaders at last year’s meeting. Interestingly, COP, traditionally distant from the business community, prominently featured business this year. However, the impact of this shift remains a subject of analysis from a communication and reputation perspective.
While the increased involvement of the fossil fuel sector attracted attention and generated headlines, it surprisingly did not harm COP’s overall standing. At TEAM LEWIS, a global marketing agency, we were able to analyse the global media sentiment for this year’s event versus COP27 in Egypt. It indicates an improvement, likely influenced by the COP President’s business-oriented approach, leading to high-profile agreements and announcements.
Our global marketing agency annual Marketing Engagement Tracker 2023 also highlights a significant rise in sustainability and ESG discussion and reporting.
Looking at Davos, traditionally a business-centric event, it raises questions about how it can reshape its reputation and demonstrate relevance.
Unlike COP, which has a clear goal, the WEF’s annual meeting has broad and general aims to “improve the state of the world,” making it challenging to prove its value with such overarching goals.
Head over to the CIPR to read more about the potential reputation risk these events face.
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You can also take a look at our latest report: ESG Words are nothing without action and contact us for a 30 minute consultation on best practices for employee engagement in ESG goals
