It has been more than 12 years since PepsiCo launched its flagship sustainability approach Performance with purpose, but, despite making significant achievements, the food and beverage company felt that its sustainability communications lacked general appeal.
For its 2017 sustainability report, PepsiCo wanted a more concise, accessible, less technical approach that demonstrated its commitment to financial performance while doing what is right for the company and right for its communities.
The report also needed to spell out PepsiCo’s sustainability goals and its performance against them, and to appeal to a wide range of stakeholders, from customers to employees to ESG investors.
Agency MerchantCantos began by setting out four rules. The report could not be po-faced or sterile; it needed to be engaging, vibrant and exciting. It needed to be digital first. It had to work for audiences, from readers who dipped in to those who wanted an in-depth analysis. And finally it had to be concise.
The agency has introduced a timeline into the report, dating back to 1998, which included the introduction of Performance with purpose and key achievements since then, including the launch of the 2025 agenda. Like other imagery within the report, the timeline overlays photography with hand drawn illustrations to introduce more context. A single-page dashboard reveals performance data set against goals, and focused on the three key areas: products, plant, people.
Each area has a dedicated section, which begins with a high-level summary and a question and answer interview with an external expert explaining the issues and highlighting the role that food and beverage businesses can play in addressing these. There are examples of sustainability in action, including last year’s partnership between PepsiCo and America’s National Football League, to create the first ever near zero waste Super Bowl. Of 69 tonnes of game day waste, 63 tonnes were recovered – to be recycled, composted or reused.
There is also a summary of action towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, along with reference icons. And a final section that includes performance metrics, to demonstrate progress against the Performance with Purpose 2025 agenda.
‘This was a simple, well branded and engaging online report,’ said the judges. ‘There was a clear strategy and an impressive desire to make the report more accessible.’
