JConnelly, a leading integrated communications and marketing firm, is expanding its services and specialties, adding a corporate social responsibility (CSR) division headed by globally recognized sustainability expert and New York Times bestselling author Thomas M. Kostigen.
The new division will build on JConnelly’s legacy of strategic storytelling to help companies provide greater context and transparency around their environmental, social and governance (ESG) programs. Through multimedia content and personalization of numbers-heavy reports, JConnelly will help a variety of organizations maximize the value of their CSR efforts and connect with audiences who are increasingly concerned about the societal impact of the businesses they support.
“Sustainable brands, impact investing organizations, and forward-thinking technology and energy companies know financial and social returns go hand-in-hand. But simply reporting on the numbers is not enough. Many people want to feel the impact of CSR efforts and understand how they relate to an organization’s broader mission,” said Kostigen, a former Bloomberg news editor and columnist for Discover, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Digital Network.
“This partnership with JConnelly is an opportunity to draw on my years of experience as a researcher and writer and help businesses shape their entire CSR program, as well as the way they connect and communicate with prospects and customers,” he said.
Mr. Kostigen will lead the practice from Los Angeles, adding to JConnelly’s national reach. The agency is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Chicago and Parsippany, N.J., as well as a presence in Washington, D.C.
Socially impactful communications have exploded in recent years, with 85% of the companies in the S&P500 now issuing sustainability reports. While the rise has been driven by demand for more transparency, organizations are now tasked with making their content more compelling and engaging as more information becomes available to a broad audience of investors, consumers, suppliers, retailers and distributors.
“CSR efforts are not just an afterthought or nice-to-have for leading brands. They are critical to understanding an organization’s purpose and strategy, which have always been core to our communications programs,” JConnelly founder and CEO Jennifer Connelly said. “Launching a new division to communicate how organizations ‘do well by doing good’ will magnify and extend our campaigns, amplifying opportunities and achieving superior, targeted results for our clients.”
The new division will work with corporations, institutions and NGOs, with a particular focus on those in the financial services and general consumer space. JConnelly has worked with a broad range of CSR clients in its 15-year history, including firms that offer a socially responsible fund or opportunity, faith- based financial services firms and businesses with a strong focus on philanthropy.
Mr. Kostigen’s books include, “The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time” (Crown); “You Are Here: Exposing the Vital Links Between What We Do and What That Does to the Planet” (HarperOne), “The Green Blue Book: The Simple Water-Saving Guide to Everything in Your Life” (Rodale), two National Geographic climate guides, and the forthcoming “FrankenPlanet: How Controlling Nature and Geoengineering the Future Can Save the World” (TarcherPerigee).