Investment management groups cut back on dedicated ESG-focussed advertising during the Covid-19 outbreak, research shows.
A study of fund firm marketing campaigns by advertising agency Fundamental Media found that the number of dedicated ESG or “responsible investment” campaigns in the second quarter of 2020 reduced by around 30% compared to the previous quarter.
In total, 16% of all advertising booked in the first quarter of 2020 was ESG-related, while this figure reduced to 9% in the second quarter.
Advertising spend in the second quarter of 2020 was diverted to brand and insight-focussed promotions instead, the research found. Brand promotions rose from 8% of spend to 27%, while insight-focussed spend grew from 38% to a massive 66%.
The first quarter of the year saw spend predominantly focussed on fund and product promotion, with 54% of advertising booked, targeting these areas.
“Looking at social media, there was increased engagement with social issues posts from Q1 to Q2 while sustainability topics saw an overall decrease,” Julian Dipp, senior account manager at Fundamental Media, wrote in an analytical update.
“Black Lives Matter, Gay Pride and Women in Business achieved high levels of interaction, showing that investors want to know what these groups stand for.”
Dipp said that LinkedIn posts on sustainability issues outperformed Twitter during the period, while those companies who employed well known “influential figures” in their campaigns saw a better level of response.
“When the employees of these firms were involved, the interaction with posts were much stronger,” he added.
News of the change in marketing priorities for asset managers comes as economic data, released on Friday, showed that the UK’s service sector grew strongly in August, rising at the fastest rate for nearly seven years.
