Corporate performance, investment performance and ESG issues are inextricably linked. Nearly all of our top 30 clients are putting ESG or purpose at the heart of what we’re doing for them – whether that’s automotive manufacturers moving to electric vehicles or food companies looking at their portfolios, it’s an increasingly important part of what companies need to communicate to their consumers.

If you look at climate change, racial equity, privacy and responsible marketing, we’re at the nexus of many of these issues – as are our clients. It’s important to us, and therefore it’s important that we get it right.

ESG also matters to our own people. Employees want to work for companies with whom they share the same values and they take this seriously. The fact that we share those values is how we attract the best people to do the best work for our clients.

The same is true of our clients who care about how we behave. They care that we have diverse teams – increasingly an area that they question us on. They also care that we’re thoughtful about the impact of our work with them on, for instance, the environment, hence our commitment to net zero [carbon emissions by 2025].

There’s no trade-off between business performance and our ESG strategy – they are inextricably linked. The more we live up to our purpose, the better it will be for our business.

Mark Read, CEO, WPP

Our purpose