Chapter 5 — full chapter
Chapter 5 — full chapter
5.1 The verified communication handover
Responsible storytelling begins with a clear handover from the teams responsible for product, sustainability, operations, and legal review to those developing communication and campaigns. The creative team should not receive an unverified claim or a general sustainability theme. It should receive a verified communication input that has already been checked using the processes introduced in Chapters 1 and 2.
This input should clearly state what may be communicated and identify the evidence or source supporting it. It should define the exact scope, including the product, service, material or initiative concerned, as well as any mandatory qualifications, limitations or uncertainties that must remain visible. The handover should also identify the responsible information owner, the date of approval, links to more detailed supporting information and any wording, comparisons or visual implications that must be avoided.
The Stakeholder Information and Communication Matrix introduced in Chapter 3 can provide the basis for this handover. By identifying each stakeholder’s information needs, the relevant evidence, tone, and communication channel, it helps translate verified organisational information into a focused creative brief. However, the matrix should only include claims and messages that have already passed the relevant evidence and approval checks.
This gives creative teams a reliable and audience-specific starting point. Writers, designers, and campaign teams can then explore why the information matters, which narrative angle can make it relevant and how it can be translated into visual and emotional communication.
Creative interpretation may simplify language and make information more engaging, but it must preserve the approved meaning. It must not remove necessary qualifications, extend a specific benefit to the whole product or brand, or imply a stronger outcome than the verified information supports.
Figure 5.2. From Verified Product Information to Meaningful Action. A verified product claim provides the starting point for identifying why the information matters, developing a responsible narrative and inviting an appropriate audience action, while preserving the approved scope and meaning.