ESG Digital Ecosystem & Integrated Strategy Development

The starting point was a targeted request: to improve the visibility and structure of OTP Bank’s ESG efforts through the redesign of its sustainability website. During discovery, however, it became clear that the digital layer was only one aspect of a deeper organisational need.

While ESG inisiatives were meaningful and its strategic framework was already in place, our analysis revealed some gaps in focus, clarity, and consistency across the organizaion. The framework had not yet been fully embedded into governance structures or consistently communicated through digital channels, limiting its effectiveness as a clearly positioned value proposition. This disconnect was particularly evident in the old sustainability website, which operated in isolation and did not reflect the evolving maturity and ambition of the bank’s ESG strategy.

We identified key strategic needs through a structured discovery process combining research, facilitation, and analysis.

• Clarifying and elevating the ESG strategy

• Mapping structural gaps and operational inefficiencies

• Embedding and aligning ESG more deeply and systematically across cross-functional streams and teams

• Strengthening ESG-related value propositions and making them meaningful for internal and external stakeholders, users, and audiences

• Supporting the foundations of OTP’s first Integrated Annual Report

• Designing and facilitating workshops to strengthen organisational understanding of ESG impact, awareness, and decision-making

• Elevating ESG from a supporting consideration to a key strategic lens across product, marketing, communication, and internal culture — embedding human-centred, sustainability- and purpose-driven thinking into organisational decisions and everyday practices

The website redesign remained an anchor — but now as part of a broader effort to shape an ESG ecosystem that connects strategic intent, internal operations, and user-facing communication.

We began with systemic research and diagnosis: mapping stakeholder roles, service touchpoints, and strategic gaps. This informed a workshop series for the ESG and cross-functional stakeholders teams, focused on elevating strategic clarity, defining goals and integrated KPIs. Based on these insights, we co-created a value-driven ecosystem concept and digital outputs to support internal alignment and both external and internal engagement.

• ESG Strategy & Ecosystem Mapping

• Gap & Needs Analysis across departments

• Workshop Design & Facilitation:

  Executive- and C-level ESG Rating Criteria Workshop

  Strategic Positioning & Service Alignment Sessions in projects

• Visualisation of the Integrated ESG Reporting Process

• New UX Architecture & Content Strategy for the Sustainability Website

• Value Proposition Mapping for internal and external ESG audiences

• Cross-functional integration concepts — connecting ESG to internal processes, product development, and marketing initiatives

• Analysed internal and external research to inform strategic framing and opportunity discovery.

• Designed and facilitated co-creation workshops with the ESG Group to identify maturity gaps, define opportunities, and shape a more integrated ESG capability.

• Created and facilitated visual strategy tools for executive-level ESG rating workshops to support shared understanding, prioritisation, alignment and decision making.

• Helped drive and facilitate the strategic alignment and integration of ESG values, narratives, and objectives across product, marketing, and communication streams — enabling cross-functional collaboration and organisational embedding.

• Owned the complete UX and content design of the new Sustainability website, including IA, wireframes, content strategy, and UI direction.

• Co-designed the ESG section of the OTP Group corporate website

• Co-developed processes and initiatives to shape employee engagement and public awareness by supporting OTP’s role as a national-level influencer in ESG consciousness and sustainability culture.

• Hungary’s first integrated ESG Annual Report was published by OTP Group in 2022 (covering FY 2021), merging financial and sustainability disclosures into a unified strategic document. OTP Bank Plc later released its own standalone integrated report in 2024 (covering FY 2023).

• Award-winning transparency — Recognised as Best Bank for Sustainability Transparency in CEE (Global Finance, 2024).

• Improved ESG positioning — Achieved a Medium Risk ESG rating with Strong Management from Sustainalytics (2024).

• Organisational change — Strengthened ESG awareness, internal ownership, and engagement across teams.

• Strategic integration — Elevated ESG from a siloed initiative to a key organisational lens, enabling more aligned, purpose-driven decisions.

While impact is continuously monitored through internal and third-party research (e.g. ESG awareness, employee engagement, and external perception studies), most findings are not publicly available. Long-term systemic effects depend on broader organisational commitment and follow-through beyond the project scope.

This project began as a digital task but quickly became a strategic inflection point. By surfacing unspoken needs and co-developing practical methods to address them, we helped the ESG team move toward a more integrated and high-impact role inside the organisation. It demonstrated how ESG can act as a mediator across disciplines — connecting sustainability with product development, marketing, and long-term business value.