Recently, the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become popular. So popular, in fact, that CSR is now almost standard protocol for most companies. For those unfamiliar with CSR, the gist is businesses would embrace responsibility for the impact of its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, and stakeholders. CSR-focused businesses proactively promote the public interest by encouraging community growth and development, and voluntarily eliminating practices that harm the public. Essentially, CSR is a triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit.

Unlike foundations, companies aren’t legally required to disclose detailed information about their charitable giving. However, failing to maintain a good corporate image may not negatively impact a corporation’s bottom line in the long run, but it will certainly damage the firm’s reputation. The question at hand is: Why is CSR really becoming so popular?

1. Customers Are Fed Up – Large corporations have taken advantage of customers time and time again. Stories of greed, such as Bernie Madoff, are too common yet, in most instances, there are few consequences. The only way customers could be heard was to take their business away from morally corrupt companies and focus on socially responsible businesses. In an attempt to stay afloat, corporations had to listen to their customer’s sentiments or risk being ostracized. The Internet has provided customers with a window into the inner-workings, a voice, and more control. By using social media, the general public is essentially in charge of dictating a company’s giving.
2. The Domino Effect – If you can’t beat them, join them. As more companies adopt a CSR strategy, a company’s reputation could be damaged if they don’t have a similar strategy. In a peer-pressure-style environment, companies are backed into a corner and have no choice. However, it’s important to recognize that aren’t truly “victims” in this situation. There are plenty of benefits, financially and reputation-wise, that make CSR mutually beneficial for the company and the public.
3. It’s An Ethical Obligation – It’s possible that things have gotten so bad, genuine empathy is driving the CSR trend. Such a wide spectrum of people have been effected by an economic depression, natural disaster, or another event equally devastating. It’s possible the trend isn’t corporate, but personal. The senior executives see the despair and the lack of relief – or are experiencing it themselves – and decided to step up to plate. Of course, this probably isn’t the case but as younger generations become senior executives, it may not be that outrageous.

What do you think is creating this influx in corporate philanthropy?

Do you think it will last?

What’s next?

Related articles

• Making the Case for Corporate Social Human Resources: Are You Prepared for HR 3.0? (blogs.forbes.com)
• Corporate Altruism: The Blurring of the Lines Between CSR and Cause Marketing (bethkanter.org)
• Business approach to CSR: An interview with PwC’s Jeff Senne (triplepundit.com)

Posted July 30, 2009 — Social Media Revolution: Is social media a fad?

Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? This video details out social media facts and figures that are hard to ignore. This video is produced by the author of Socialnomics.

For more information on the creator of the video, Erik Qualman, please visit his blog:

http://socialnomics.net/

What kind of computer do you use? What kind of car do you drive? What brand of shoes do you wear?

The point of these rhetorical questions is to show that you’re a consumer everyday. Even though you may run a company, it fundamentally comes down to what the customer wants. Shown by the questions above, you can be both company  and client at the same time. The important part, is to remember to do your marketing strategy by looking through the customer’s eyes, as if you were buying the product or service.

Side note: I use a Mac, I don’t drive any car, and I wear comfortable shoes — in case you are interested.

The same theory applies to your PR strategy. All of your tactics need to be interesting to the consumer in order to drive them towards you. After you decide which tool to use and the work needed to follow through, make sure that you’re as interested as you hope your customer will be.

For example, if you create a Facebook page, you need to follow the  proverbial map on how to reach your customers. Hopefully, you’ve done the research to understand the best way to reach your audience. However, after implementing the page, add a little spice. Facebook is one of those opportunities to be a little more casual and a lot more colorful. It’s imperative that you grab the opportunity and use it to its fullest potential. You also  to stay vigilant with its upkeep.

Most people will tell you that content is the most important part of gaming a strong reputation. That’s only half true. Your content is definitely one of the most important pieces in your public relations strategy and can easily decide whether clients choose your product or service or one of your competitors. However, it’s even more important to create a strong relationship with your clients and customers. Don’t patronize them and prove that you actually care, contrary to their beliefs.

One of the best ways of doing this is to tie your product or service to a relevant advocacy program. By combining these two tools, your company is showing that it cares for its community and customers, as well as acknowledging that there is a difference between getting your hands dirty and writing a check. Any goofball can sign a check but you will stand out by getting on the same level as your clientele and understanding their point of view.

With social media becoming such a large part of public relations and marketing, it’s no surprise that using it correctly will help your company find an advocacy program that relates to your product or service, spread the word that you’re very sentimental and community oriented, and generate a boost in your company reputation. The basic idea — if you give, you will get.

Again, it’s a very thin line between actively engaging the community and simply annoying  them to hell. The truth is, no expert or blog can tell you how to straddle the line perfectly because each case is unique. The only thing to do is to take all the information, and your common sense, and try to create the perfect balance.

Step back — try and sell to yourself — if you don’t like it, chances are nobody else will.

It’s kill or be killed in the blogosphere. It’s tough to stand out in an ocean of “influencers”. So what can you do to compete or, at least, survive?

• What is your blog’s intention? If it’s personal, don’t stress about the number of followers or re-tweets. It takes time, effort, and desire to truly compete with influential bloggers. It’s imperative to ask yourself whether you want to make the commitment.

• Blog if YOU want to – don’t force it. It’s a big mistake to write posts that just fill space. In the blogosphere, it’s quality over quantity. It’s not necessary to publish a post about every trend or piece of news.

• Follow trends but narrow your focus to something original. The more specific your blog is, the more people will be  interested in reading it. Furthermore, your blog will become an authority on its subject and gain a solid reputation.

• Give YOUR opinion and not a carbon-copy of someone else’s post. You must be unique or you’ll be lost in the sea of vanilla bloggers. Be controversial; Be funny; Be outlandish. Most importantly, be yourself. If your blog doesn’t parallel your own opinion then something horribly wrong occurred during the creation of your blog.

• INTERACT! Talk to people about your blog’s topic. Comment on their blog or even write a post detailing how your opinion differs. Use social networks to freakin’ network, that’s what they’re for, dammit! Link up with groups or find inspiration.

• Utilize web tools to optimize visibility and enhance your blog’s appearance, but don’t go overboard. Oddly enough, it’s exactly like those dumb Bud Light commercials (Bud Light – The Arrival. Don’t be too plain because it’s boring. Don’t go over-the-top because it takes the focus off your post and clutters the page.

Hopefully, you can cross all these tips off your proverbial checklist. They’re remedial and general common sense, but it’s important to remind yourself every now and then.

Good luck…and stay competitive.

The recent tragedy in Haiti affected people all around the world. Communication was imperative but not readily available. Friends and families couldn’t verify who was safe, relief groups were unable to organize properly, and Haiti was unable to help themselves recover. Governments and disaster relief groups rushed to help any way they could. However, the damage was done.

Help was needed and social media answered the call.

“A 48-hour-old fundraising campaign to help Haiti earthquake victims, done solely through text messages, was already stunning Red Cross officials on Thursday when it hit $3 million. By Friday morning, the tally had more than doubled.

The campaign, made viral on networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, had raised $8 million by Friday, according to a Twitter message from the White House that was re-posted on the Red Cross account.

The organization also has accounts on Facebook, Flickr and YouTube as well as its own blog, and hosts an online newsroom that provides updates on the organization’s disaster responses. (CNN)”

Social media tools also helped relieve some unease by linking families and friends together.

Connecting Through Social Media

Do you think social media proved its value during this crisis?