Be Authentic in Your Commitment to Social Responsibility Efforts
CSR – shorthand for Corporate Social Responsibility – is gaining attention as a rapidly emerging area of emphasis for communicators as companies large and small tap into the power of doing what is right – whether or not it is good for the bottom line.
Actions benefitting society, the environment or education can be as simple as an outright charitable giving program or an office volunteer day – and as complex as a sophisticated corporate enrichment program for hundreds of employees. Whichever form it takes, a well-communicated CSR program can be a win-win for both a company’s key causes as well as its sales, recruiting and employee retention efforts.
As PR Newswire’s Victoria Harres points out in a recent blog, “If you’re not leveraging your CSR initiatives and other company enrichment programs in your public relations strategy, you’re not taking full advantage of PR’s power.”
Local companies too are embracing CSR, as evidenced by a lively panel hosted recently by the Orange County chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Four representatives from consumer, medical technology and business-to-business firms joined by a CSR communicator examined the ways CSR can be a valuable part of a strategic communications plan.
IABC board member Lisa Falcetti, a corporate communications consultant with an emphasis on CSR and social purpose programs, moderated the panel. Falcetti noted that being a good corporate citizen no longer is one of the boxes companies must check in creating their overall brand and corporate reputation mix. In fact CSR is now a virtual mandate for successful engagement with the company’s internal and external stakeholders and the new norm for business performance.
In a recent Nielsen global online survey, 66 percent of respondents said they’re willing to pay more for products and services that come from companies who are committed to positive social and environmental impact, up from 55 percent in 2014 and 50 percent in 2013.
One of the IABC OC panelists was roofing company owner Charles Antis, who said his dedication to CSR began when he visited a woman with seven children whose home was leaking in every room and had mildew throughout. He knew she couldn’t pay for the repairs that were needed, but helped her anyway. “That experience changed our lives,” Antis said, “and changed everyone’s lives (who works with the company). No one who comes to Antis ever leaves with a leaky roof.”
Fellow panelist Sarah Huoh, Senior Director of Global Communications for Edwards Lifesciences, showed a brief portion of the company’s YouTube video of its Patient Day. Huoh said patients with heart valve replacements meet the Edwards teams that actually sewed the devices together. The patients’ voices emphasizing the life-saving devices produced by Edwards have become imperative in the company’s mission to become laser-focused on its patients, she added.
The role of marketing and public relations professionals in CSR initiatives is to ensure customers are aware of a brand’s programs and efforts. Think of those Helpful Honda ads where sales associates donate uniforms to a soccer team from an underprivileged neighborhood. Such efforts call for a well-planned campaign that builds customer relationships while demonstrating strong social commitment.
Key to the success of CSR is authenticity, noted panelist Tyler Wagner, director of client strategy for thinkPARALLAX, a communications firm specializing in social responsibility. Wagner emphasized that a company’s stories must be trustworthy, unrelated to making money, and part of consistent internal messaging.
Harres says some ways you can dip your toe into CSR waters include:
Getting to know your audience.
Dig deep to discover the social causes dear to the hearts of your employees and customers.
Identify the influencers.
Bloggers, journalists, industry stakeholders, board members and employee leaders speak and write about the issues they care about, and it’s your job to listen.
Build relationships on social media.
Leverage Twitter to make your brand and its initiatives known for CSR efforts and engage in meaningful conversations with your identified influencers.
“People want to feel good about what they do and who they work for,” notes Harres. “The collective online reach of your workforce would be a huge miss to ignore.”
Actions benefitting society, the environment or education can be as simple as an outright charitable giving program or an office volunteer day – and as complex as a sophisticated corporate enrichment program for hundreds of employees. Whichever form it takes, a well-communicated CSR program can be a win-win for both a company’s key causes as well as its sales, recruiting and employee retention efforts.
As PR Newswire’s Victoria Harres points out in a recent blog, “If you’re not leveraging your CSR initiatives and other company enrichment programs in your public relations strategy, you’re not taking full advantage of PR’s power.”
Local companies too are embracing CSR, as evidenced by a lively panel hosted recently by the Orange County chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Four representatives from consumer, medical technology and business-to-business firms joined by a CSR communicator examined the ways CSR can be a valuable part of a strategic communications plan.
IABC board member Lisa Falcetti, a corporate communications consultant with an emphasis on CSR and social purpose programs, moderated the panel. Falcetti noted that being a good corporate citizen no longer is one of the boxes companies must check in creating their overall brand and corporate reputation mix. In fact CSR is now a virtual mandate for successful engagement with the company’s internal and external stakeholders and the new norm for business performance.
In a recent Nielsen global online survey, 66 percent of respondents said they’re willing to pay more for products and services that come from companies who are committed to positive social and environmental impact, up from 55 percent in 2014 and 50 percent in 2013.
One of the IABC OC panelists was roofing company owner Charles Antis, who said his dedication to CSR began when he visited a woman with seven children whose home was leaking in every room and had mildew throughout. He knew she couldn’t pay for the repairs that were needed, but helped her anyway. “That experience changed our lives,” Antis said, “and changed everyone’s lives (who works with the company). No one who comes to Antis ever leaves with a leaky roof.”
Fellow panelist Sarah Huoh, Senior Director of Global Communications for Edwards Lifesciences, showed a brief portion of the company’s YouTube video of its Patient Day. Huoh said patients with heart valve replacements meet the Edwards teams that actually sewed the devices together. The patients’ voices emphasizing the life-saving devices produced by Edwards have become imperative in the company’s mission to become laser-focused on its patients, she added.
The role of marketing and public relations professionals in CSR initiatives is to ensure customers are aware of a brand’s programs and efforts. Think of those Helpful Honda ads where sales associates donate uniforms to a soccer team from an underprivileged neighborhood. Such efforts call for a well-planned campaign that builds customer relationships while demonstrating strong social commitment.
Key to the success of CSR is authenticity, noted panelist Tyler Wagner, director of client strategy for thinkPARALLAX, a communications firm specializing in social responsibility. Wagner emphasized that a company’s stories must be trustworthy, unrelated to making money, and part of consistent internal messaging.
Harres says some ways you can dip your toe into CSR waters include:
Getting to know your audience.
Dig deep to discover the social causes dear to the hearts of your employees and customers.
Identify the influencers.
Bloggers, journalists, industry stakeholders, board members and employee leaders speak and write about the issues they care about, and it’s your job to listen.
Build relationships on social media.
Leverage Twitter to make your brand and its initiatives known for CSR efforts and engage in meaningful conversations with your identified influencers.
“People want to feel good about what they do and who they work for,” notes Harres. “The collective online reach of your workforce would be a huge miss to ignore.”
