Social Responsibility Is Dead†

Long Live Corporate Social Responsibility

Advertising Age, September 17, 2009 — Tim Sanders, author of the book "Saving the World at Work," argues that social responsibility should be viewed as a corporate opportunity. Here's why.

Corporate social responsibility is a hybrid PR/branding program that attempts to convert compliance into goodwill. Often CSR lives outside the marketing function, somewhere deep in the bowels of legal or operations. Once a year, the company's varied social achievements are collected by the investor relations department for the now-compulsory CSR addendum to the annual report.

Can Corporate Goodness Save the World?†

Goodness500 Ranks Companies on CSR

Advertising Age, September 2, 2009 — Is it possible for corporations to use their resources to work on the world's problems? Michael Mossoba of agency GeniusRocket thinks it is, and he's keeping track.

When I was growing up, I heard Bill Clinton say, "There is nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what is right with America." Today this pithy aphorism largely sums up how I feel about business. If companies are powerful enough to slurp up the world's fossil fuels, create the iPhone and put 50 different types of toothpaste on the shelf, perhaps they can save the world, too.

P&G Gives Its Marketers a Crash Course in Social Media†

Twittering Digerati Descend on Cincinnati HQ for 'Digital Hack Night' Charity Event

Advertising Age, March 12, 2009 — Procter & Gamble Co. paired 40 digital media and agency executives with 100 of its North American marketing directors in a contest to sell Tide T-shirts for charity last night as its much-awaited "Digital Hack Night" became a four-hour reality show aired largely in social media.

Consumers Consider Sustainability When Picking CPG Brands

MarketingVox, January 11, 2008 — Approximately 50% of US consumers consider at least one sustainability factor in selecting consumer packaged goods items and choosing where to shop for those products, according to a survey conducted by Information Resources, Inc., reports Environmental Leader (via MarketingCharts).

Consumers Would Partner with Brands for Social Change, Environment

Marketing Charts, November 16, 2007 — Some 85% of consumers around the world are willing to change the brands they buy or their consumption habits to make tomorrow’s world a better place, and over half (55%) would help a brand “promote” a product if a good cause were behind it, according to a nine-country survey of consumers.

Socially-Conscious Companies Garner Loyalty from US Customers, Employees

MarketingVox, July 11, 2007 — More than two-thirds of Americans say they consider a company's business practices when deciding what to buy, while American workers in increasing numbers say they want their employers to support a social cause or issue, according to the 2007 Cone Cause Evolution Survey, reports MarketingCharts. Its latest "Cause Branding" and corporate responsibility research indicates an evolution in consumer thinking about the ways businesses interact with society, according to Cone LLC, an Omnicom Group strategy and communications agency.

Leap Of Faith

Meet Nau, the ultimate over-the-top, high-concept business. It makes striking, enviro-friendly clothing. It gives away 5% to charity. Can it save the world--and give us the perfect twill capri?

Fast Company, June 1, 2007 — Somewhere between the Oscar for Al Gore's planetary-disaster epic, An Inconvenient Truth, and the canonization of Angelina Jolie by the United Nations (in association with People (NYSE:TWX) magazine), the message started sinking in: The cultural conversation around the environment, social change, and human rights is approaching maximum velocity. What is arguably urgent has become inarguably hip

AmEx Invites Card Members To Help Change The World

MediaPost Publications, May 18, 2007 — AMERICAN EXPRESS IS INVITING ITS card members (formerly known as holders) to participate in an initiative designed to generate ideas for making positive change in the world and raise money to make it happen. "The Members Project," which launched this month, invites consumers to membersproject.com, where they can submit and rate project ideas, join discussions on message boards and vote to choose one idea that the company will help bring to life with up to $5 million. The promotion ties in with American Express' new brand campaign, "Are You a Cardmember," which highlights the value of being part of the AmEx community.

Whole Foods Is Consumers' Favorite Green Brand

MediaPost Publications, May 10, 2007 — A NEW STUDY FROM WPP'S research arms indicates a major shift in U.S. consumers' thinking--nearly all Americans surveyed had a high degree of consciousness about the environment that impacted their buying patterns and brand preferences as compared with a year ago, with eight in 10 consumers saying they believe it's important to buy green brands and products from green companies, and that they'll pay more to do so.

Patagonia: Blueprint for green business

The story of how Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard took his passion for the outdoors and turned it into an amazing business.

FORTUNE, March 27, 2007 — "There is no business to be done on a dead planet." These words, a quotation from the legendary Sierra Club executive director David Brower, are the first thing you see when you walk into Patagonia headquarters in Ventura, Calif., and really, you can't miss them, given that they're etched into the front door.