A Matter of Marketing
Until now, most organizations have focused on direct processes to achieve value through corporate responsibility. They have been following safe strategies with direct commercial benefits, such as measuring and reducing their carbon footprint. Actions of this kind undoubtedly bring some return to the organization and its community, but fall short of more expressive results.
What we are slowly seeing is a second moment in the approach to corporate responsibility, marked by a clear focus on the business value that this type of practice makes possible. In order to fully benefit from corporate responsibility, organizations need to realize that they need to take additional steps to create value for their business and begin to understand how the main stakeholders of the organization react to this type of initiative.
In practical terms, this involves moving away from strategies originating at the top of the organization determined solely by Management towards a richer process of co-creation originating with employees. It means understanding the psychological needs that corporate responsibility can address, such as the self-esteem and pride that customers can feel from associating with a socially responsible organization. With this knowledge it becomes possible to respond to and measure the needs of the target audience.
A social responsibility strategy must involve the marketing team. Marketing has the know-how to conduct relevant campaigns and to measure their possible return. In addition, involving marketing in consumer analysis allows for coordination on how the social responsibility strategy can be presented to those for whom it is intended.