Category — social responsibility

For the first time in my life, my crisis planning was personal instead of professional.

Nashville, Tennessee received more than 15 inches of rain on May 1st and flooded. The whole city was hit, some harder than others. We received damage worse than many but not as bad as those truly overwhelmed by the event. We are thankful to be safe and on our way to recovery.

This week, I have witnessed first-hand some of the best that a good community has to offer. People helping neighbors, businesses providing fair services, employers assisting employees and even restaurants conserving water. All of these relationships are the true kinds – for better or for worse. The nonprofits and businesses making a difference now will remain in the hearts and minds of our city for a long time.

I hope you will never face such a challenge personally but I would still encourage you to consider how you and your organization -whether NPO or company – prepares for crisis. Are you ready to step forward and meet the challenge? Does your organizational culture and mission support the relationships that make this work? The true tests of our beliefs and values are the tough times. Make them count.

The Wall Street Journal ran an article last Friday about reusable plastic shopping tote bags called “An Inconvenient Bag.” This article talked about the exponential growth in retailer interest in these alternatives to disposable plastic and paper shopping bags, particularly at grocery chains across the country.

Ironically, the article notes that many of these bags are, in fact, made in China of non-woven plastic that requires “28 times as much energy to produce as the plastic used in standard disposable bags.” This means that the average consumer will need to use this bag at least 29 times (without losing it, ripping it or leaving it to rot in the trunk of a car) before they hit an ecological break even point.

Some of the national retailers leading this product transportation revolution are Target, Whole Foods, Staples and even WalMart. The challenge is to offer a bag at a low enough price point to appeal to the consumer while making one sturdy enough to stand up to repeated use.  Of course, this isn’t the REAL challenge – underneath all of this ecologically correct rhetoric is whether consumers will actually use the darn things.

The WSJ points to research by the Stanford Graduate School of Business about the road blocks facing such marketplace changes. It takes time – sometimes a LONG time – for people to change ingrained behaviors.  This is most successful when there is either a taboo or reward associated with the behavior.  I have seen some retailers offering small discounts for using these totes but not enough to create massive change.

So, the success of these bags may hinge on the “taboo” of using the old bags.  In other words, will we become embarrassed enough to change our behavior? Personally, I feel as though they might as well announce it over the loud speaker when I forget my bags at Whole Foods. On the other hand, I feel the eyes (usually rolling upward) of the next customer boring into the back of my head when I slow down the express line at Kroger using the same bag.

If doing the right thing becomes a mandate from Big Brother or is based on embarrassment, will it create change or just resentment?

Reading a magazine this afternoon, I started to notice a trend in both the editorial content and the advertising.  Something that I guess I have known for a while, but have never given voice to before…. our lives are becoming more seamless.

By this, I mean that the distinct pieces of our lives, our decisions and our daily routines are overlapping more than ever before.  Perhaps it is a simplified view of the past but I imagine, for example, a parent in the 70s shopping in a grocery store for dinner. Find the ingredients on your list, pick the best prices, drive home and make dinner.  Or this scenario from the 80s:  go to work in the morning, get your work done for the day (or stay longer if you were a yuppy), go home and watch TV.

Fast forward to today: in the grocery, you are barraged with a myriad of decisions to make that have nothing to do with your shopping list. Is it organic? How is it packaged? Does any cause benefit from my purchase? Can I clip that Boxtop for my child’s school? Did I remember my shopping tote? If not, paper or plastic? 

Now to the worker… Will I carpool to save gas and get a chance at the HOV lane this morning? How many times have I checked email today? Don’t forget to log on to Amazon and buy that birthday present. Then the return home but still the Blackberry and iphone ring, IM and email all evening. Then TiVo that show you never watched.

It seems that every move we make today says something about us and our choices in life. I don’t just shop, I make a statement about organics, local farming, sweat shop labor and cause marketing.  I don’t just go to work, work follows me everywhere that my digital universe allows.  Perhaps we should not be surprised. It is, afterall, what many of us thought we wanted. 

I wonder what it would say about me right now if I turned off the computer, the phone and the lights and took a nice long nap. Sounds good.

Campbell’s Soup Company announced yesterday that it has created a new senior management position to oversee its corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. Campbell’s has hired David Stangis from Intel where he held the position of Global Director for CSR.

According to the press release issues by the company, Stangis will be in charge of promoting environmental initiatives, such as encouraging sustainable farming practices and energy usage.  He has a background in environmental engineering.

This is part of an encouraging, if curious, trend in corporate strategic planning world wide. Companies are regularly adding such positions to their top echelon both to demonstrate their commitment to being responsible and to develop clear expectations and goals. Campbell’s selection of an environmental engineer is an interesting selection – one that speaks to the role of this program as an operational issue rather than a marketing strategy.  Developing best practices, it would seem, ranks higher for Campbell’s Soup than does the desire to “spin” this for the consumer public.

However, it should not escape our attention that this news appeared in various publications across the country, such as The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Charlotte Business Journal. There is no harm in maximizing the value of good works.

College students… the Holy Grail of marketing.  Time after time, research has indicated that the consumer behaviors adapted as a young adult stay with us throughout our lives.

So what is to be made of the new, savvy college student – with a debit card in hand and a healthy understanding of Google – who knows whether their favorite brands are socially responsible?  I’m not ancient (at least I don’t like to think so) but I certainly did not consider the social responsibility of a product or company when I was in college. Mostly, I was just looking for a good deal.

According to Alloy Media & Marketing’s eighth annual study of college students, 41% of students prefer to purchase from the perceived good guys.  Alloy points out that this does not necessarily mean that the students are more responsible, just that they expect consumer brands to be.

Taking top award in the study were: Nike, Toyota, Yoplait, Target and Burt’s Bees.  Although each has addressed the issue differently, all have apparently done the job when it comes to clearly conveying their message. 

One bit of advice for any business hoping to rank in next year’s list… proceed with caution.  Your message and your dedication to the cause MUST be genuine and seen as being without trickery and slight-of-hand.  If it’s not, Google as well as every blooger and college student in the country, will see clear through to your soul before you can say, “Oops!”

I was reading a post this morning about the Triple Bottom Line (financial, social and environmental) and also followed a thread to another site that talked about the Integrated Bottom Line.  Despite the jargon on both (you can find references on the web back to the origins of each and links too many to mention here), they seem to be basically sound ideas but without the legs to support them.

One site talked about the need to a set of quantifiable measures to balance the scales.  For example, we know our income and expenses for the financial piece but what about the costs and benefits of our social bottom line?  I would pose a radical thought here…

What if life is not numerical?  Let me say, I have taught statistics at a major U.S. university and my brother has a PhD in Mathematics so I don’t say this lightly.  What I mean is that we have evolved in our views of economics and consumption theory elsewhere – so why not in our measures of success?

Imagine 1,000 years ago trying to explain to a farmer growing corn to sell at market that someday people would be paid for writing computer code or being a personal trainer.  He/she could not have imagined a world in which these provided measurable value.  Over time we have quantified them but the process has evolved.

It seems to me that the Triple Bottom Line concept wants to make a complex and dynamic universe into a simple checklist with easy categories and clean demarcation.  There are many more values to running a business and running our lives than just three.  Good leaders know that the numbers, no matter how you calculate them, only tell part of the story.

This month marked the launch of another big splash in the green marketplace.  Discovery Networks has created Planet Green -a 24 hour eco-living television network.

The idea is to present programming from a variety of perspectives that encourages environmental sustainability while having a good time.  Ads for the launch of the network featured Tommy Lee, Emeril Lagasse, and lots of other household names saying “Hi, I’m [name], and I’m an ecomaniac.”

I really like the idea of lifestyle marketing from a cable network and we have certainly seen success with products such as Oxygen Network and Cartoon Network, each of which appeal to a specific market segment.  However, I wonder how long a network with a social conscience will survive.

Yes, they say it will be fun, not preachy.  No, you don’t need to have solar panels installed on your roof to find good home renovation ideas.  Yes, Emeril will likely continue to be his dynamic, Martha Stewart partner, delicious self.  BUT I personally can only take the green thing so far in a day!

I’m still predicting that the green bubble with burst sometime soon.  I hope we make some legitimate impact on the quality of life on our planet before it does – but all of this green media may overload our senses before we get there.  Stay tuned.

At the checkout line in Whole Foods today, I saw a magazine that caught my attention.  I’m not a big fan of magazines usually but this one had a striking black and white picture of Robert Redford at his debonair best on the cover.  The title of the Magazine is Aware.

It turns out that Aware Magazine is absolutely fantastic!  With the tag line”inspire the world,” they take on a philanthropic issue each time and cover it from a variety of angles.  The issue currently on newsstands is their Green Issue and I expected the same finger-wagging admonishment we see everywhere about our carbon footprint and the future of the planet.  Could we possibly rewind to the time when I had never heard “carbon footprint,” please!

Instead, I found an insightful take on the issue that looked at successfully philanthropy and advocacy in unlikely places.  Of course, I couldn’t resist putting on my marketing hat and looking closely at the advertisers.  This publication seems tailor-made for corporations trying so hard to be heard in the loud, loud world of corporate do-gooders.  The ads were classy and well executed.  Some of the messages I still doubt as more than greenwashing, but that’s another matter.  The good news is that the publishers found enough interest in the subject to create a magazine around these issues – and they are doing it is a consumer friendly way (such as Redford’s cover photo).  The bad news may be that it won’t last.  I wonder if this vote for sustainable development and caring thought can sustain itself.

This morning I was checking email and received a message from our local Girl Scouts Council about a great program called GoGirlGo! It is administered by the Women’s Sports Foundation founded by Billie Jean King in 1974.  The focus of the program is to use “sports and physical activity as an educational intervention that supports girls’ health and wellness…”

Gatorade is one of the leading sponsors of this program and, as I explored the web site, seems to me to be a great partnership fit.  However, I was disappointed as I further explored the GoGirlsGo! site and even linked over to the Gatorade web site.  Neither of these organizations are expending the effort to maximize this partnership.

Yes, I’m sure the Women’s Sports Foundation is thrilled with the generous financial support.  I’m also sure that Gatorade is happy with its featured partner status and logo placement on the GiGirlsGo! web page.  But… let’s think about this in the context of a bigger picture.

Who’s website generates greater traffic?  Gatorade must see millions more hits than the Foundation yet there is nothing on Gatorade’s site that ties back to the program.  I know I have read of other philanthropic efforts by Gatorade and its brands but their site says nothing about these efforts or does anything to distinguish itself as a caring brand leader.  What about a mention on the Gatorade site about the program whereby both the Foundation and Gatorade win?

How does this fit with the Gatorade brand message and mission?  Practically speaking, I can see the connection and it makes sense in my head.  Sports drinks, girls sports, future consumers, etc.  Is Gatorade making a conscious decision to support youth fitness?  Is this a reason for me to favor this brand or to support this cause?

It is wonderful that Gatorade is supporting such a great program and their financial commitment is honorable.  This is a prime example where a Goal Driven Philanthropy model (like the work we try to accomplish) would have built greater value for the partnership. 

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported on Monday about a national conference on volunteerism held in Atlanta.  One of the highlights of the event was a CEO roundtable at which companies discussed the long-term benefits of being socially involved corporate leaders and the importance of encouraging and supporting volunteerism among employees.

I am not usually one to read the comments posted in response to news stories of this type, but I happened to scroll down to the first comment and was amazed at what I found [link to article and comments here].  The comment was from a reader who said he/she did not want to be a volunteer and thought CEOs with the “stuffed pockets” should be doing the heavy lifting.  He/she went on to say “I have enough annoying stuff I have to do on the weekend.”  Wow.

All I can say to this person and others of similar thinking is that they are truly missing one of the greatest blessing we have as human beings.  Volunteerism, whether through employer affiliations or otherwise, is a gift that we give to ourselves AND to others.  There is a good reason why employers who support volunteerism see dramatic increases in employee satisfaction and retention rates.  Providing a forum for community activism is also a proven winner when recruiting talented staff.

Thankfully, most of the posts that followed disagreed with the cynical reader.  I cannot imagine living in a community (or on the planet at all) if everyone felt exhausted and bitter about helping others.  In fact, corporate leaders might consider their volunteer program as a good barometer of employee mindset. 

I would not want to see a climate where people are forced to volunteer time but evaluating the participation rates in such an employee-based program says a lot about the environment in which you do business and the people representing you to your customers, your clients and your community.