Corporate Social Responsibility
Has business found a conscience, or another KPI?
It may have started off as a fad, but Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) looks set to continue as a growing KPI for businesses.
Organisations are increasingly realising the commercial benefits in terms of brand and reputation that an effective CSR strategy can deliver.
Recent months have seen a wave of high profile commitments and developments, including Marks & Spencer’s launch of their ‘100 point plan’ for climate change responsibility.
BT were awarded the top Sustainability Reporting award by ACCA, and Carbon ‘offsetting’ schemes became controversial but popular CSR initiatives, and
Charitable donations, marketing and CSR
‘Ethical branding’ , once pioneered by Anita Roddick’s Body Shop, is now a critical business discipline, with the likes of The Cooperative Bank, Green & Blacks and Fairtade blazing the new trail.
For marketers, CSR themes are an effective way for businesses to communicate with customers online and at the point of sale, and engage them with the brand on a broader and more meaningful basis.
Click-to-give
Charitable donation policies continue to embrace ‘click-to-give’websites and viral marketing channels to spread the word – ensuringthat this particular CSR strategy has visibility.See examples of successful click to give CSR campaign websites.
Successful 'click to give' campaigns can prove a highly cost effective way for an organisation to persue a CSR policy and maximise viral website traffic, raise brand profile and help to build an opt-in e-mail database.
Key steps to success in creating and executing an effective viral click-to-give campaign include:- Establish clear goals for the campaign
- Define the target audience carefully (including the viral target audience)
- Build in sensible timescales and accountable project management
- Execute innovative ideas
Key elements of the campaign may include:- A branded microsite
- Fresh content to drive return visits and viral push eg daily competitions or quizzes
- A viral 'tell a friend' feature
- A clicks totaliser and incentiviser
- Anti-fraud click detection
- Correct data protection permissions
- Daily email reminders/triggered emails
- Email and online (or multi-channel) launch campaign, including seeding in forums/blogs
- Detailed tracking and reporting