Winner: Hormel Foods with Burson-Marsteller – Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Communications
at Hormel Foods
By maintaining constant communication with stakeholders about its sustainability initiatives, Hormel Foods also keeps “green” top-of-mind with its employees. The company uses a multifaceted approach to emphasize how important being green is to Hormel Foods. First, its annual CR report for stakeholders is framed through its “Our Way” platform—an articulation of Hormel’s mission and values. This integration drives the message to stakeholders and employees alike that being responsible is one of the company’s core principles.
Second, instead of just broadcasting its green initiatives, Burson-Marsteller and Hormel Foods have implemented a communications program that engages stakeholders. The annual report is complemented by quarterly e-newsletters that encourage interaction and feedback. For the 2010 report launch, a Twitter contest was held to test the participants’ knowledge of the report and the company’s sustainable business practices. The prizes ranged from gift boxes and sustainable prize packs containing Hormel products to money-saving coupons. All together, it serves to maintain a consistent push toward responsible corporate citizenship. And it works. Since 2009, Hormel Foods has jumped 10 places on Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens rankings to #30. —SP
Fast Fact: There were more than 600,000 impressions/Twitter users reached for the Hormel CR report launch contest.
Honorable Mentions:
The OutCast Agency – The Birth of a Cleantech Brand: Bloom Energy: Dealing with immense pressure to deliver for raising $400 million without having a product to show, Bloom Energy, a solid oxide fuel cell company, scored a major win by pitching and landing a profile on 60 Minutes.
Paine PR – P&G Future Friendly-Making Conservation Second Nature: P&G, through its Future Friendly conservation program, sponsored the Earth Day Network’s annual live event in Washington, D.C., developed an online campaign to promote sustainable living in exchange for P&G making charitable donations and encouraged employee participation in sustainable living. The campaign received overwhelmingly positive (95%) coverage.