Corporate Social Responsibility

Each year PR News’ CSR and Nonprofits awards lunch is a pastiche of PR tips and tactics and emotion. The 2019 edition, held Friday, was jammed with takeaways and examples of PR using its vast tool kit to do good. We offer a few memories of the awards luncheon, which was held at Washington, D.C.’s historic National Press Club.

Each year, PR News recognizes the leaders and campaigns creating the most social good at our CSR & Nonprofit awards luncheon. The 2019 event, hosted at the the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., saw… Continued

There’s more research showing CSR is no longer a nice-to-have, writes Judith Rowland of FleishmanHillard. Consumers expect brands to take stands on social issues or risk losing their business. And brands must walk the walk. The research found that 47 percent of engaged customers are less or not at all likely to purchase from companies whose business practices are inconsistent with their CSR promises.

With PR News’ CSR and Nonprofit Awards luncheon coming March 15, we look at two brands taking stands, though they do so with different philosophies and strategies.

Brands must devote some of their business to the common good in an era when a majority of consumers demand ethical practices and value-based company missions. It’s in a communicator’s best interest to promote and champion the causes their company is a part of, building loyalty with audiences and improving trust among consumers. Here are four ways to build a successful social good program at your organization.

A beach-ready bike safety campaign. A long-term commitment to Puerto Rico’s hurricane relief. A virtual reality experience to curb binge drinking. These are just a few of the campaigns championed by the finalists at PR News’ CSR awards, an elite group of brands that have spearheaded highly successful CSR campaigns and initiatives over the last year. PR News’ 2019 CSR winners will be celebrated at a luncheon ceremony on March 15 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

This week Gillette launched “We Believe,” a timely screed against toxic masculinity that updates its decades-old tagline to “The Best Men Can Be.” Its former tagline is reframed as a question: “Is this the best a man can get?” With more than 4 million views already, the ad has audiences divided on whether or not the campaign is a genuine push for social good, an opportunistic rebranding, or both.

On Nov. 28, Patagonia CEO Rose Mercario announced in a LinkedIn post that the company would be putting $10 million—the amount it received in tax returns following Trump administration tax cuts—toward alleviating the harmful effects of “human-caused climate disruption.” Here are some lessons learned from Patagonia’s initiative.

TOMS has pledged to donate $5 million toward ending gun violence. This is the largest single corporate donation toward gun control in U.S. history. The initiative has received an outpouring of positive press coverage and social media engagement. And as a mission-driven brand, TOMS has often led the pack insofar as social and online messaging around social good initiatives over the years. Here are three best-in-class solutions TOMS deployed for its latest campaign that communicators can apply to their own CSR messaging.

Vaporizer manufacturer JUUL Labs has gotten out in front of looming regulations on the e-cigarette industry by transforming its brand into stewards of legitimate and responsible vape use. Yesterday, the brand announced it would cease sales of its four flavored vape pods in all of the 90,000+ retail stores that currently carry its products, and delete all social media accounts but Twitter.