Corporate Social Responsibility

The Global RepTrak 100, the gold standard of corporate reputation, shows corporate reputation declining for the first time since 2009. Why has it declined and what can brands do about it? We answer those questions and more in our coverage.

Not long ago, companies were counseled to stay out of politics and social causes. ‘Stick to business and you won’t offend customers or potential customers,’ was thought to be the best route. Things have changed. Radically. In a collaboration with 3BL Media, a CSR news distribution and content marketing firm, PR News convened a roundtable to discuss CSR best practices.

At the Oscars, celebrity influences spoke out as conscious, mindful advocates instead of talking heads. Some of the most significant moments include the snubbing of Ryan Seacrest, a passionate advocation for dreamers and the suggestion of a rider that would make inclusion in productions a requirement. These tactics have implications that reverberate for beyond the Hollywood Hills.

When Delta joined a growing list of companies rescinding discounts for NRA members, it did so by proclaiming its neutrality. And when FedEx decided to keep its NRA discount in place, the brand also attempted to stay neutral. But both quickly found that when it comes to an issue as controversial as gun control, brands can’t have it both ways.

As a communicator, you can have a powerful impact on just about every corner of your organization by using the platforms, relationships and knowledge that you and your PR team are uniquely positioned to leverage.… Continued

With more than 48,000 tweets and counting, the #BoycottNRA hashtag is trending and brands are listening. In response to the outcry following the Feb. 14 Parkland, Fla. school shooting, several national brands have rescinded their NRA membership discounts in support of gun control, including Best Western, Wyndham Hotels, Alamo Rent A Car, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and First National Bank of Omaha, among others.

APCO spent 6 months asking 1,000 of what it called “hyper-aware and influential U.S. consumers” how much credence they put in corporate social responsibility. As you might expect, 90% of those surveyed said it was highly important. One of the more interesting takeaways is that the public judges a company’s social goodness by how well it treats employees.

Each year, PR News honors the top corporate social responsibility campaigns—and the brands and communicators behind them—at its CSR & Nonprofit Awards Luncheon at Washington, D.C.’s historic National Press Club. From environmental protection to disaster relief to gender equality, these campaigns and communicators have enacted positive change that will be felt for years to come.

Unilever is threatening to pull ads from the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Google—but the way the consumer goods giant conveyed that message has been as powerful as the message itself. The company’s CMO Keith Weed planned to use his keynote at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting today to call for improved transparency, accountability and consumer trust in digital platforms. But in a masterstroke of messaging, the company managed to humanize itself and score earned media, while also positioning Unilever as a thought leader, by releasing the speech strategically.

In an effort to combat harmful advertising in the beauty industry, CVS has made a commitment to keep it real. The retail chain has unveiled its Beauty Mark campaign, promising that it will no longer “digitally alter or change a person’s shape, size, proportion, skin or eye color or enhance or alter lines, wrinkles or other individual characteristics” in the imagery it creates for its stores and marketing.