A new survey on the state of CSR in today's PR industry has found the issue to be the communications equivalent to the proverbial half-filled glass. Those of an optimistic
bent will see the situation as encouraging and growing in vibrancy. Those who lace their analysis with skepticism bordering on cynicism will see vast rooms for improvement.
The survey, conducted by PR News and the cause-branding agency leader Cone Inc. in May 2006, polled 343 public relations professionals. Alison DaSilva, vice
president at Cone Inc., believes the statistics culled in the survey show both progress that has been made and progress in need of making.
"I am excited by the data," she says. "It is important to understand where we are today and where we need to go in the future."
DaSilva notes the majority of the survey's respondents stated the prime audiences for their CSR communications were customers, the communities where they operated and company
employees - with influential stakeholders (defined as including nonprofits, activists and regulators) coming in a distant fourth. Likewise, the surveyed PR professionals placed a
higher measurement value of their CSR messaging on its impact on brand awareness and favorability, with impact on influential stakeholders taking the number two slot in regard to
importance.
For DaSilva, the PR profession needs to take a more aggressive attempt to engage influential stakeholders with CSR communications. "We need to look at what the issues are,"
she says. "Stakeholder engagement will be key to creating a stronger dialogue."
Contact: Alison DaSilva, [email protected].
Communicating Corporate Responsibility Initiatives in 2006: A Quick Survey
1.How often does your company communicate about your corporate responsibility initiatives?
- Monthly: 34%
- Weekly : 21%
- Annually : 20%
- Only on reactive basis : 17%
- Do not communicate : 7%
- No Response : 1%
2. Who are the primary target audiences for your corporate responsibility communications? (Please rank your top 3 audiences)
- Customers : 21%
- Communities
- Where We Operate : 20%
- Employees: 18%
- Influentials : 15%
- Consumers: 9%
- Governments : 8%
- Nonprofits/Activists : 4%
- Investment Community : 4%
- No Response : 1%
3. What communications vehicles do you use for corporate responsibility communications? (Please select all that apply)
- Advertising (print): 10%
- Advertising (broadcast): 4%
- Web: 19%
- Public Relations: 23%
- Events: 14%
- Stakeholder Engagement Sessions: 5%
- CSR report: 6%
- Internal newletters, intranet and meetings: 19%
4. What internal department is primarily accountable for communicating your company's Corporate Responsibility activities? (Select one)
- Corporate Communications: 39%
- Marketing: 14%
- Public Relations: 25%
- Advertising: 1%
- Corporate Responsibility Staff: 3%
- Community Relations: 4%
- Cross-Functional Team: 14%
5. How do you measure the value of corporate responsibility communications? (Please select all that apply)
- Impact on Brand Awareness and Favorability: 27%
- Impact on Sales: 10%
- Impact on Retention/Recruitment: 14%
- Impact on Relationships with Influential Stakeholders (i.e., Nonprofits, activists, regulators): 25%
- We do not have measures: 23%
- No Response: 1%
6. What is the biggest hurdle in developing corporate responsibility communications? (Select one)
- Making the business case to leadership that CSR communications are strategic to company success: 29%
- Creating appropriate themes/messages: 6%
- Getting internal agreement on themes/messaging: 10%
- Developing outreach strategy: 7%
- Executing plan: 6%
- Measuring impact: 24%
- Gaining access to sufficient funds: 15%
- No Response : 3%
7. During your next budgetcycle, how will your spending towards communicating your Corporate Responsibility activities change?
It will be:
- Significantly more: 5%
- Somewhat more: 26%
- About the same: 52%
- Somewhat less: 3%
- Significantly less: 0%
- Don't Know: 14%
A joint survey of PR News and Cone Inc., conducted May 2006 with 343 respondents.