Articles by Levick Experts
Corporations set themselves up for failure when they take the “bag of money” approach to corporate social responsibility – throwing cash at public problems and hoping to enjoy public goodwill as a result.
There would be a din of consternation if boardroom members could hear what is so often actually said about corporations that spend billions of dollars each year on ads touting their good intentions or compulsory acts of kindness.
Today’s consumers aren’t easily convinced that companies using a bag of money approach are social visionaries or even socially responsible; they know a company cannot buy or fake its way through CSR. Companies that spend billions advertising that their donated drugs keep patients alive, or offer advice on how to quit smoking (while they quadruple production overseas) often accomplish the opposite of what they set out to do. They are perceived as trying to buy their way out of corporate social responsibility, not fulfill it.
They fail in part because they only advertise what they do. There is no strategic communications. With advertising, companies purchase media time to talk about themselves. With strategic communications, the objective is to get someone else – a respected and disinterested outsider – to speak on your behalf.
The distinction is critical. An ad-weary public is easily inured to a steady stream of messages, blatant or subliminal; whereas positive media coverage is infinitely more persuasive. The bag of money just can't buy it.
In far too many CSR campaigns, the missing component is the right messenger – a credible third party who will not and cannot be bought. The messenger is at least as important as the message, and often more so.
Other Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Resources: