Trash Talking Good Deeds
July 23, 2010 at 1:37 PM by Research & Insights
From philanthropy to cause marketing to CSR, no good deeds went unpunished this week in opinion news. Professor Angela Eikenberry says in The Conference Board Review that cause marketing “distracts our attention and resources” from the issues. Writer Chrystia Freeland in The Washington Post called CSR a “cult” that “muddies the waters” of core business needs. The Wall Street Journal Europe’s opinion columnist Jamie Whyte writes “corporate philanthropy is tantamount to theft.”
These arguments would sting if they weren’t so tired and misinformed. Esteemed bloggers immediately went on the defensive to highlight the fallacies in these arguments, including Fast Company expert blogger Alice Korngold, who put it nicely – “CSR isn't about puppy dogs and ice cream. CSR is about conducting business with integrity and attention to the community in a way that benefits shareholders.”
Freeland and Whyte pulled the old Milton Friedman card, writing, “The job of business is to make money.” No arguments there. But this is just part of the story: corporate philanthropy, cause marketing and responsible business build reputation and drive shareholder returns. Here is even more proof: according to APCO Worldwide’s latest research, addressing business issues such as philanthropy, community engagement and energy efficiency spur reputation growth. And a better reputation translates into bottom-line benefits: the study notes that with a mere 1 point increase on its Reputation Index, the average consumer will spend an additional $133.05 every year. What will the shareholders think of this?
The big picture these criticisms are revealing is this: Cause marketing, CSR and philanthropy are so engrained in the way businesses should – and in many cases, do – operate today, that a critic can get valuable column inches just by offering a dissenting opinion. It gets attention and starts a flurry of letters to the editor, blog posts and tweets. But as long as efforts are authentic, sustainable and core to business values and operations, leading companies will rise above the dissenters, disprove the naysayers and continue to focus on meeting the demands of the increasingly conscious stakeholders with both business and societal returns. The critics have spoken, but your actions continue to speak louder.
Did you read any of these articles? What did you think?
Tags: corporateresponsibility causebranding philanthropy research corporategiving
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From philanthropy to cause marketing to CSR, no good deeds went unpunished this week in opinion news. Professor Angela Eikenberry says in The Conference Board Review that cause marketing “distracts our attention and resources” from the issues. Writer Chrystia Freeland in The Washington Post called CSR a “cult” that “muddies the waters” of core business needs. The Wall Street Journal Europe’s opinion columnist Jamie Whyte writes “corporate philanthropy is tantamount to theft.”
These arguments would sting if they weren’t so tired and misinformed. Esteemed bloggers immediately went on the defensive to highlight the fallacies in these arguments, including Fast Company expert blogger Alice Korngold, who put it nicely – “CSR isn't about puppy dogs and ice cream. CSR is about conducting business with integrity and attention to the community in a way that benefits shareholders.”
Freeland and Whyte pulled the old Milton Friedman card, writing, “The job of business is to make money.” No arguments there. But this is just part of the story: corporate philanthropy, cause marketing and responsible business build reputation and drive shareholder returns. Here is even more proof: according to APCO Worldwide’s latest research, addressing business issues such as philanthropy, community engagement and energy efficiency spur reputation growth. And a better reputation translates into bottom-line benefits: the study notes that with a mere 1 point increase on its Reputation Index, the average consumer will spend an additional $133.05 every year. What will the shareholders think of this?
The big picture these criticisms are revealing is this: Cause marketing, CSR and philanthropy are so engrained in the way businesses should – and in many cases, do – operate today, that a critic can get valuable column inches just by offering a dissenting opinion. It gets attention and starts a flurry of letters to the editor, blog posts and tweets. But as long as efforts are authentic, sustainable and core to business values and operations, leading companies will rise above the dissenters, disprove the naysayers and continue to focus on meeting the demands of the increasingly conscious stakeholders with both business and societal returns. The critics have spoken, but your actions continue to speak louder.
Did you read any of these articles? What did you think?
Tags: corporateresponsibility causebranding philanthropy research corporategiving
Did you like this post? Please share it:
 |  |  |  |
Email Post
Comments 
 Pablo Edwards |
July 25, 2010 6:35 PM It really is a sad world when people advance by stepping on others and lifting themselves up by putting others down. It is disappointing that this is the world we live in. |
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Olivia Khalili |
August 2, 2010 4:19 PM Thanks for this post. It's befuddling to see how many intelligent people still don't understand what corporate social responsibility is and how (or that!) it benefits business, not just society. My personal views are even left of CSR, moving more toward socially driven businesses, but these articles give me pause: how do we demonstrate the benefit of responsible business to companies? I thought we already had. |
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Casey Brennan |
August 3, 2010 3:35 PM Pablo & Olivia- Thanks for your comments! Over many years of helping companies build authentic, impactful programs, we too are disturbed by the continued criticism. What we can prove (with our longitudinal research)is that consumers are more open an in-tune with corporate efforts to be better citizens. But the best indication is when companies can see this in action - with an impact on sales, reputation, employee retention, etc. Again, actions speak louder - and are rewarded :) Casey Brennan Insights Associate Cone @CaseyB |
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vauxhall uk |
February 22, 2012 9:57 AM Thanks for your comments! Over many years of helping companies build authentic, impactful prog |
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