Responsible Marketing: Doing Well by Doing Good

Business value and social or environmental values can go hand in hand.If companies not only create socio-environmental value by caring for people and our planet, but also drive business value and profit through such initiatives, then CSR or corporate social responsibility can be a source of competitive differentiation and advantage. In such companies, sustainability initiatives are close to the core businesses which leverage the competencies of the company and in line with company values and principles. While some stumbling blacks need to be mastered on the way, many companies have applied this concept successfully. The business value created by CSR initiatives ranges from employee and customer loyalty, positive word of mouth, resilience to negative information about the company and several other coveted business outcomes. To integrate CSR successfully, management should be committed to its causes, integrate all stakeholders in the initiatives and communicate about projects in an open, honest and authentic way. Much like other aspects of marketing strategy, there is a need to monitor and measure sustainability efforts to tune activities and insure overall success.