Lehman collapsed, people are questioning the beef content in the food at Taco Bell, Toyota recalled a number of vehicles, BP is still cleaning up the oil in the Gulf and Johnson & Johnson recalled a number of over-the-counter medications. Each of these crises has prompted companies to evaluate their position and value in the community and find opportunities to reconnect with their customers while advancing the mission of their company.

In fact, today’s consumers are demanding more from the companies they do business with, while companies are working harder to distinguish themselves from their competitors to win customer loyalty. The average consumer wants the corporate world to live more responsibly + sustainably + ethically + greenly, and they want it every day.

Companies are gaining customers by being transparent, forthright and direct in terms of their concerns and ideas for improving the shopping and/or client experience, while implementing more sustainable or green business practices, including buying local.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR), also known as being a good corporate citizen, must be a part of a company’s brand management and marketing plan, in today’s economy. Done right, a comprehensive CSR program can actually increase efficiency, improve the company’s reputation, improve employee morale and perhaps increase a company’s bottom line. The goal of an effective CSR program is to support the communities they serve, embrace responsibility for a company’s actions and ensure a positive impact.

For CSR to be effective, companies need to communicate what they are doing with their customer in ways that help them engage with the brand and CSR experience. For example, Dove, a Unilever brand, implemented The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, a global campaign to celebrate the diversity of women, while inspiring women to have the confidence to be comfortable with themselves. Using a number of cross media platforms, including social media, traditional advertising and media relations, the campaign has not only inspired thousands of women, but also sold Dove products.

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty was effective because Dove did a great job of not only informing people about their campaign, but also engaging women in a way that established trust with the consumer and allowed for consumer engagement. By way of additional examples, an offshore wind project in southwestern Ontario incorporated a bird sanctuary in their proposal to address community concerns about bird migration and approached a university to place a research station near-shore to monitor the effects of the turbines. (In full disclosure, both the off-shore wind farm and university are clients of mine.)

In any CSR campaign, companies must:

•  Show the value beyond the products or services it provides

•  Help customers or clients identify with the cause(s) they support while experiencing the company’s community engagement

•  Show, through its actions that not only does the company have values, it operates and stands behind them

•  Through social and traditional media, use CSR to share the company’s story and engage their customers or clients

•  Link any CSR to the company’s mission and image they want others to remember

CSR campaigns can take many forms. It can be as simple as working to have a green footprint, providing pro bono services to a local nonprofit, dedicating work hours to volunteering in the community, or creating an elaborate campaign as Dove did.

Done right, those that participate in CSR programs will:

•  Help employees become a part of the community and feel good about who they work for

•  Help customers feel connected to the company

•  Differentiate their brand from their competitor

Finally, while risk may have its rewards, CSR is critical to corporate risk management. Therefore, a CSR program must be more than a section on a corporate website or a paragraph in a brochure. It needs to be integrated into the company’s operations, a part of the company’s culture and something that the community begins to identify the company with.

As corporate citizens we should have a responsibility to be socially responsible and support the communities we serve.  CSR programs also help bolster a company’s reputation, which will not only increase sales but also will ensure that a company will find support should they experience a crisis. In 2010, the top five most socially responsible companies, according to Boston College’s Reputation Institute, were:

•  Johnson & Johnson

•  The Walt Disney Company

•  Kraft Foods

•  Microsoft

•  PepsiCo

While each of these companies has experienced a crisis, each has emerged as a dominant brand in its industry. While these are typically brands we trust, they invest substantial amounts of money in CSR campaigns. It does not matter how big or small your company is, as an employer and as a business, you have an investment in the community you work in and in the people that work for you, therefore making an investment in being socially responsible a wise investment.

		Daniel Cherrin is managing director of Fraser Consulting, a Lansing-based public affairs and government relations firm, an attorney and director of marketing for Fraser Trebilcock, one of Michigan’s most established law firms. Contact Cherrin at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or follow him on Twitter @DanCherrin.