Inclusive Branding
“CSR is inclusive branding. It’s a corporate entity stepping out and embracing the larger operative environment as its own. Surf, for one, is not an exclusive brand any more,” says Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults. “We’ve beaten the functional USP and the emotional USP to death. Now it’s the time of the CSR USP.”
Before, it was the ‘evil’ or ‘socially ostracised’ categories of tobacco, alcohol, oil and energy etc or high-traction corporates like Tata, Godrej, ITC, that thumped the CSR drum. The former would inter-twine their corporate brand names with socially conscious ad messages such as ‘Don’t drink while driving.’ BP ad-libs about being ‘Beyond Petroleum.’
Now, it’s everyone from information technology czars like Infosys, which declares that ’the core value of Infosys is a strong sense of social responsibility,’ to packaged goods behemoths like Hindustan Lever who are looking at plumbing the CSR lodemine. Enter any Starbucks and you are greeted by ads explaining how socially conscious Starbucks is. Say global pundits: Just because the ad appears in the form of social responsibility, it does not make it any less like advertising – with commercial goals.
Notes author Sheldon Rampton: “Three trends related to globalisation are driving the rise of CSR: the rising protest movement against economic globalisation, the ‘war on terrorism’ that began on September 11, and recent corporate scandals.”
CSR at brand level
We will see CSR being increasingly plied in a holistic manner in India, across categories such as energy and ‘green’ cars. It will inalienably marry the social and brand message, such as Surf swirling with water saving. While Surf is the leader in brand-driven CSR, a big change is being noticed in various Levers brands. Why? People emote more with this sort of advertising, says Bijoor.
What’s more, CSR is no longer about defensive brands stressed into a corner, attempting to say they too care. The pivotal change: in the old days, CSR bolstered the corporate brand. But now, in CSR, the commercial brand is being buffed and polished. Beyond HLL, it’s Surf Excel that’s seen as eco-friendly and socially responsible, notes Bijoor.
This drive across categories to stake claim to the high ground is an emerging trend, but will gain speed. “The big change is the expanded definition and understanding of the commercial brand, which is not restricted to a set of attributes but seen as a larger ‘human idea’ that impacts human beings. Hence, doing good cannot be divorced from commercial realities. Hence, CSR is being integrated into the commercial nature of the brand,” says Santosh Desai, president, McCann-Erickson.
This changed notion of the brand acknowledges that brand relationships and interactions anywhere in the world can impact the brand in some other market, and also leverages this as an opportunity. Hence, a Nike will resolve controversy related to sweat-shop labour in some distant market, but which raises protest in the West. Or, in recent times, protests against Coca-Cola’s corporate policies in other parts of the world, sparked boycott marches in certain universities in the West. That’s where the bigger picture of CSR can step in.
The classic example of course stems from Anita Roddicks’ Bodyshop, cites Desai. Sure, there were no ads. But the power of the story and media kicked in for a cosmetics company planked on ‘beauty without cruelty,’ which outsourced its material directly from Africa without middlemen in the supply system.
Mind, heart and spirit
Says Kaushik Roy, president, brand strategy and marketing communication, Reliance Industries: A brand in today’s world needs to be visible and communicating at three levels with the stakeholders – mind, heart, and spirit. And it is in the area of the heart and spirit, that CSR comes in to play.
“Only when CSR addresses a belief and am “ism” which close to the consumers spiritual goal and aspirations will the brand make a connection. Body Shop is a very fine example. CSR should therefore become a sustainable way of life for the brand before it becomes ad material.”
Tata Steel perhaps has been the only brand to do a campaign on CSR (We also need Steel), cites Roy. When he worked on the campaign, he realised “that CSR with Tata Steel was a way of life and therefore, it had a huge credibility going for the campaign and what it communicated.”
In effect, CSR’s a bigger social language and a more enduring high ground to own. “CSR will increasingly happen in India and where people are self-actualised – those who occupy the upper tier of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Green and organic movements are gaining muscle worldwide and are inextricably linked to CSR, says Bijoor. While cause-related advertising is more about good strokes for the brand, CSR has positive strokes for brand and consumer who’s also empowered to do good. With everyone benefiting, get ready for greater strides being made in this theme of ‘brands with a purpose.’
What about advocacy?
Advocacy ads are commonly used by organisations that sell risk-related products like oil and gas, alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceuticals.
“Advocacy campaigns such as Shell Oil’s ads on driver safety or Budweiser’s effort to promote ‘responsible drinking and driving’ differ from public service campaigns in that they not only promote a common good, but also focus on protecting the company’s market,” runs an international marketing journal.
Global marketing pundits talk about the different types of corporate advertising which include identity, cause-related, and advocacy advertising. “Corporate identity ads focus on awareness, often by emphasising logos and names, and they may seek to establish or change the organisation’s image. Cause-related ads build a pro-social image for an organisation, such as identifying the advertiser as a sponsor of the charity. Advocacy ads are designed to present a certain point of view. While also addressing the general corporate advertising goal of enhancing organisational image, advocacy ads primarily deflect criticism of the organization, its policies, products, or services,” say the pundits.