Doing Well by Doing Good

Introduction

“Greed is good,” announced Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, and there hasn’t been a lot of evidence since the 80s of any significant change. Want ethics? Go see a social worker. Want morality? Sunday mornings in your local church. Businesses, companies, brands just want to make money, and marketers are doing business like anyone else.

I’m not suggesting they shouldn’t. But there must be some way that businesses can do well … by doing good.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development defines corporate social responsibility as “the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life.”

Doesn’t sound like a bad thing at all, now, does it? But how do you actually make it work? How can marketers do well … by doing good?

The truth is that cause marketing matters to consumers today more than ever and as time goes by it will grow in importance. Corporate social responsibility is a broad label with multiple meanings, but ignore it at your peril: it’s shown itself to not be a marketing flash in the pan. At its best, cause marketing can have a significant and positive impact on both the present and the future. The challenge is to make your socially responsible…