CSR: Cause-related branding can help balance business with marketing

As the world becomes more sensitised towards corporate social responsibility (CSR), a lot of CEOs are increasingly finding out that they have to integrate CSR into the way they run their businesses. Elsewhere in the same offices, marketing heads are grappling with ways to strengthen their brands and resonate with consumers in increasingly competitive marketplaces. The concerns of these two senior management representatives can probably be addressed through cause-related branding.

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Cause-related branding is a means of doing CSR in a manner that works for the brand and for the society, creating a win-win situation for both business and society. Cause related branding provides business benefits for brands and therefore gives them a business reason for doing CSR. The Body Shop & Ben & Jerry's are good examples of companies that have built strong brands while helping society.

Often people expect corporates to do CSR out of a sense of responsibility. However, neither do we live in an ideal world, nor is it fair to expect investors to be content with a lower ROI because someone else thinks that corporates need to give back to the society. Cause-related branding gives corporates a business reason to do CSR. While Ben & Jerry's may not have thought of cause-related branding, the more they grew, the more they could give back to society, because there was a connect between the brand and society in their programs. 

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There has been no real research done on consumer attitudes towards CSR in India and how these could help brands. In the absence of this, there has been no significant context for integrating cause into marketing. However, the results of the recent survey conducted by Lowe Lintas, MSN India and Cross Tab points to a clear direction - for brands to take up CSR.

The survey, which is India's first ever B2C study on consumer attitudes to CSR, asks corporates to effectively take up CSR and derive business benefits from it. The survey was conducted on www.msnindia.com and had over 2,300 respondents from across India.

The overlying theme emerging from respondents seems to be that things are not in an ideal state in India and corporates need to step forward and do more. An overwhelming 93 per cent of the respondents stated that they believe corporates should do CSR. The reason offered for why corporates should do CSR is that corporates use a lot of social resources and CSR is the quid pro quo for this.

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Respondents believe that companies do CSR either to improve their reputation (65 per cent), or to help them with their marketing (22 per cent). Only 25 per cent believe that corporates do CSR because they believe in it, or because it is good for society (36 per cent). Clearly CSR is viewed as a marketing tool and not an ideological practice.

Furthermore, 58 per cent of the respondents feel that it is acceptable for a brand to use its social initiatives for marketing - pointing to a scenario where marketers can look at doing cause-related branding in an unapologetic manner that helps their brand and society. It's important, however, to do this in a transparent and genuine manner, so that stakeholders do not think that they are being conned in the name of CSR.

Developing cause-related branding program that are measurable, and ensuring there is total transparency in the way they are run, will help both the program and the corporate enhance their reputation.

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When Coke ran a six-week promo at 400 Wal-Mart outlets in the US, stating that they would donate 15c to a non-profit called MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) for every case of Coke sold during this period, sales quadrupled. The important thing here is that Coke was transparent about how much they would contribute, and left it to consumers to decide whether to support it or not.   
Some of the key tasks of marketers include building consumer trust in brands and building brand preference. CSR done well can help marketers achieve these two important brand objectives.

Indian marketers would find it interesting that 57 per cent of the respondents of the survey stated that they trust brands that do CSR more than brands that do not. 69 per cent of the respondents said that all things being equal, they would prefer buying a brand that does CSR compared to a brand that does not.

It is probably a function of the time strapped world that we live in that 56 per cent of the respondents felt that supporting brands that undertake socially responsible activities was as good as doing socially responsible activities themselves. This offers a good opportunity for marketers to develop cause-related branding programs that empower their consumers for doing good for the society, just by supporting a brand.  

The top causes as identified by respondents are education (63 per cent) and the environment (60 per cent). It is interesting that respondents have looked at areas of fundamental change like education rather than topical temporary relief areas like seniors, medical care etc. It appears that people are tired of all the attendant problems that come with the lack of education in society.

As if to reiterate this mindset, when questioned about the form of support corporates should provide to a cause, respondents felt that companies should direct their support in terms of programs for changing peoples' attitudes (44 per cent) and building awareness of social problems (22 per cent). These ranked higher than donating money or employee volunteerism, indicating that respondents want corporates to get deeply involved in CSR and make a difference.   

Understandably, the brands that did initiatives in the area of education (Azim Premji Foundation, Times of India - Teach India) and ran campaigns to change attitudes (Tata Tea - Jaago Re) are the most remembered programs when it comes to CSR.  

There is a strong case for companies doing cause-related branding. On the one hand, there is a huge clamour for corporates to do CSR and support for the concept saying that it is okay for brands to use social initiatives for marketing; on the other hand there are a host of brand benefits ranging from greater trust, brand preference, etc. It is important to be a first mover, and fortune often favours the bold!

Cause-related branding is not necessarily restricted to consumers - programs can be run across stake holders depending on the brand need. In an all things are equal scenario, various stakeholders (consumers, employees, investors, business associates) have claimed that all things being equal, they would prefer associating with a company that does CSR more than a company that does not. The percentages across stakeholders range from investors (56 per cent) to employees (77 per cent).

The time is right in India for brands to invest in CSR. On the one hand, the need for corporates to be seen as socially responsible is growing and on the other hand consumers want the country to change and are willing to reward brands for their socially responsible behaviour. Marketing is about hearing the voice of the consumer, and brands who can hear a silent scream welling up across the country should be ready to set up cause-related branding programs to get the first mover advantage.

Kartikeya Kompella is the author of two books on branding as well as several articles for brandchannel.com, BusinessWorld, Brand Strategist (UK) and allaboutbranding.com. He's a vice-president at advertising agency Lowe Lintas.