Cause Branding and Community Building With Social Networking Tools

A Strategic Approach to Corporate Philanthropic Engagement

Ed Nicholson, APRDirector of Community Relations

@TysonFoodshttp://www.facebook.com/TysonHungerReliefhttp://www.tysonhungerrelief.com

• Tyson Case Study—What worked for us

• Finding a strategic fit—the 4-step

process

• Cause marketing/Cause branding

• Finding and Engaging Communities and

Stakeholders

• Effective Tactics

Where we’ll go today

•Began formally working in hunger relief in 2000.

•Prior to had donated food; also involved in many other worthy philanthropic efforts.

• “Executive pets”•Efforts were spread thin.

Initial strategy

• We’re a food company. Feeding people is in our DNA.

• We are “hard-wired” into national food distribution channels.

• Food, as an in-kind resource, is more readily available than cash.

• Protein is desperately needed by hunger relief agencies.

• Tyson can be recognized as a leader in this cause.

Why?

• Goals• Get positive attention (primarily MS media) for the contributions we were making.

• Early approach was very publicity-focused; brand-centric; brand protective; competitive.

• Let the agency do most of the heavy lifting.

• One partnership: Share Our Strength• Wanted to be recognized by the hunger movement, but engagement and involvement wasn’t a critical part of the strategy

• Had a campaign mindset

Initial strategy—2000-2005

Tyson hunger relief strategy—brand-centric early approach

•There is a phenomenal community already engaged in the issue (room for online community)

• Inspiring people doing selfless work (not always recognized)

•Can’t be accepted into the community overnight. Can’t “buy” your way in

Tyson hunger relief strategy—how it evolved—what we learned

•As we became engaged, our culture and our expectations changed

•Became more collaborative, more outwardly-focused

•No longer just a campaign for us

Tyson hunger relief strategy—how it evolved—what we learned

The more we give in a genuine way—the more we become truly and authentically

engaged—the more we get back.

Hunger:

A complex, misunderstood issue.

What we learned

Awareness an issue

• Reviewed and revised strategy in 2005(w/ Mitchell Communications Group)– Expanded partnerships– Became more collaborative and outwardly

focused– Became more engaged, directly involved– Started engaging stakeholders

• Team Members—104K in U.S.• Customers• Communities• Elected officials

How Nonprofits and BusinessesSucceed Through Strategic Alliances

The Collaboration ChallengeJames E. Austin

The Collaboration Continuum*

*James Austin—The Collaboration Challenge

Philanthropic:Charity, Little Stakeholder Engagement/RelationshipsNo Strategic Imperative, Minimal Expectations

Transactional:Increased Understanding and Trust,Value Delivered, More Relationships, Expectations

Integrative: “We” mentality, High Mission Mesh, Broad Strategic Fit, Deep Personal Relationships, High Employee Engagement

Stages of Corporate/Non-Profit Partnerships

The Collaboration ContinuumStages of Partnerships Philanthropic

Transactional Integrative

Engagement level Low

High

Importance to Mission Peripheral

Strategic

Magnitude of Resources Small

Big

Scope of Activities Narrow

Broad

Interaction Level Infrequent

Intensive

Managerial Complexity Simple

Complex

Strategic Value Modest

Major

*James Austin—The Collaboration Challenge

Recent Approach---More collaborative, outwardly-focused

Cause Marketing/ Cause Branding

Cause marketing—by itself

• Transactional• Strategic philanthropy• Campaign focused• Looks for the quick win• Proprietary/competitive• Focus on organizational objectives• More often tactical

Cause Marketing/ Cause Branding

Cause branding. • Long-term commitment• Leadership Collaborative Engagement• Can’t write a check for it; buy it • Senior level support and ENGAGEMENT • Strategic fit for the business • How can a broader set of organizational resources be applied? Not just cash: in-kind, people, functional expertise.

• Takes a mature-thinking/acting non-profit to engage with a company truly committed to cause branding. Requires them to leverage resources beyond cash; work with partners to fit their work into the cause, sometimes beyond existing programs.

Cause Marketing/ Cause Branding

Can have cause marketing activity within cause branding program: KRAFT.

Quite often, very successful cause branding start out as cause marketing efforts (transactional) and evolve (integrative).

The 4-step process is important

Research—Knowing the landscape. Knowing the community. Knowing the issue. Listening !

Planning—Developing a strategy based on all factors, not simply organizational objectives.

Execution—Are we employing effective tactics?

Evaluation—Where are we? Is it where we want to be? What have we accomplished? ROI?

Hunger Almanac Sponsorship Primary Research

Research

Research: Listening and monitoring

Research: Listening and monitoring

Research: Listening and monitoring

• Engage our people in very productive and visible ways.

• Makes them feel good about the company. Creates people dedicated to the cause.

• Is another step toward being more authentically involved; humanizing the brand.

Strategies

•Leverage donations to go beyond publicity for Tyson.

• Generate awareness of the issue of hunger and of people and orgs.

• Create events that have innovative and attractive news angles.

• Bask in reflected light.

Strategies

• Utilize our communications resources to create awareness and build community around the issue. Social media tools have been very effective toward this end.

Strategies

Goals:• Humanize the brand• Establish the company as a thought leader in

the cause of hunger• Grow a community that will recognize our

voice as credible—and might defend us when we need it

• Leverage our in-kind donations• Engage and nurture relationships with key

stakeholders—the hunger community, team members, community leaders, advocacy partners

• Utilize our own publishing platforms in a credible, productive way—for others and ourselves

Executing the Strategy Online

Http://HungerRelief.Tyson.com

Online in 2007Goals—• Tell stories of people working in hunger relief—Ours and others’—Archive those stories.

• Expand awareness of and engagement in the issue

• Help bring the existing community involved in hunger relief online

Blog http://tysonhungerrelief.com

Tyson Foods Social Media – Twitter

Tools and Tactics – YouTube

Tools and Tactics– Flickr

Engaging the hunger community

Expanded PartnershipsShare Our Strength—DC-based hunger relief org that raises money and provides strategic grants to hunger relief

Feeding America—Nation’s largest

network of food banksLift Up America—Partnerships with professional and college sports teams and athletes in creating hunger and poverty awareness

The Hunger Community

• National organizations—SOS, Feeding America

• Policy Advocates—FRAC, Cong. Hunger Center

• Lawmakers—House and Cong. Hunger Caucus, Sen. Blanche Lincoln

• Local organizations—Food banks• Local agencies—63,000• Inspired, inspiring individuals—Hunger All-Stars

Hunger All-Star

Hunger All-Star

Hunger All-Star

Social Media Informing and Validating

Social Media Informing and Validating

Tools—Facebook

Engage influencers–Guest posts

Engaging and connecting influencers

Engage Influencers

Engage Influencers

Engage Influencers

Engage Influencers

Engage Influencers

Engage Influencers

Engaging the community

http://hungerrelief.tyson.com/

Tools and Tactics– Flickr, YouTube

Engaging and contributing to the community—be a connector

Engaging and contributing to the community—be a connector

Engaging stakeholders

Engaging stakeholders--customers

Engaging employees

http://hungerrelief.tyson.com/

Tools and Tactics--YouTube

http://hungerrelief.tyson.com/

Engaging the Online Community (many new to hunger)

Comment for Food Efforts

Engaging and informing—WeCanEndThisC

Is this stuff worth the effort? How we evaluate.

• Online activity: Site traffic, blog posts, Twitter and Facebook activity

• Social media feeding mainstream media

• Continually updated archive of Tyson’s activity within the issue

• Reputation and relationships--

Measuring—Blog posts/reposts

Measuring—Blog posts/reposts

Measuring—Blog posts/reposts

Measuring--Retweets

Results: Mainstream media• Events: 80 visual and engaging events• Coverage:

– Quantitative: 40 million impressions, 260 stories including: Chicago Sun Times, Arizona Republic, New York Daily News, Richmond Times Dispatch, dozens of TV hits, online and special audience media

– Qualitative: Is our brand front and center?• 98% positive tone• 85% mention Tyson in the top third of the story• 41% mention Tyson’s ongoing commitment to hunger relief

• Sales: Case volume increased 14.9% in test markets

Other good corporate examples

Other good corporate examples

Many of the same principals of community-building we discovered as we integrated into our own communities and the hunger community worked well with integrating into online communities.

Listening Responding Engaging ContributingLeading

Lessons learned

IMHO• It’s difficult for agencies to develop community

for us. We need to be part of the process when it happens.

• What they can do:– Help create strategy.– Help create content.– Walk alongside as participants in the conversation. Use

their credibility to support.• If key agency people are not participating as

thought leaders in the space, should they be advising you? They need street cred themselves.

• Takes time to build credibility and community. Can’t buy your way in.

• You can’t “control the message” (you never really could). But you can influence it. – You can control what you say.– Saying nothing speaks pretty loudly sometimes.

Relationships and reputations transcend and survive technology changes.

There’s continuity in community.

The tools will continue to evolve

• Find the strategic fit• Utilize all of your resources, especially in-kind• Engage your stakeholders, especially your own employees—be a connector

• Adopt a long-term vision--think beyond the campaign• Realize it takes time to develop communities

• Find the communities already engaged• Listen to them—try to move beyond philanthropic expectations• Become engaged with them• Determine how you can make a contribution

• Find and engage influencers—reward them for their engagement• Celebrate and archive your successes

Connect with ushttp://www.tysonhungerrelief.comhttp://twitter.com/TysonFoodshttp://www.facebook.com/TysonHungerReliefhttp://youtube.com/TysonCommunityed.nicholson@tyson.com

Takeaways

Questions? Complaints?Suggestions?

http://twitter.com/TysonFoodshttp://twitter.com/ederdn

http://www.youtube.com/tysoncommunity

ed.nicholson@tyson.comExtension 4591

Flat Building—Southwest Corner

Thank You

Support your local Food Bank

APPENDIX