24th May 2010

Digital Workshop:Ethical Branding

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

Three words defining

contemporary brands & market

strategies

Ethical brands & sub-brands are increasingly sprouting & corporate

organisations are realigning identities with ethical values & practice

Why?

The global consumer market for ethically produced, traded products and services in 2008 was an approx US$ 300 billion. This is set to quadruple by 2012.

In the UK, The Co-operative Bank reports household spending in this area is growing 3 times the rate of growth in overall household expenditure.

Consumers are pushing past social issue awareness towards the want to be actively involved in corporate activity.

This demands:- increased transparency-Increased visibility of ethical practice & spending-Increased fluency of communication

Source: The Cone 2010 Shared Responsibility Study <http://www.coneinc.com/engaging-consumers-to-achieve-shared>

How Can Social Media Help?

“Ideas that spread through groups of people are far more powerful than ideas

delivered at an individual”

Seth Godin (Author of Emarketing)

Harness the Power of Digital Conversation

Social Network

• Filter message to more trusted/valued opinion leaders• drive brand awareness• Build online community

Drive awareness through increased transparency &

visibility of corporate activity

Encourage UGC & maintain open two-way

dialogue between consumer & brand.

• Offer alternative/easy points of purchase.

• Build & retain brand advocacy through engagement & eCRM.• Gain valuable consumer insight

Build Consumer Trust Drive online Traffic

You

Social Network

Increases reach Decreases time

• Filter message to more trusted/valued opinion leaders

to drive brand awareness• Build online community

Drive awareness through increased transparency &

visibility of corporate activity

Encourage UGC and increase dialogue

between consumer & brand.

• Offer alternative/easy point of purchase.

• Build & retain brand advocacy through engagement & eCRM.• Gain valuable consumer insight

Build Consumer Trust Drive online Traffic

You

5 Social Media Success Tips

1. First Listen, then talk

Listen & acknowledge what consumers are sayingFocus on building respect & gaining trust before attempting to sell

2. Ensure content is relevant & engaging Know your target audience; appeal to their needs & interests.

Encourage users to generate & upload their own content.

3. Consistency Success requires consistent effort.

Don’t lure consumers under false pretences & fail to meet their expectations.

Deliver what you promise!

4. Be Honest

Deceit will be detrimental, the truth will ultimately prevail. Honesty will build confidence & again respect.

5.Normal Conversation Rules Apply!!Listen, be respectful & add Value

Who is & isn’t Digital Savvy

TOMS

TOMS recently celebrated it’s 4th birthday by encouraging people to make their own One for One pledge. People added their photos and the stories of the pledges to the TOMS wall. The video shows some of the small acts of kindness done.

427, 298

318, 138 fans

Facebook is a dominate platform for TOM’S who use it to: - engage regularly with their 315,000 + fans actively uploading comments and content. - visually convey the brands ethical activity & increasing its transparency - direct links to purchase to drive sales

Twitter is also a regular broadcast linking other content on TOMs external sites.

Easily identifiable links guide users to relevant info- ensuring ethical stance is

immediately communicated.

Tropicana Juicy rewards is a project run in association with Cool Earth aiming to protect & preserve the Amazon rainforests of Peru.

By purchasing Tropicana products, juicy points are redeemable online for personal rewards.

Consumer are encouraged to donate a portion of their Juicy Rewards to the associated cause and every 3pts donated is matched with 100msq of saved rainforest.

Tropicana

2,400 followers

87,000 fans

Tropicana use blogs & SM to communicate to both broader mass audiences & more targeted groups i.e. the eco hearted or the health conscience woman. They have linked sites

effectively increasing web traffic & search presence.

Although in its infancy, Divine Chocolate is a good example of a cohesive digital strategy that supports offline activity. All digital content from Blog to Facebook is linked with consistent branding throughout.

For example, the brand promotes their legitimate efforts to empower the Ghana’s women via the Divine You Tube channel & supports this across other SM sites & their homepage. This increases the brands transparency & connects with consumers emotionally to build trust & respect.

Divine Chocolate

Marks & SpencerThe M&S micro-site for ‘Plan A Project’ offers engaging, interactive content to absorb consumers. Plan A is an initiative launched in 2007 that sets out 100 commitments to achieve in 5 yrs with aim to become the world's most sustainable major retailer by 2015

However, M&S miss the opportunity to drive awareness & retain advocacy through social media, grossly neglecting to promote Plan A to their 120,000 +Facebook fans. Conjunctively, links to the page a poorly positioned on the homepage & easily missed.

121, 113 + fans

41,000+ fans

11,300+ fans

“Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement

solutions to the environmental crisis”

Patagonia's Mission Statement

Patagonia balance their ethical pursuits with content of interest. They broadcast a variety of eco content on their social media sites & blog, as well as offering engaging outdoor & extreme video content on You Tube and Facebook

Patagonia

Remember

Ga

Social Media is a two dialogue demanding consistency & effort

Listen, learn & know your target audience

Provide an honest response & content that is relevant &

engaging

Encourage open dialogue & UGC

respond to consumer feedback

Deliver on what you promise

Retain brand advocacy

Drive brand awareness

Increase visibility& transparency

of corporate activities

Liz Ryan: l.ryan@skive.co.uk