Item #12: On Being Responsible and Collaborative.

Only five years ago, I recall sitting in boardrooms talking about how ‘cause-related marketing’ and ‘being environmentally aware’ were factoring so heavily into our communications discussions. Words like transparency, authenticity, socially responsible and ‘green’ featured frequently in conversations.

The outcomes of these conversations included large-scale corporately sponsored and successful projects like Fashion Targets Breast Canada, the (Red) Project, and all the printing now done on recycled materials. All good.

But now I am excited to see business begin operating in a way that is consistent with the practices defining CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility. CSR advocates the adoption of business operations that “embrace responsibility for the impact of its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere.” (Wikipedia) I am eagerly watching the emergence of the SuperCorp (Rosabeth Kanter), and the company that works to a triple bottom line: People, Planet and Profits.

To this end, I’ve noticed a recent increase in exchange around a couple of thoughts:

Collaborative Product Use: Movie, DVD and Video Game rental companies have been doing it for decades. Now Zipcars is making a mint off the same concept. Rent or borrow whatever you need, wherever and whenever you need it. Paris has the world’s largest collaborative bicycle use system in place – just ‘borrow’ a bike, get to where you need to go, and hand it back in.

Responsible Communications: Recently an advertising agency in Maryland launched a protest movement - ‘Stop the Adness’. The originators believe that the social contract between advertisers and consumers has been violated. We are all aware of the extent of consumer ‘tune-out’ to advertising – well, more specifically, to bad advertising. Responsible communications gets back to being successful in the essential task of communication: “a two-way process in which there is an exchange and progression of thoughts, feelings or ideas towards a mutually accepted goal or direction.” (Wikipedia)

Collaborative product uses and responsible communications – two things among many I’ll be thinking more about while I confront marketing challenges in this blossoming era of corporate social responsibility.