Don’t Cut CSR Spending: Reallocate to Build Your Brand

By Jennifer_Rice on October 27, 2009 2 Comments allocating resources, Best Buy’s, brand builders, brand promise, Brand/Customer quadrant, cause-marketing, CEO, Citizenship Report, Clorox GreenWorks, CMO, community, Community/Customer, consumer expectations, corporations, CRO, CSR initiatives, CSR investments, customers, design/value, Ecomagination, electronics recycling, employee volunteerism, employees, energy, environmental initiatives, ethical brand-building, ethical brands, ethical business practices, fair labor practices, Fair Trade, Fairmont Hotel, GE, Geek Squad Summer Academy, Green Cuisine, greenwash, innovation platforms, internal operations, IT, job creating ethical brand drivers, job creation, Kiva.org, lobbying powe5, local brand pillar corporate social, Marks & Spencer, opportunity audit, philanthropy efforts, recession, reputation-building, Seventh Generation, social needs, social-impact initiatives, strategic alignment, suppliers, supply chain, sustainability initiatives, tablestakes initiatives, Target, Timberland, triple-bottom line innovation, trust, value creation, waste, Water, white-space opportunities, Whole Foods

As consumer expectations rise and trust in corporations decline, the need for ethical business practices is greater than ever. Yet in a recession, companies seeking to cut costs will likely postpone important CSR initiatives or cut spending in favor of core business initiatives. But it doesn’t have to be either-or. Companies that consider social and environmental initiatives as potential innovation platforms and brand builders — not expenses — will come out ahead.