Category

CSR

• 05.01.08
  Unused Gift Cards Should Go to Charity
  CSR

  I just used a Starbucks gift card I had been given. I got it back from the Barista with $.90 remaining. Likewise I have a gift card from Best Buy with $4 remaining on it. I’d like to see a more charitable way of dealing with ‘left-over’ gift cards. If you have less than $10 left stores should ban together and offer to split the difference; give me the option on the spot to have 50% or more be donated to a worthwhile charity like the One Campaign.
  
  
• 02.02.08
  Do I Want to Be Friends with a Brand?
  Brands and Marketing, CSR

  The relationship of brands within and among social media communities is still in flux. Facebook is one of the first new media companies to attempt to embrace brands outside the context of paid-advertising with the creation of Facebook’s “brand pages.” These pages essentially allow brands to have profiles and friends just like regular Facebook users. At a breakfast I recently attended several people were outspoken over the “friends-with-brands” concept, believing it absurd that people would choose to be friends with a brand. They questioned what benefits a brand could really extract from a ‘social relationship’ with an individual and ...
  
  
• 10.25.07
  Paid Volunteerism, the New ‘Philanthropic’ Trend
  CSR

  Very interesting article from Tuesday’s New York Times highlighting the trend for “paid volunteerism.” The article highlights Frederick A. O. Schwarz Jr., the retired Cravath Partner and heir of the F.A.O Schwarz fortune. Stated Schwarz: “An organization and a person are simply more committed to each other when the person is paid.” According to the Times, an ever-growing number of retirees and nonprofit executives believe that this mindset is how modern retirees view nonprofit work. Experts agree that the automatic link between doing good and working for nothing has been permanently severed. The article further states that even the wealthiest ...
  
  
• 03.23.07
  Motto: A New Magazine, A Worthy Read
  CSR

  In the mail several days ago I received a free copy of a new magazine called ’Motto Magazine.’ It has similarities to FastCompany in that it attempts to prove that business people can be passionate, happy, socially-responsible and still make a killing! The key difference seems to be that they are more niche than FastCompany and focus more on the corporate social responsibility theme. The advertising is all relevant and includes both NetImpact and Calvert. The mag is founded by Kevin Salwen (interviewed here) and Anita Sharpe both former Wall Street Journal writers. It seems the founders are friends of Rex ...
  
  
• 03.21.07
  Brand Reputation: What it is and why it matters a lot
  Brands and Marketing, CSR

  Brand Reputation is a discipline separate from that of traditional branding campaigns. Brand Reputation recognizes that due to increased transparency and access to information, ’traditional branding’ whether through mission statements, marketing or affiliations can easily be verified and evaluated. Thus reputation plays an increasing role in keeping organizations honest and forcing them to take definitive actions, rather than simply making public statements. Both consumers and employees are getting into the game. Brand Reputation is sort of like ’Brands 2.0.’ Until recently brands had largely been considered ’intangible’ concepts. Accounting contributed to this conception by identifying ’goodwill’ as the excess over ...
  
  
• 03.20.07
  Brand Reputation Optimization
  Brands and Marketing, CSR

  "Brand Reputation Optimization" is a new term that I am coining. I encourage you to read this introduction, to email it to a friend and to discuss it with me. I will also be publishing a more detailed white paper on the same subject. Brand Reputation Optimization (BRO for the acronym lovers!) refers to how an organization best positions its brand for long-term sustainability and success. Success in this case refers both to the bottom line and to applying socially responsible business practices sometime referred to as corporate social responsibility. Since the web is now the preferred method by which ...
  
  

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