Brands step up CSR pitch

Companies are fusing social objectives with their business plans as they try and bring about brand-CSR integration to communicate with consumers

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has always been closely linked to corporate reputations and brand identities. But 2016 may well go down as the year when advertising tied the two in an inextricable knot, leading to new models of association between brands and the social sector. Nestle, for instance, adopted a tagline that emphasizes its commitment to girls’ education for all its brands; Pepsico tied up with Liter of Light Foundation to light up villages in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu without overtly promoting its products and Bajaj Auto has recently extended its campaign ‘Invincible Indians’ for ‘V’ range of bikes into the real world by identifying and rewarding people with two-wheelers to help them further their work in the social sector.

 
K V Sridhar, founder and chief creative officer, Hyper Collective, says, “The days of tokenism in CSR are over. Today, brands take their social roles seriously and are giving enough time to how they can discharge their social responsibilities not only meaningfully, but also creatively.” This has meant that social responsibility is not just a mandated goal, but an integral part of the corporate branding strategy.
 
This has changed the way companies view their work in the area. Companies commit to a community initiative even if there is no direct connection with the brand or the product, but use the merits thus accrued to further their reputations with the customer. PepsiCo, for instance, saw reason in allying with a non-profit organisation to provide sustainable lighting solutions for communities in remote villages. It simply lent its Pepsi bottles to the foundation and the ads did not focus on the logo except at the end of the film about the NGO. The Pepsi bottle acts as solar bottle bulb, bringing much-needed relief and cheer to communities located in remote areas and underscores that PepsiCo is a sensitive corporate citizen, company executives said.

 

Companies across the board from fast moving consumer goods to automotive, engineering, steel, metals and e-commerce are taking CSR to the next level, fusing social and business objectives in their bid to position themselves as ones who care. They are also using it to grab customer attention and appreciation on social media. In a competitive world, where consumers are increasingly getting distracted by multiple media and messages, CSR, say experts, is becoming the means by which brands are presenting themselves as ones with a golden heart. Product sales are a consequence of this exercise, they add.
 
Take Hindustan Unilever (HUL), for instance. Its Kan Khajura Tesan, which two years ago had won three gold Lions at the Cannes Ad Fest, is counted as a key radio-on-mobile service in media-dark areas in the North India.  Small towns and villages are typically difficult to reach for any conventional medium, be it print or television. For the country’s largest advertiser as well as the largest consumer goods company, this was a real problem since the firm has over 40 per cent of its sales coming from rural areas. Ignoring the mofussil towns and villages in states such as Bihar, for instance, was simply not possible. So it fused the objective of reaching out to these people (with its ads) and taking care of their entertainment needs. High brand recall (and therefore sales) is a consequence of this exercise, sector experts say.

 
HUL is among the early birds in the game, adopting parent Unilever’s global Sustainable Living Plan for its businesses way back in 2010. PepsiCo had Version One of its ‘Performance with Purpose’ plan under chairperson and CEO Indra Nooyi in place in 2006. The programmes are now being taken to the next level with the company talking about the need for not only healthier food options, but also reducing its environmental impact.
 
While some experts say that mandating CSR under the Companies Act, 2013 (where two per cent of profits have to be set aside for CSR activities) has forced companies to get serious about their social obligations, marrying it with branding strategy  is a relatively new phenomenon. Companies want to tell consumers what they stand for as the majority (especially the young and urban demographic) want to associate with brands that have a heart.

 
Take Nestle, for instance. Popular taglines such as “2 minutes,” which appears below the Maggi brand name on a pack was tweaked to “2 minutes for education.” Similarly, KitKat’s “Take a Break. Have a KitKat” was changed to “Take No Break for Education.” While Nescafé’s “It All Starts with a Nescafé” changed to “It All Starts with Education.”
 
Suresh Narayanan, MD, Nestle India, said, “Brands are built with purpose. By changing the packaging we are not only drawing attention to the cause of girl-child education, but also embracing our collective responsibility towards it.”
 
E-commerce major Snapdeal tied up with Mumbai-based start-up 21Fools this August, to ship thank-you cards, rakhis and luggage tags around the festival of Rakshabandhan and Independence Day. The ‘Happiness Boxes’, the company says, brought joy to the soldiers and the seed cards helped spread the message that the company cared about the environment. Such efforts are set to go up, say experts, and companies will also get more vocal about their commitment to social causes in the New Year, they predict.