CSR 2.1

I spoke last week at the Google ThinkTravel! conference and moderated a panel discussion with several CMO’s on what the travel industry will look like in a post-recession world. The discussion ranged from identifying most valued customers to media mix modeling and multi-channel attribution. We had a robust conversation that brought into one room airline, hotels, OLTA’s, cruise ship and destination marketers. There were ‘frenemies’ and collaborators alike all focused on the bigger picture. Call it, Corporate Social Responsibility. Call it CSR 2.1

Old CSR was structured, analytical and (frankly) self-serving. A company planned their initiative and pushed their messaging out into the marketplace with tangible intention. CSR 2.1 is more organic and intuitive and the immediate benefits are not always clear. Consider this Google conference, where some the industry’s brightest minds were brainstorming how to improve customer service, sustain employee retention and be more transparent in the marketplace. Competitive pretense was dropped as ideas began flowing. Google’s industry forums demonstrate CSR is no longer an initiative, but a core strength and tool for attracting and connecting with the consumer. You can see this transition through a recent McKinsey Quarterly article which begins with:

Over the past 30 years, most of them (companies) have responded by developing CSR and sustainability initiatives to fulfill their contract with society…

Before, businesses simply wanted to check the CSR box. But Google wants to expand it. Through their leverage, they encourage moments of convergence industry by industry, creating platforms for collaborative problem solving which has the ultimate intention of greater customer value and eventual monetary success. Reading Vineet Nayar’s article “The Collaboration Imperative” after the conference I saw how the collaborative business world in which we operate demands new thinking around CSR.

Business in our globalized world is only possible because of transparency and collaboration. If we do not embrace those concepts then we cannot efficiently access the resources necessary to grow our businesses. CSR in a globalized economy acts as the first tendrils of business relationships, establishing a platform for future conversations. In our economy a series of responsible acts can be amplified in our social media age to cast a global glow upon a brand from a local act. See the work that Tom’s of Maine is doing with its 50 States for Good program. Hyperlocal philanthropy with global resonance.

At its core, CSR 2.1 is one of the 21st century business imperatives that leaders must adopt. Vineet proposes the following:

In order to survive, business requires the cover of a collaborative ecosystem that will probably render obsolete traditional views of competition.

This new culture of collaboration means that businesses can no longer treat CSR as something to be “fulfilled”; it must be lived and integrated in a way that it becomes core to your business. As marketers we are facing a consumer who no longer cares about headlines, they want the story. CSR is a story, start writing yours and succeed mightily in the 21st century.

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• How Corporate Responsibility Can Survive the Recession (blogs.harvardbusiness.org)
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Tagged as: Business, core strategy, Corporate social responsibility, google, toms of maine, Vineet Nayar