Justmeans.com is the world’s leading source of information and connections for people doing business better.

Please check out their site, they have been a great resource for us.

Ideally, you’ll have 3-5 years of experience in the digital marketing or media world, as well as the following qualities we seek in all of our candidates:

-Excellent writing skills–not just “professional,” but creative, versatile, authentic, and full of personality.

-A sincere interest in making the world a better place through digital marketing and media.

4goodmedia’s operations and client support teams are diverse, well-educated, and passionate about success in all areas. We encourage natural structures and an entrepreneurial focus that helps us create breakthrough opportunities for us, our clients, and when we do it right, the world.

Employees can count on a collaborative, intellectually vigorous, and fun work environment that emphasizes mutual respect, leadership, and the pursuit of continual growth. We encourage community involvement, and compensate team members who choose to dedicate time to good causes.

If that sounds like an environment you’d love and you meet the criteria above, then please get in touch with Sean Evanko at sevanko@4goodmedia.com.

Because most Fortune 500 brands tend to not share their more progressive initiatives on audience-preferred blogs and consumer-generated media sites, the unfortunate result is (besides not joining and productively influencing the discussion where it is taking place), a large cross-section of the marketplace believes that the corporation is simply “cause-washing” regarding its commitment to social causes, paying only lip service to issues that are of great social and/or ecological importance. Note the first chart above, which shows topic activity embraced by the marketplace (measured in number of monthly mentions)—all major online social tools are used heavily by consumers (e.g. news sites, microblogs (mostly Twitter), online forums, wikis, photo-sharing sites, and popular social networks).

This is in sharp contrast to the chart at below-right, which shows the common corporate approach across those same online discussion platforms (also measured in number of monthly mentions). While absolute volume of activity is understandably lower for corporations than the entire consumer marketplace, news sites, blogs, video/photo sharing sites and social networks bear little mention of the corporation’s social programs, further reinforcing a lack of awareness around cause-driven aspects of the company’s mission and brand.

Well, they’re not alone. A new polarizing topic is emerging, filled with troubling and skeptical points about the state of corporate social responsibility. Using the BP oil spill as their primary example, CSR is getting a bad name by some pretty big names. Some dig deeper, looking beyond marketing tactics, taking issue with corporation that acquire “green” or socially progressive companies, effectively masking, or “cause washing” their legacy business models.

It’s an easy argument to make. These large corporations are highly visible and so are their often hypocritical actions.

We feel that while it is important to note these differences and be steadfast in our determination to see more authentic and ethical business practices, it’s also important to encourage the right behavior – even from large, multi-national conglomerates. Pardon the anecdote, but a colleague recently noted that the removal of the plastic tabs from fast food coffee containers did more to help the environment than any recycling program that year. How unglamorous, and yet, what a victory for the environment.

Frankly, we struggle with the all-or-nothing approach, because if today’s consumers did have to make an all-or-nothing decision right now, wouldn’t that answer probably be “nothing?”

The anti-CSR has their voices, the CSR revolutionaries have theirs. Ours as a responsible marketing agency, is focused on sharing what is possible, not what should be boycotted. Our job – for our clients and for our world – is to hold up examples of success and to point out the steps to that success. We believe in the triple bottom line of people, profits, and planet and are completely impressed when we see it in action. So impressed, actually, that we’ll do anything to help encourage it – including giving our services away for free on occasion.

We are confident enough in our marketing approaches and in the marketplace to deliver the kind of improved return on investment that turns the heads of even the most short-sighted and greedy mega-corporate executives – while encouraging the right CSR behavior.

Ok, maybe I’m not so frustrated anymore. I’d like to hear your side of things. Should consumers encourage the “right behavior” supporting authentic CSR brands, even if they’re held by bottom-line mega-corporations or should consumers boycott everything non-CSR?

Which is the most responsible thing to do?

Unless you’ve been on vacation or living under a rock, the highly viewed and publicized ad campaign thoroughly incorporated the social media experience from concept, development, production and distribution. The Wieden + Kennedy team, lead by Ian Taint, “seeded various social networks with an invitation to ask questions of Mustafa’s character, a dashing shirtless man with over-the-top humor and bravado. Then all the responses were tracked and users who contributed interesting questions and/or were high-profile people on social networks are being responded to directly and by name in short, funny YouTube videos”

The result has been remarkable. The fully integrated online-broadcast creative really paid off – resulting in a near 180 reversal of downward interest over the last 90 days.

Pivotal Event?

Clearly this campaign wasn’t the typical major-buy-to-website type of user experience we’ve seen for the past ten years. (Google’s Superbowl Ad comes to mind, as a recent example).

It makes us wonder if Iain Tait’s title, Global Interactive Creative Director, isn’t a bit dated. It certainly doesn’t reflect how how more and more of us consume media – across a variety of platforms and delivery devices.

Perhaps we’re seeing a different type of Internet sensation: the birth of a brand new title at marketing and advertising agencies: Integrated Media Creative Director. The example Tait set in this campaign gives us a hint of future creative possibilities using his integrated approach. And, given the success of the campaign, we’ll likely see more agencies and advertisers eager to construct cross-platform dialogs, using all manner of media –social and otherwise.

As for Tait, his star is certainly rising.

“For example, recent research involving Procter & Gamble , General Mills and Timberland revealed that many of their stakeholders had no idea of the companies’ corporate responsibility initiatives, or had a very limited understanding and didn’t find them personally relevant. Because of that, they often questioned the companies’ motivations for engaging in corporate responsibility activities.”

Obviously, it’s not enough to put a stake in the ground regarding corporate social responsibility and expect the world with embrace – or trust – your brand because of it. Yet, we found many large corporations doing just that.

CSR-powered organizations must embrace social partnerships and social media tools to authentically engage the marketplace in discussion about the value of their stance and their products for several reasons. First, you can look at this through the cold calculation of return on investment – and you should. In a prior post we cited a WSJ study showing that consumers greatly preferred brands that have CSR values. The level of preference was directly proportional to the level of ethics embraced by the consumer. Several other studies support and expand on the WSJ’s findings. Second, there’s a larger issue of not evangelizing your values for the purpose of inspiring others to embrace those values. Doing so helps improve our world and our lives, in many ways and on many levels.

At no other point in human history have there been more tools to create buzz. If your organization is authentically following CSR values, shouldn’t you be using these tools to gain greater awareness and support of the causes you stand behind? Consumers and clients alike need to easily understand your legitimacy – through your strategic partners, employees, customers, executive leadership and other stakeholder activities.

Not creating greater groundswell of interest in your CSR initiatives is a shame.  And so, because our mission is “To Be a Catalyzing Force for Corporate Social Responsibility and the Positive Impacts it Creates”, we decided to measure which companies are the most effective at garnering awareness and support for their CSR initiatives.

We’re calling it the 4goodmedia CSR Marketing Index and it will show which companies’ CSR initiatives are gaining the most traction among their target consumers – and how they did it. And, since it’s summer, we decided an obvious area of focus should be the beverage industry.  In the fall, we’ll be looking at the paper products industry.

Collecting and analyzing this information has been a massive undertaking, but worth it. In subsequent posts, we’ll share updates and early findings with you. (Right now, all we can say that there are some interesting surprises.)

]]> http://www.4goodmedia.com/marketing4good/it%e2%80%99s-a-shame-the-missing-part-of-being-socially-responsible/feed/ 0 http://www.4goodmedia.com/marketing4good/overcoming-adversity-with-the-collaborative-partnership/ http://www.4goodmedia.com/marketing4good/overcoming-adversity-with-the-collaborative-partnership/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:26:30 +0000 admin http://www.4goodmedia.com/marketing4good/?p=262 You may not know or care how the tiny Island nation of Barbados recovered from a devastating economic crisis in the early 1990’s – but their behavior and decisions are a lesson to anyone interested in corporate social responsibility

The recession twenty years ago, like the one we’ve been experiencing, stalled economies around the world. For a country like Barbados that relies heavily on one industry – tourism – it delivered much more than stalled growth, however. It created nearly 25% unemployment. More than that, it created a kind of uncertain and panicked mood, which, historically, has been responsible for unrest, riots, and even coups by the military or drug lords.

Desperately needing cash, Barbados did what a lot of countries do in a similar predicament. It turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Unlike its other Caribbean counterparts, however, which ignored input from their industry and workers, simply accepting the aggressive terms of IMF loans, Barbados looked at the situation from all perspectives. Through a remarkable series of open-minded conversations and by intentionally empathetic exchanges, Barbados did the exact opposite of what was expected. They formed a Social Partnership between industry and its workers. Transparency, not defensiveness, prevailed. The practice of hard negotiations and blame-gaming were traded for collaborations toward a shared goal.

As a 2001 Geneva International Labor Office report states, “as a result of the evolving social partnership, negotiations began to focus on new forms” of payment terms, in which the country would be able to dramatically reverse the effects of the crisis. In just five years, the IMF loan was repaid and the country was on its feet again. Despite the fact that unemployment remained in the double digits, agreements were established within the social partnership, which mandated that layoffs would prevent entire families from getting wiped out. One “bread-winner” would be able to keep his/her job for each house hold.

Instead of getting destroyed by the economic crisis of the 1990’s, Barbados became stronger. Today, it is a thriving country with a strong GDP and top performing schools. A recent NPR report, which compared Barbados to Jamaica, showed that even years later, the Social Partnership was a very smart, socially-responsible business decision: “In Barbados,” Alex Blumberg recently said, “almost every sixth grader can read. In Jamaica, a quarter can’t. The kids are just as bright, the teachers as hardworking.” But, Barbados is the one with the growing economy, and jobs for its graduating students.

How transparent and collaborative is your company? How often do you invite customers and other key stakeholders to share their perspectives on how you can overcome obstacles and/or rise to new challenges? Is that a radical thought?

A glass of coffee Photo and edit by Suguri_F

As you head out to get your iced coffee today, I’d like you to think about a growing trend – one in which you may unknowingly be participating.

Fair Trade  -  the practice of offering more equitable trading conditions to marginalized producers and workers – is experiencing a powerful resurgence.

In its early days, consumers had a on again / off again relationship with fair trade. The practices first gained favor in the middle part of the last century as part of a political movement to help underprivileged nations. As consumers became more sophisticated, however, the popularity of fair trade products began to wane. Fair Trade hadn’t kept up with the times.

Today, there are many new reasons to support Fair Trade. As this report found, Fair Trade has a poverty-reducing impact for communities in the third world.

Even more compelling, however, is the movement of employees and corporate leadership who have become a driving force in making decisions to purchase fair trade products.  Check out these case-studies of how corporations embraced fair trade.

Fair trade in this century has gone b-to-b and it’s getting bigger every day.

Look around your office. Where does the artwork or the logo’d customer giveaways come from? Are they fair trade?  How about the coffee? You might be surprised.

5. Because there are always consequences. Short-sighted, profit-above-all-else-focused businesses directly and indirectly create workplace crisis, operational sloppiness and/ or environmental risks. They ignore vital leading-edge indicators that a socially-responsible company embraces. Malcolm Gray, portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management recently argued that a company that is responsible is more likely to build capital over time compared to an irresponsible company that runs the risk of taxes and levies to recoup costs. Maya Fisher-French of the Mail & Guardian makes this point nicely in her article BP disaster makes case for socially responsible investing

4. Because Consumers prefer it. If your intuition tells you that today’s socially-connected and vigilant consumers want to buy from companies that are socially responsible, you’d be right on the money. In a recent study, the Wall Street Journal found that consumers consistently favored corporations with “high ethical standards. ”In a series of experiments, consumers viewed identical products but one group was told the items had been made using and another group that low standards had been used. Results showed that consumers are not only willing to pay more for ethically produced goods – they’ll punish an unethically-made product by buying it only at a steep discount.

3. Because it’s becoming more a part of mainstream culture. If these combined blog and news trends are to be taken seriously, there is a clear and powerful growth in interest regarding socially responsible topics and business. In the last 24 months alone, buzz about such topics has increased nearly 10 times.

2. Because we’re in good company. There is a growing community of accomplished business people who are passionate about socially responsible business activity. Here are few examples:

-Corporate Responsibility Magazine: The CRO advances the profession of the Corporate Responsibility Officer.
-Sustainable Life Media: A community of sustainable business innovators and thought leaders sharing information, education and a shared purpose.
-HBR green: A Discussion about Leadership and the Environment.
-Bcorporation.net: A review body and association which proclaims “That we must be the change we seek in the world,” among other powerful values.

And the number one reason…

1. Because we believe in it. As more is written on how personal values of the corporation’s leadership extends to their decisions and, ultimately the resulting impact on the marketplace, it is becoming much more evident that the courage to lead by evolved personal values – not fashionable ideas or short-sightedness – are driving a burgeoning movement. Consider our recent review of 1000 businesses which were randomly-sampled. We found that nearly one third had some sort of socially-responsible initiative in place, primarily employee-focused. Nearly every size type of business was represented, from consulting to technology, manufacturing and financial services. From start-ups to well-established global businesses, a prevailing theme is emerging, which, on the surface appears to be driven not by profits, but by the other vital components of the 3BL.

What about you? Which answer above most resonates with you – or do you have your own reasons? What are they?

First to address the question, it has indeed become much more scientific, and every recession seems to force this evolution by leaps and bounds. Moreover, it seems to claim a bigger and bigger stake of the overall….what I’ll call the “business communications” pie. Pay-per-Click campaigns, for example, are advertising but are highly measurable and were first championed by “online marketing” agencies. Social media, our most recent shiny new object, should be quite frankly the domain of PR agencies, but are much more often promoted and used by marketing professionals.

Second, let’s assume this wave of marketing becoming mostly scientific, and taking over advertising and public relations disciplines, what will the future hold for us. Sadly, I think its a darker story. Here’s why: Most companies will always find cost-cutting to be more financially advantageous than earning more money because cost-cutting directly benefits the bottom line. Top line results, like revenue, still have to trickle down over time to deliver business value.

Therefore, expect to see. . . (ready for it?) M.A.I. – Marketing Artificial Intelligence appear within the next ten years.

MAI will allow businesses to connect with deeply relevant and powerful data sources, negotiate with online properties via live-feed statistically-based bidding algorithms, load and rotate creative on the fly across all platforms (online and offline), and best of all, not ask for a raise, beg to engage in some idealistic rabbit hole, or not be able to answer the all important question, “how much are we directly benefiting from that spend?” It will control the pipeline, break down the communications barriers between sales and marketing as well as marketing and IT, and present a far greater capacity to more nimbly respond to important marketplace and competitor trends. With MAI there’s no consensus to build because all decisions are data driven. There’s less time spent negotiating or wooing other department heads in meetings and conference calls. This is completely consistent with the Life Hacker trend we’re spotting.

We’re already seeing the “Model-T” versions of this both with automated messaging tools like some of Unica’s products (unica.com) and with the turn-key social web platform found in HubSpot (HubSpot.com).

It is also completely consistent with recent business history to find software to replace humans. Marketers who think of their approach as a unique and precious blend of talent and skill, will find themselves as this century’s “John Henry” unable to keep up with technology that eclipses their best efforts.

Instead of 5 to 10 person marketing departments, we’ll see one person. Ironically, that person may just be a Creative.

Thoughts? Are you a John Henry?