The following is a summary of lessons learned and take-aways from the Ft. Worth PRSA June 2010 program, Building a Corporate Social Responsibility Program, with Laura K. Moore, Vice President - Global Communications, Kimberly-Clark Corporation:
What is strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?
Aligning your corporate strategy with your business strategy
Defining the positive impact you aim to make based on what your company is good at
An understanding that doing good can be good for business
Why is CSR important?
Growing environmental concerns
Companies moving from seeing CSR as less of an obligation to more of a business opportunity
Internet enables people to scrutinize corporate behavior
Increased expectations of companies to contribute
Corporate reputations bruised post-recession
Millennial expectations (the connected generation)
CSR goes beyond philanthropy, this is about corporate citizenship.
How the company treats:
Community
Suppliers
Government
Employees
Customers
Environment
Your CSR strategy has to be lived from the inside out.
Be it. Do it. Say it.
A cohesive CSR strategy ensures all key elements of the organization work together.
Employee contributions + Brand Cause Marketing + Corporate Giving = Greater Impact, More Recognition
Corporate trust is a key driver of choice and is currently seriously challenged.
* When people trust a company they:
Will pay more
Will recommend it to others
Engagement increases when an employee is satisfied with the company's CSR initiatives. Employees need to be asking themselves, "What do we stand for?"
Laura Moore pulled the curtain back a little bit on Kimberly-Clark's CSR strategy and plans to move forward. She stated that Kimberly-Clark Corporate Goal: Be responsible stewards of the environment and positive contributors to our community.
Kimberly-Clark has the global assets and framework, however Moore explained that she doesn't have the Ta-Da example from the corporation yet since it is still a work in progress. (Photo: Kimberly-Clark Sustainability Report)
A CSR Enterprise Signature Project needs to:
be based in research;
have a defined focus to be successful;
leverage brands for focus in relevant areas and expertise from with organization; and
What would you add? What do you see as necessary components, objectives, or concepts for a successful CSR program? The comments are yours. --- Special thanks to Corey Lark, AE at Open Channels Group for providing feedback and notes on the June program for the chapter.
As PR professionals watch the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history unfold, we just shake our heads in wonder. Are there any seasoned public relations people at BP's executive table?
It is clear that BP's mistakes not only have damaged untold species, livelihoods, and local economies. Its problems are compounded by the apparent disregard for some of the key principles of crisis communications. Granted, lawyers are now in control because of the likelihood of criminal charges. But early in a crisis is when a company's behavior and communications matter most. Failure to respond quickly and communicate openly in ways that meet the public's needs and expectations will always make matters worse.
1. Accessibility and openness. When a company has a big problem that causes public harm, that company should communicate both internally and externally just as aggressively as it works to fix the problem.
This is one of many principles taught by James Lukaszewski, APR, a leading national figure in crisis communications and public relations. (I've learned a lot from Jim Lukaszewski. His company's website is worth a visit: www.e911.com.)
A public crisis of this dimension demands that a company's top executive step up, communicate, and answer the hard questions. CEO Tony Hayward should be much more visible and accessible to press and to the many publics affected by this disaster. Sorry Tony, you can't have your life back, not for a while.
I believe BP would benefit from allowing TV cameras on its rigs to talk with the workers who are laboring around the clock to repair the leak, drill relief wells and perform other demanding tasks. Workers cleaning up beaches also say they can't speak with press. Now controlling the message is important to a company in a crisis, but within reason. There ought to be a way for the company to demonstrate and describe its cleanup and repair efforts at the ground level.
It would go a long way to rebuild confidence that BP is working tirelessly to try to ameliorate the damage caused by the oil rig blowout and continuing oil flow. It would humanize the company.
2. Responsiveness. Companies have a responsibility to talk about problems affecting the public and to provide important, relevant information as quickly and completely as they can -- especially when health and safety are at risk.
Only this week has BP provided the HD video footage that shows the oil gushing out of the well hole. Scientists and others have been asking for this video for weeks in order to accurately gauge the amount of leakage.
3.Ethics. If a company is at fault, it should admit its mistake, apologize, and explain as quickly as possible. With an absolute commitment to telling the truth. Granted, this was a complex operation involving multiple companies besides BP. Still, BP owes its employees, shareholders, and all affected parties a huge apology, an acknowledgment of its role in this disaster, and an assurance -- grounded in reality -- that this kind of problem will never happen again.
4.Engagement. It is important in a crisis to answer the public's questions and volunteer information that may be of interest -- to use a two-way communications model so that the company is not just talking, but it is also listening and responding.
Instead, BP is engaged in an elaborate, costly, one-way advertising campaign. It is talking at its publics through full-page color ads in the New York Times and likely other news vehicles and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars purchasing Google and Yahoo search terms. More direct engagement with the publics affected by the disaster would cost a lot less and be more effective in rebuilding trust in the company.
5. Commitment. Companies need to learn from their mistakes, talk publicly about what they learned, and commit publicly to fixing whatever needs to be fixed internally to prevent big mistakes from happening again.
BP pleaded guilty in the 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery to violating the Clean Air Act. It pled guilty again to another federal violation for its role in causing oil spills in Alaska in 2006. One has to wonder if BP has learned from its mistakes and examined the business practices that have now led to an enormous environmental disaster. In my humble opinion, from this small agency in Fort Worth, this should be BP's first priority.
I want to be perfectly clear about something, I don't have a complete grasp of social media measurement. But I want to learn. Thankfully, the May 2010 Fort Worth PRSA professional development program was there to help. Katie Paine was our featured speaker and billed to provide morning and lunch sessions focused on key elements of measurement: engagement, including quantitative, qualitative, and new relationship metrics.
If we are going to be any good at using measurement, we must conquer fears. PR people spend too much time being afraid metrics will reveal that their program isn't working; afraid of what they'll hear; afraid they can't justify their program (or existence); and/or are afraid to admit that they don't know how to measure.
"The main reason to measure objectives is not so much to reward or punish individual communications managers for success or failure as it is to learn from the research whether a program should be continued as is, revised, or dropped in favor of another approach."
- Dr. James Grunig of the University of Maryland
Bottom-line, PR people spend too much time trying to justify our existence instead of showing business impact.
Old School vs. New School metrics Old School Metrics:
AVEs (Katie Paine wants to destroy Ad Value Equivalencies.)
Eyeballs
HITS (How Idiots Track Success)
Couch potatoes (I didn't quite understand this one)
# of Twitter followers (unless you're a celebrity)
# of Facebook Friends/"Likes" (unless they donate money)
New School Metrics:
Influence = The power or ability to effect someone's actions
Engagement = Some action beyond zero
Advocacy = Engagement driven by an agenda
Sentiment = contextual expression of opinion - regardless of tone
ROI = Return on Investment - no more, no less. End of discussion.
Starting to sink in Goals drive metrics, metrics drive results:
Here's some thoughts from our speaker on the importance for PR people to measure: Much more to learn
Katie provided the link to her presentation slides "Are we engaged yet? How to develop your engagement metric." She has opened up a wealth of information for attendees and those who could not make the sessions or carve out some time on her blog. I hope you will take some time to mine such treasures as the 27 conversation types, the seven steps to the perfect 21st Century Measurement Program, engagement on places over which you have no control, why you need a Kick Butt Index and much more.
Finally, I'd like to personally thank Katie for her gracious attitude and thoughtful demeanor while imparting some fantastic information. My seven pages of notes requires some time for reflection and application. (Oh and thanks for explaining Maine coon cats, talking politics and of course, geeking out a bit on NCIS.)
President's Column: Tom Burke, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA (This post appeared in the May 2010 issue of the eChaser)
It’s continual learning for me at IBM. Every day. It’s that way when you’re on a team of 400,000 people helping to build a smarter planet and 399,999 of those people are smarter than you!
Thankfully, in today’s intensely competitive and dynamic global marketplace, IBM continues to invest in employee development. Through various avenues, the company provides resources necessary to grow your skills, gain new experiences and build a high-impact career. A career differentiated by expertise. In fact, IBM’s achievements in learning and development recently earned Fortune magazine recognition as the No. 1 company for leaders.
This focus on skills and career development is also true of the Public Relations Society of America. Professional development is one of the most cherished benefits of PRSA membership. At Greater Fort Worth PRSA we continually strive to exceed this expectation of our members through relevant monthly programs and engaging events.
One of our most exciting professional development meetings is set for Wednesday, May 19, at Colonial Country Club. Katie Delahaye Paine, CEO and founder of KDPaine & Partners and author of “Measuring Public Relationships: The Data-Driven Communicator’s Guide to Success,” will lead a three-hour morning workshop focusing on key elements of engagement, including quantitative, qualitative and new relationship metrics. Over lunch she will review measurement principles and how they apply to the new, wild world of social media. It promises to be four hours of exceptional expertise building that you won’t want to miss.
In this crazy world we live in, it is more true than ever that if you’re not learning and growing, you are slowly fading away. And that doesn’t sound like too much fun, does it?
This is cross-posted from chapter member and March luncheon speaker, Jamie Brown's PR blog:
Most public relations practitioners think of corporate video has high-dollar productions. However, the rules in today's world of social media are such that creating a video for your organization doesn't have to be expensive, and it can be just as valuable as a big budget corporate blockbuster. Click here and check out this rapping flight attendant from Southwest Airlines. Southwest put it on their blog and not long after they were fielding phone calls from CNN and The Jay Leno Show! You can't buy that kind of press.
My opportunity to create a viral video came while working at JPS. We wanted to launch a new customer service initiative and roll it out to all 4,500 employees who were geographically separated. We decided creating a series of videos that used humor and was attention grabbing would be far more effective than sending out an e-mail telling everyone to be nice and smile more often. Check out how we created elevator heroes and reminded everyone to provide better communication to patients by clicking here.
You too can create heroes or promote your company's fun atmosphere without breaking the bank by using the following guidelines:
Write it yourself
Use your own people as talent
Keep it short 1:30 - 2 min
Shoot multiple videos at one time
Use limited:
audio
graphics
1ighting
Use these tactics and you should be able to produce a series of viral videos for $6,000-$10,000.
---
(Photo credit: Scott Kinmartin) Do you have any additional ideas or tips on creating potentially viral videos on a budget? The comments are yours.
President's Column: Tom Burke, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
Never mind that historic foot of snow on the ground, I still hit the neighborhood convenience store to pay my weekly state income tax by buying a lottery ticket. The clerk was all too perky. Must have been the weather. As he handed me the potential winning numbers, he said, “Get lucky. Change our lives.”
Not sure I want to change my life. Enhance it, maybe, but changing it at this stage of the game would be a bit drastic.
PR and communications professionals deal with change daily. Often we initiate it. Other times, someone else does, and we’re the ones to make it work. Well, the winds of change are blowing at Greater Fort Worth PRSA. The recession has caused us some minor headaches, one result being that the chapter will no longer pay the parking for luncheon attendees (although we did negotiate a garage rate of $2.50). But after this month that won’t be an issue, because the Petroleum Club is renovating, and we’re shifting to Colonial Country Club. Fore!
So come enjoy our last meeting at the Petroleum Club on Wednesday, March 10, and then recalibrate for Colonial, where the parking is free. The luncheon meetings will stay the second Wednesday of the month except in April for our annual Pro-Am Day. To be more convenient for TCU, UTA and Abilene Christian University students, that meeting will be Friday, April 9.
Whew! That’s enough change for even the most seasoned public relations/communications professional. By the way, the clerk didn’t give me any winning numbers. At least that’s one change I don’t have to worry about.
Engagement increases when an employee is satisfied with the company's CSR initiatives. Employees need to be asking themselves, "What do we stand for?"
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