Content We Love: Learn how companies use microgiving to radiate positive energy in the CSR 3.0 era

Google has recently earned the top spot among the 2014 Global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) rankings. This is the fourth year in a row that the search engine giant has earned the best CSR reputation, on the heels of the firm adopting the famous “Don’t be evil” tagline for more than a decade.

The ranking regularly measures public opinion about a company based on the public’s emotional and rational responses to the company’s messaging. The emotional measurement considered four indicators: good feeling, esteem, admiration and trust, then a separate measurement analyzed seven factors: leadership, financial performance, products and services, innovation citizenship, governance, and workplace environment.

The term “corporate social responsibility” was initially described by Adam Smith, an 18^th century economist and arguably the father of modern capitalism, as the “invisible hand” – individuals seem to promote societal interests more effectively when they only focus on pursuing their self-interest. Later on, the concept shifted to be used for maximizing profits, drawing attention to environmental concerns and social responsibility movements. Today, the corporate communications community has chosen to improve their corporate image and brand reputation through different microgiving projects, as the opportunities to engage public with their CSR activities seem to be boundless.  

According to statistics compiled by PR Newswire in 2015 (by June 1), the most common themes of CSR-related press releases and their percentage breakdown in terms of how often each theme is used are as follows:  

Although CSR projects mainly focus on issues related to women, children, health and the environment, food security, poverty and disasters, campaigns with the same CSR theme could result in different outcomes and reputation, based on how companies tell their stories. In this case, here is how two separate companies presented their CSR campaigns under the same theme (making donations to children in need):

Scenario A: Company X expresses its heartfelt affection and concern for disadvantaged children through a clothing donation program

On June 1, 2015, Children’s Day, company X officially launched a public service campaign to donate clothing to the poor, expressing their sincere caring and heartfelt warmth for and offering companionship to the “left-behind” children across China.

Scenario B: Panasonic brought “lantern zoo” to an Indonesian village in collaboration with NGO Kopernik.

At the end of February 2015, Panasonic made a lantern donation and hosted a lighting ceremony in the village of Sone, a village in Indonesia’s West Timor that has no access to electricity. The “Cut Out the Darkness” project, as part of Panasonic Corporation’s “100 Thousand Solar Lanterns Project”, delivers solar lanterns with lantern shades designed by individuals from around the world, in the hope of making people aware of the challenges of living in places that have no electricity.

Highlights:

The later example, unlike the typical PR story that focuses on the company’s products and services, tells the story objectively.

It instantly inspires the reader’s imagination with just a few sentences about the launch ceremony of the “Zoo of Light”, bringing to mind the Loy Krathong Festival in Chiangmai meant to evoke a romantic tone.

“At the lantern-lighting ceremony, all kinds of animal designs on the shades appeared suddenly, as if floating in the air, when the solar lanterns were turned on.”

The background of the village is revealed through great storytelling, which does not sound canned or made up in any way, and it does a wonderful job at touching people’s heart.

“In the past, weaving by hand under the light of a kerosene lamp at night was inefficient, strained the eyes, and exposed households to health risks from the kerosene smoke. The newly-donated solar lanterns can be recharged by sunlight during the day and then used at night.”

Leaders’ speeches were not delivered in the usual official rhetoric, and, as a result, did not degrade the significance of the event and the benefits to the local people. Local government officials expressed their sincere appreciation on behalf of the villagers, while the project leader emphasized the sense of unity he felt when engaging in the lighting ceremony together with the local villagers.

Multimedia elements including photos and video also make the story more vivid, compelling and original: it’s not just a photo of leaders cutting the ribbons, but of the local children smiling under the light of the new lamps.

So here’s the question: how could you make a press release stand out from the crowd? Is it by being a self-absorbed writer who screams, “look at all the goods I have done?” or is it by telling a genuine, original and effective story that your readers can relate to and be able to connect that positive emotional feeling with your company’s image?

The secret is to highlight what makes your story and your brand different – don’t be boring, don’t try to be someone else, be authentic and own it. The form of an event must be novel and unique, and the event must be tactfully relevant to your company. Find a great story to tell and find the right channel to communicate it.

Here’s a classic case: Coca Cola vending machine dispenses cola and smiley faces

With its theme “A Happy Opening”, passers-by just couldn’t resist hugging the Coca Cola vending machine adorned with the “Hug Me” logo. The Coca Cola creative campaign, distributed worldwide, appealed to people around the world to take on a positive, optimistic and fun-filled attitude towards life, aptly conveying the literal meaning of Coca Cola’s Chinese name.

The news release, with its unique and creative design, was selected as one of PR Newswire’s Top 10 Chinese-language Corporate News Releases in 2012. The designation was based on a set of criteria that took into account the news release’s newsworthiness, effectiveness as a communications vehicle, online awareness and the amount of pick up on microblogs.

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Source: PR Newswire

By Cathy Zhao, Senior Editor, PR Newswire

This is an original article written by PR Newswire. Please indicate the source and link back to the original when reprinting.