There's an adage that is an apt description of the new dynamic at work between brands and consumers connected through social media: People support what they help to build. But now that many brands are launching community-driven cause marketing campaigns, the challenge becomes what to do next?
The companies that make meaningful contributions while also listening to the voices of others are the ones that will genuinely engage their community, who will then go to work for them.
Work with your competitors when the interest of the community and planet are at stake.
Social technology gives leaders a vital new platform with which to connect their companies to the myriad stakeholders who have an interest in their well being.
Find the human in the technology. The currency marketers trade in has not changed even if the methods have. Emotion is what we exchange.
Non-profits must become deeply engaged in the ways that their donor communities are using social technology.
Like all technology, social media is neutral but is best put to work in the service of building a better world.
Technology is teaching us to be human again.
Social media is not about the exploitation of technology but service to community.
Refuse to accept the belief that your professional relevance, career success or financial security turns on the next update on the latest technology. Sometimes it's good to put the paddle down and just let the canoe glide.
The keys to brand success are self-definition, transparency, authenticity and accountability.
Companies, to date, have often used the excuse that they are only beholden to their shareholders, but we need shareholders to think of themselves as stakeholders in the well being of society as well.
Corporate executives need to re-frame their responsibilities to include the interests of all the stakeholders in society at large not just shareholders, but also employees, the citizens of our communities, and those who care about the environment.
Through their own actions, customers can hold companies responsible to higher standards of social responsibility. Through collective action, they can leverage their dollars to combat the force of those investors who myopically pursue profits at the expense of the rest of society.
We need to develop and disseminate an entirely new paradigm and practice of collaboration that supersedes the traditional silos that have divided governments, philanthropies and private enterprises for decades and replace it with networks of partnerships working together to create a globally prosperous society.
If capitalism is to remain a healthy, vibrant economic system, corporations must participate in taking care of the society and the environment in which they live.
Today's consumers are eager to become loyal fans of companies that respect purposeful capitalism. They are not opposed to companies making a profit indeed, they may even be investors in these companies - but at the core, they want more empathic, enlightened corporations that seek a balance between profit and purpose.
The most impactful way consumers can assert their power is to become mindful shoppers, giving their dollars only to socially responsible companies. In today's world of social media and smart phones, this is easy to do.
More than ever before, consumers have the ability to unify their voices and coalesce their buying power to influence corporate behaviors.
More brands are waking up to their social responsibility and doing good work through cause marketing campaigns. Yet too many still go about it the wrong way. I mean 'wrong' in two senses. Firstly, they are marketing ineffectively, and secondly, as a consequence their positive social impact is not maximized.