csr and sustainability communications: lessons from the obama campaign

Learning lessons from the Obama campaign:

How to ramp up your CSR & Sustainability

communications

SustainabilityConversationsBlog‐‐July2009

2008“Iftherewereeveragroundbreaking,forward‐lookingpushtochallengecommunications

conventions,thiswasit.”EleftheriaParpis,AdWeek

OBAMA’SCAMPAIGNSUCCESSFULLYBROKETHROUGH

ANDTHE‘CWORD(S)’OFCITIZENENGAGEMENT&BRANDCONVERSATION

HEMASTEREDTHEUSEOF360°COMMUNICATIONS

HOWTOAPPLYTHESEBESTPRACTICESTOYOURCSR&SUSTAINABILITYCAMPAIGNS?

HOWDIDHEGETTHERE?

ACHANGEINTURBULENTECONOMCTIMES

OBAMASYMBOLIZEDCHANGE1

HEREPRESENTEDAMUCHNEEDEDLEADERSHIP

HESHAREDHISSOLUTIONSFORARENEWEDAMERICA

WHATDOESITMEANTOYOURCSR&SUSTAINABILITYCAMPAIGNS

•  Consumers or employees are underextremepressureandare lookingforhelpthroughthiscrisis

•  Companies&brandsneedtodemonstrateleadership on issues that matters to theirkey audiences & that are tied to a socialpurpose (i.e. climate change, access tohealth, etc.) in order to show they cancontributetoabetterworld

Createavisionandtakeontoughissues,inaforthright,authenticway

ASKINGEVERYBODYTOWORKTOGETHERTOACHIEVECOMMONGOALS

OBAMAEMPOWEREDHISAUDIENCETOACTFORTHEGREATERGOOD

2

“Weknowthebattleaheadwillbelong,butalwaysrememberthatno

matterwhatobstaclesstandinourway,nothingcanwithstandthe

powerofmillionsofvoicescallingforchange.”

BarackObama's“YESWECAN”speechinNewHampshire

WHATDOESITMEANTOYOURCSR&SUSTAINABILITYCAMPAIGNS

•  CompaniesandbrandsneedtoCONNECT&PARTNER withtheir keyaudiencestoeffectpositivechangetogetherandmakeadifference

•  Empoweringyouraudienceforagreatergood is your newcurrency to retain &motivateyouremployees,increaseloyaltyofyourconsumers,etc.

TOCREATEAMOVEMENTSPARKINGMEANINGFULPARTICIPATIONFROMCITIZENS

OBAMAPIONEEREDTHEEFFECTIVEUSEOFSOCIALMEDIA

3

CHANNELINGBOTHONLINEANDOFFLINEENTHOUSIASMINTOSPECIFICACTIVITIESTOFURTHER

THECAMPAIGN’SGOALS

HELEVERAGEDALLMARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONSTOOLS

•  Instead of communicating amessage, it is about genuinelyengagingintwo‐waydialogueswithyourmultiplestakeholders

•  Givemorepower, not less, toyourtarget audience so they feelownership, so they becomeadvocates

•  Everycompanyisamediacompany:you can now create your owncontentandstarttheconversation

WHATDOESITMEANTOYOURCSR&SUSTAINABILITYCAMPAIGNS

BYALWAYSADDINGAPERSONALTOUCHTOHISCOMMUNICATIONS

AVERYPERSONALCAMPAIGN:DIRECTCONNEXIONBETWEENOBAMA&HISSUPPORTERS4

•  Unders tand you r ta rge taudiences’needsfirst

•  Identify your key stakeholders’expectationsfirstandtalktotheminawaythatmatterstothem

WHATDOESITMEANTOYOURCSR&SUSTAINABILITYCAMPAIGNS

GETONBOARDNOW!

TODAYISA“TRUSTRECESSION”

“Whoeverthoughtthat‘trust’wasfluffy,whoeverthoughtit

inconsequential,andwhoeverthoughttrusthadlongbeen

supersededbyriskmodels–today’strustrecessionisyouranswer”

BUSINESSESNEEDTORESTAURECONFIDENCE&LEADERSHIP

CSRISAPOWERFULWAYTOREBUILDTHE‘SOCIALCONTRACT’

BETWEENYOURSTAKEHODLERSANDYOURORGANIZATION

ITISABOUTINSPIRINGYOURKEYAUDIENCES

ANDLETTINGTHEMTAKEOWNERSHIPOFPOSITIVECHANGE

AROUNDAPOWERFULCAUSE

THATYOUWILLCHAMPION&ADVOCATE

ULTIMATELYENHANCINGYOURCORPORATE&BRANDEQUITY

TOLEAD&STANDOUTINACROWDEDMARKET

TIMEISNOW!

Apresentationby:

Ms.PerrineBouhanaSustainability/CSREvangelist

Ifyouareinterested,let’sstarttheconversation.Pleasefeelfreeto:ContactmeonTwitter:twitter.com/perrineB

Oronmypersonalblog:www.sustainabilityconversations.com