identity marketing & csr

Bachelor Thesis

Identity Marketing & CSR Corporate Social Responsibility based on the company’s identity – the basis for Identity Marketing

Daniela Faßbach Saxion Lectorship of Identity Marketing February – June 2011

Corporate Social Responsibility based on the company’s identity – the basis for Identity Marketing

2 Daniela Faßbach

Identity Marketing & CSR

What are the internal and external consequences for a company

which bases its Corporate Social Responsibility on the company’s

identity – the basis for successful Identity Marketing?”

Department: Saxion Lectorship of Identity Marketing

Author: Daniela Faßbach

University: Saxion University of Applied Science

School of Marketing & International Management

International Business and Languages

Company Mentor: Dr. A. Blootens

Supervisor(s): Dr. C.M. Stuij

Dr. J. Oude Rengerink

Graduation period: February – June 2011


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Preface

The first experience I had with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was during my internship in

Madrid. I am so thankful to Patricia Sanchez, who showed me what social compliance really means.

She is the most impressive person I have ever met and the reason why it became my desire to work

more thoroughly on this issue for my Bachelor Thesis.

This thesis would not have been possible without the existence and the support of the readership of

Identity Marketing at the Saxion University. I would therefore like to thank Mr. Arno Blootens, my

supervisor and the initiator of this project. Before starting with this project, I had never before heard

of Identity Marketing, I was however enthusiastic about it from the very beginning, because I felt

that there was a strong connection to CSR.

I am heartily thankful to my first reader, Mr. Corné Stuij, whose encouragement, guidance and

support from the initial to the final level, enabled me to develop and to elaborate my thesis. He was

always prepared to provide me with information, motivation and contacts for further support.

Another great ‘thanks’ goes to Ms. Lisanne Bouten, who supported me with useful advice regarding

the content as well as the right methodology. She “re-motivated” me just at the point when I did not

know how to continue.

Furthermore, I owe my deepest gratitude to Ms. Corinna Korte, Ms. Nina Lauterbach and Ms.

Annette Koch, who heartfully welcomed me to the interview concerning the Gerry Weber

International AG. Their willingness to support my work exceeded all of my expectations.

I also would like to thank the CEO of JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG, who arranged the interview, which

I conducted with the Social Compliance Manager and the Commercial Director. Of course, I respect

their request not to name any names and hope that they welcome my results despite some prior

reservations.

Lastly, I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported me in any respect during the

completion of the project.

27.05.2011, Telgte

Daniela Faßbach


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Summary

In times of globalization and ecological disasters the public pressure on companies to do more than

to observe the law is growing. This paper is based on the idea that a company can find a strong and

believable answer to this pressure by linking its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy to the

company’s identity. The objective is to give an answer to the question “What are the internal and

external consequences for a company which bases its Corporate Social Responsibility on the

company’s identity – the basis for successful identity marketing?.

This paper is divided into two parts. In the first part, a desk research, the concepts of Identity

Marketing and CSR are explained and linked. The second part, a field research, presents case studies

of the two fashion companies Gerry Weber International AG and G. Güldenpfennig GmbH, subsidiary

of JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG, with the purpose of providing practical examples of an analysis of the

degree of linkage between a company’s identity and its CSR strategy. The final conclusion gives a

reasonable explanation to the starting question and presents a guideline for companies how to

(re)define a CSR strategy that fits to a company’s identity.

In contrast to traditional marketing, Identity Marketing starts with the company itself and its reason

for its existence. The goal is to develop a distinctive power that enables the consumers to identify

themselves with the company or brand via the same values. The process of Identity Marketing

consists of two steps. First the company determines its identity through completing the six elements

of identity with its own, unique answers. Secondly, the defined identity is anchored within the

company by translating it into the twelve organizational components of the organization.

Corporate Social Responsibility can be defined in several ways. In this paper it is seen as the social

and environmental long term commitment of companies concerning all areas that are influenced by

the company’s existence. Many companies fail to answer the growing demand for green and socially

responsible products because they use CSR only as a marketing tool which makes CSR unreliable.

The concept of Identity Marketing and the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility are based on

similar needs, including spiritual needs. Spirituality stands for the need to do good and to be of

relevance. Before a company can decide how it can meet these needs through its CSR, it has to

determine all its opportunities for CSR initiatives. Therefore it can make use of Porter’s Value Chain

Model and his Diamond Framework.

Joining the results from the desk research and the field research leads to the conclusion that making

a link between Identity Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility is relevant and advantageous

for companies. The examples of Gerry Weber International AG and JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG show

that companies link CSR with their identity to some extent without being aware of either the concept

of Identity Marketing or even their own identity. The reason is that companies normally try to put

their core competences into their CSR engagement in order to reach a maximum value for both

society and themselves. Nevertheless, this does not make Identity Marketing redundant for the

linking process, because a company can only consciously bring its CSR strategy to perfection, when it

is aware of its identity. A conscious link between identity and CSR has a lot of general, internal and

external, potentially positive, consequences, but being aware of these advantages is useless, if there

is no tool helping to link a company’s identity and its CSR strategy. This paper therefore presents the

4-Step-Model, which leads a company through the whole process from determining a company’s

identity through choosing the right CSR issues to translating the identity into activities for these CSR

issues.


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Table of Contents

1 Introduction 7

1.1 Ideology 7

1.2 Vision 7

1.3 Mission 8

1.4 Unique strength 9

1.5 Core values 9

1.6 Ambitions 9

2 Research Method 11

2.1 Phase 1: Orientation 11

2.2 Phase 2: Choice of methods and techniques for research 11

2.3 Phase 3: Choice of methods and techniques for collecting data 12

2.4 Phase 4: Choosing or designing instruments of measurement and models 12

2.5 Phase 5: Collecting data 13

2.6 Phase 6: Data analysis 13

2.7 Phase 7: Drawing conclusions 13

2.8 Phase 8: Making recommendations, giving advice 13

3 Desk Research 15

3.1 Identity Marketing 15

3.2 Corporate Social Responsibility 20

3.3 CSR and Identity Marketing 25


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4 Field Research 28

4.1 Gerry Weber International AG 28

4.2 JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG 34

5 Conclusion 39

5.1 Integration of Field Research Results 39

5.2 Consequences 40

6 Recommendation 43

6.1 Step 1: Motivation and know-how 43

6.2 Step 2: Identifying the identity and (potential) CSR issues 43

6.3 Step 3: Anchoring the identity within the CSR strategy 44

6.4 Step 4: Monitoring and locking overtime 46

Bibliography 48

Appendix 50

A. Questionnaire Gerry Weber International AG 50

B. Value Chain Model 52

C. Diamond Framework 53

D. ‘Vliegwiel van identiteit®’ – Flywheel of identity 54


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1. Introduction

This chapter is the ‘piece of identification’ of this Bachelor Thesis. By providing answers to the six

elements of identity (Chapter 3) it explains what brought me to write this paper; it tells you what I

aim to achieve with it and what you can expect from it.

1.1 Ideology

I propose that there is no way around using a company’s identity in order to develop a believable and

effective Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy. The challenge, I accept, in this paper is to

demonstrate how a company can find the CSR strategy that best fits to its identity and what

consequences, internally and externally, this will have. In this way a company can create a lasting

effect upon society and the environment and therefore an additional and unique value for its

customers.

1.2 Vision

What do I see at the moment? How do I view the current situation?

In times of financial crisis and economic stagnation I perceive the following situation: saturated

markets and fierce competition. Consumer goods can be replaced easily, because they do not differ

in function and quality, rather in price and the way they are marketed. At the same time the social

and ecological problems rise. Companies are confronted with public pressure to do more than to

observe the law. They are expected to maximize the positive impact they can have on all of their

stakeholders, including the society and the environment (Felber, 2008; Habich, 2008). In the 1980s, a

new concept received more and more attention because it enables companies to provide more than

the pure product: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It is a concept of entrepreneurial

responsibility that connects the idea of sustainability with the companies’ behaviour regarding

people, planet and profit. There are some international standards that can be used as guidelines to

act in a socially responsible manner, such as the Global Compact of the United Nations. There are

many different fields of action in which a company can become involved: the environment,

education, development assistance, society, equality/diversity and many more. But just this variety

of possibilities raises a lot of confusion. Which CSR activity suits the company best?

According to Cornelia Geissler (2011, p.13) 92 percent of German companies consider ethical training

to be useful. 58 Percent of the companies already have their own code of conduct. This sounds good,

but as Rousseau already said “Wer nur um des Geldes willen Gutes tut, wartet nur darauf, besser

bezahlt zu werden, um Schlechtes zu tun“ (whoever does good, just for money, is only waiting to be

better paid for doing bad). The problem I see is that companies adorn themselves with beneficial

projects that have no connection with their original business. For example, a company engages in a

CSR project for street kids and at the same time it tries to minimize its tax obligations through profit

reallocation (which could finance many other projects) (Felber, 2008). The effect is that CSR loses

authenticity and reliability. It is misused as a marketing tool; often called ‘green washing’, which


8 Daniela Faßbach

describes the intent of companies to achieve a green image by marketing and PR-activities without

implementing the necessary measurements (Prof. Dr. Lin-Hi).

What do I want to see? What is my preferred perception for the future?

CSR is essential for a sustainable development that takes into account the social disparity resulting

from globalization and geographical diversity as well as the ecological problems such as pollution and

global warming. Companies, as members of society and global actors are of great importance.

Through this paper I wish to motivate them to do more by applying Identity Marketing. Most

companies are aware of their responsibility and are prepared to engage, but fail to find the right way.

I want to show them that nobody expects them to solve every social problem. They can reach much

more when they concentrate on one problem – the one that is most connected with their identity. I

aim to make it visible that it is much easier to find creative and sustainable solutions to this problem

than to problems that do not affect the company’s identity. I am, by the way, convinced that this

path is much more credible and authentic; a fact that will be rewarded by customers and other

stakeholders. But the basis is that the company is aware of its identity. In my opinion, it is essential

that future orientated companies (re)start their business through determining their reason for

existence and the values they really want to stand for.

Furthermore I want to show that there are multiple ways to engage socially and ecologically.

Companies can learn from each other and each company can still find its own unique way.

1.3 Mission

To my central question “What are the internal and external consequences for a company which

bases its Corporate Social Responsibility on the company’s identity – the basis for successful identity

marketing?” I want to give the answer by first conducting desk research about the theory of identity

marketing and CSR followed by field research; the latter consisting of two case studies of the fashion

companies, Gerry Weber International AG and G.Güldenpfennig GmbH. The fashion industry has

been particularly blamed for inhuman production methods and bad CSR policies (Sabersky & Zittlau,

2009; Werner & Weiss, 2010). My proof that it is possible to create a believable and sustainable CSR

in this sector, may lead to the assumption that the “identity-and-CSR-finding process” will be

transferable to every sector. At the end of this paper I will draw a conclusion and present a guideline

how best to link Identity Marketing and CSR. During the whole process, I will find answers to the

following sub questions:

Desk research

- What is identity marketing? What are the benefits of this approach? (Chapter 3.1)

- What is the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility? (Chapter 3.2)

- How can a company determine its identity? What are the steps a company should follow to do

so? (Chapter 3.1)

- What does “internal” and “external” mean? (Chapter 5.2)

- How can a company base its CSR activities on its identity? Which are the best theories, models

or tools helping in this process? (Chapter 6)

Field Research (Chapter 4)

- What are the identities of the companies I have taken as examples?


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- What are their CSR policies? Do these fit to their identity?

- What could be improved?

1.4 Unique strength

This paper links Identity Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility in a surprising way. Two

concepts, that at first glance do not necessarily have much in common, will be discovered as jigsaw

pieces which only when assembled can tap their full potential. This paper is unique, because it is the

first document that analyzes the relationship between Identity Marketing and CSR. But even more

important is, that this paper does not only describe the importance of linking the two concepts, it

also presents a guideline, on how a company can find its best and unique way to a believable CSR

strategy based upon the company’s identity.

1.5 Core values

C ompelling: The reader becomes not only interested in but touched by the topic and the desire to

know more about it.

S ustainable: The reader does not read my paper in order to forget it. This paper can be seen as

the starting point for a concept of linking Identity Marketing and CSR. It will inspire

and motivate people towards further elaboration in the future.

R eflective: The reader reflects upon the topic and decodes it for his own situation. This enables

him to put the theory into practice and find suitable solutions for his own

company/organization/life...

1.6 Ambitions

My ambition is to...

analyze the link between Identity Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility by reviewing

existing literature and by carrying out interviews with at least two companies about their

practical experiences.

develop a tool that will help companies to (re)design their CSR strategy based upon the

companies identity.

Within the first year after finishing this paper my ambition is to...

awaken the interest of at least three persons affected by my topic, who have never before heard

about Identity Marketing.

convince at least two persons already dealing with Identity Marketing of the importance of

including CSR into the anchoring process of Identity Marketing.

inspire at least one company to build up or revise its CSR strategy based upon the guidelines

presented in this paper.


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This paper is based on the ideology that a strong company’s identity is the prerequisite for a

believable and effective Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy. My vision is that companies

become motivated towards applying Identity Marketing in order to find a creative and sustainable

CSR strategy that is linked to their identity and core business. In this way they can react to the

growing public pressure on companies to do more than to observe the law in times of globalization

and environmental disasters. I want to give answers to my central question “What are the internal

and external consequences for a company which bases its Corporate Social Responsibility on the

company’s identity – the basis for successful identity marketing?” by conducting first a desk research

second a field research. This is the first paper which links Identity Marketing and CSR; thus it is also

the first one which presents a guideline for companies on how to find their unique route to an

authentic CSR strategy anchored within their identities. The core values of this thesis are to be

compelling, sustainable and reflective. My ambition is to conduct an interesting and reasonable

analysis which results in a new, useful tool as well as to make my readers interested in the topic and

willing to apply my recommendations.


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2. Research Method

This chapter describes and justifies the research methods this paper is based on. In order to answer

the research question the research was carried out in two phases. The first was desk based research

in order to find out which results are already based in literature; the second was field research

conducted by interviewing representatives of two companies that serve as practical examples of

potential ways of linking Identity Marketing and CSR. The results from both phases were the basis for

the conclusion and recommendation.

2.1 Phase 1: Orientation

This first phase served as an advance orientation to the assignment in order to become informed

about what had already been published regarding the topic. Interesting books were found in the

libraries in Enschede and Münster. Searching the internet helped to determine important

organizations for CSR. In respect of obtaining contact with people experienced in Identity Marketing

and CSR, joining the LinkedIn groups ‘Identity Marketing’ and ‘CSR’ was very helpful. Also the blog

‘De kritische optimist’ written by Ernesto Spruyt which is dealing with the relationship between CSR

and a company’s identity was promoted there. He advised reading the book Marketing 3.0 (Kotler,

Kartajaya & Setiawan, 2010) and the article ‘CSR audit: From theory to practise’ (Porter & Kramer,

2006). The results of this study of literature formed the basis for chapter 3.

2.2 Phase 2: Choice of methods and techniques for research

The methods for this research were deductive (theory-hypothesis-observation-confirmation) due to

the fact that, firstly existing literature (chapter 3) was analyzed and then proven by practical

research (chapter 4). Thus, the conclusion followed logically from premises (available facts).

The strategy for the practical part consisted of analyzing at least two case studies. The basis for

these case studies were interviews conducted face-to-face with employees responsible for CSR

and/or Marketing. This had the advantage that concentrating on only a few respondents made the

research more descriptive and vivid. On the other hand, it made the research dependent on the

content and credibility of the information provided. Interviewing only two companies showed that

there were different ways of linking CSR to the company’s identity; nevertheless providing more

examples would have given a more complex and more authentic picture to the research, this was

however not possible within the limited timeframe of this research.

This research had an exploratory purpose because it helped to gain a deeper understanding of the

topic. The workings of Identity Marketing in connection with CSR have not previously been analyzed,

this paper can, thus only be seen as a starting point.

This was a cross-sectional research. The interviews were completed at one single point in time,

thereby giving a snapshot of the company concerning both its identity and its CSR strategy. This was

sufficient for this paper, but in order to analyze the changes or the development resulting from the

conclusions & recommendations drawn a longitudinal research would be appropriate.


12 Daniela Faßbach

2.3 Phase 3: Choice of methods and techniques for collecting data

The book ‘Identiteitsmarketing. Waarom wij bestaan’ (Morel, 2010) as one of the first publications

on Identity Marketing, was the most important source used for the theoretical phase concerning

Identity Marketing. Other books, mainly about Corporate Identity, were used to define the scope of

Identity Marketing. Furthermore information published by organizations in the field of CSR was

studied. Additionally, reports on CSR from successful and reputed companies provided more

practical examples of ‘best practice models’. As topicality is considered particularly important, the

indices of the magazines Spiegel, Stern and Harvard Business Manager were checked monthly for

interesting articles concerning the topic. The first two magazines were chosen, because the two

companies interviewed are German and the third magazine was chosen, because it was generally

considered to be an interesting and innovative source for articles of an economic and managerial

background.

The field research was mainly based on the interviews with the two companies. A face-to-face

conversation was chosen, so that the reaction of the interviewees, especially when asked about the

company’s identity, could be observed. These conversations had a strong referent power. Many

people have never before heard of the concept of Identity Marketing, so conducting an impersonal

and quantitative survey made no sense. The companies being interviewed had to meet two criteria.

Firstly, they had to be active in the fashion business and secondly they needed to be willing to

participate. The fashion sector was decided upon because it had been accused a lot in the past of

inhuman production methods and bad CSR policies (Sabersky & Zittlau, 2009; Werner & Weiss,

2010). Furthermore fashion is a product that everybody knows and uses, so that it is easier for the

reader to grasp the issue. All in all, about 10 companies were contacted by e-mail or telephone, but

only two companies were prepared to cooperate. The reason for the unexpected refusal might be

that the companies were afraid of revealing their production methods against the background of

CSR and high public pressure. Although it was stated clearly, that the intention was not to evaluate

the CSR policy in general, but only the link between the CSR strategy and the company’s identity,

companies selling clothes in the cheaper price segment, were especially sceptical. Some companies

also indicated that they did not have the time to cooperate. Despite the refusal of many companies,

the two which were interviewed are not seen as a second choice. They served as very good

examples, especially because they are very different from another although they both sell fashion.

Gerry Weber International AG is active in the higher price segment and sells both to retailers as well

as directly to consumers and JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG is only active in the business-to-business

market and concentrates on products in the low to medium price segment. The fact, that both

companies are members of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) is a coincidence. It was

not planned, but afterwards proved to be a positive fact because it shows that even membership of

the same organization can be designed differently based on the respective identity.

2.4 Phase 4: Choosing or designing instruments of measurement and models

The questions for the interview were divided into two parts. The first part led to determining the

company’s identity and the second was about the CSR strategy. All questions were open ones so

that a fluent conversation was developed (cp. appendix A ‘Questionnaire Gerry Weber International

AG’). The questions prepared built the framework and guideline for the conversation, but according


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to the answers other, deeper reaching questions arose; it was thus a semi-structured interview.

2.5 Phase 5: Collecting data

The interviews were carried out face-to-face. With Gerry Weber the interview partners were the PR

Manager and the Social Compliance Manager; with JCK Holding it was also the Compliance Manager

and the Commercial Manager. These were the persons expected to be best informed and equipped

to answer my questions and to give reliable information. Both conversations were recorded by

audio so that there was no need to note down everything. This made it possible to concentrate

more on the non-verbal communication. Interviewer bias was eliminated through prior practice and

sound preparation at home.

2.6 Phase 6: Data analysis

As already mentioned before, the individual character of the examples was very important. The aim

was not to find one company that served as the norm for all other companies, but to demonstrate

that there were many possibilities towards finding a successful strategy. Nevertheless, the examples

were also aimed at inspiring other companies to find their way.

2.7 Phase 7: Drawing conclusions

This paper is the first one analyzing the link between a company’s identity and its Corporate Social

Responsibility strategy. The conclusions drawn in this paper were therefore completely based on the

results from the desk research and the experiences made in the field research. Up to now there is no

company which really consciously experimented in basing its CSR strategy on its identity, so that

everything stated would possibly not be proved as true in practices. Joining the theoretical

background of Identity Marketing and CSR with current marketing developments and the practical

experiences from the two companies interviewed for this research led to a reasonable explanation

why linking Identity Marketing and CSR is relevant and advantageous for companies. This was made

up on the one hand by explaining why the two companies interviewed already linked parts of their

CSR strategy to their identity without having heard of Identity Marketing before and on the other

hand by presenting the advantages a company has when linking its CSR to its identity. The goal was

to answer the central question of this research “What are the internal and external consequences for

a company which bases its Corporate Social Responsibility on the company’s identity – the basis for

successful identity marketing?”. As it could not be expected to be clear what internal and external

stood for, this was explained before the answers were given. Additionally, this chapter aimed to

remove the reservation that might still be present by the readers after reading the first four chapters

and to convince them of the importance of linking CSR and a company’s identity.

2.8 Phase 8: Making recommendations, giving advice

The end product of this research delivered is a guideline that aims to help companies to pass through

the process of linking their identity and their CSR. It was developed only for this paper and was not

based on any existing model. The model perfectly matches the research goal because it makes little


14 Daniela Faßbach

sense to convince the readers of this paper of the importance of linking CSR and their company’s

identity, when they do not know how to realise it. The developed model can be adopted by every

company that wants to find its unique and best way to a believable CSR strategy which is based on

the company’s identity. It is not important if the company already has a CSR strategy or not, because

the model offers solutions to both situations.

This paper was based on research in two phases, namely desk based research and field research. The

desk based research, which was conducted first, consisted of revising the contents of existing

literature about Identity Marketing and CSR and of getting in contact with organizations and persons

that are already active in this area. The second part, the field research, was based on two semi-

structured interviews with two fashion companies. It was difficult to find companies which were

prepared to cooperate, but in the end the two companies interviewed proved to be very useful

examples with a strong referent character. The interviews were carried out face-to-face as cross-

sectional research. The interview partners were employees of the Marketing and CSR departments. All

in all, this paper made use of a deductive research method. Thus the conclusion was based completely

upon the research results found in this paper and aimed to give a reasonable explanation to the

question why linking Identity Marketing and CSR was relevant and advantageous for companies by

analyzing the consequences for companies currently doing so. The final product of this thesis is a

guideline for company’s willing to (re)elaborate a CSR strategy that fits to their identity.


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3. Desk Research

According to BusinessDictionary.com the term desk based research describes the process of

“Gathering and analyzing information, already available in print or published on the internet.” This is

precisely what this chapter aims to do, firstly regarding Identity Marketing and secondly regarding

Corporate Social Responsibility. Understanding these two concepts is essential in order to link them

as done in the third part of this chapter.

3.1 Identity Marketing

Traditional marketing is based on the customer and the competition. A company watches what other

companies are doing; it watches what consumers buy and if it does not know, it asks the consumers

what they would like to buy (Kotler, Kartajaya & Setiawan 2010). The results define what the

company will offer. Identity Marketing starts the other way round. It begins with the company and its

identity. How can the company be of importance and value to its customers? Who will miss

something when the company will not exist anymore? These are the starting questions for Identity

Marketing. Based on the organization’s own strength it generates maximum significance for

consumers, the society and the company self. The aim is to create relevant products/services (Morel,

2010).

Many companies or brands do not operate in accordance with their identity; rather they begin to

imitate each other in order to stay relevant for the consumer. In this way the distinctive power

vanishes. In the twenty-first century, consumers are looking for companies that fit to their own

values, companies that attach importance to the same issues and companies that have meaning and

that are authentic. Pure organisations that act from their identity are brands with which people want

to identify and connect. Consumers and companies go into an optimal exchange based on equality

and sustainability.

The process a company needs to pass through to come to successful Identity Marketing can be

divided into three parts, firstly identifying the company’s identity, secondly anchoring this identity

within a company and thirdly monitoring and locking the identity over time (Morel, 2010). The

following two chapters will take a closer look at the first two steps because these are the basis for

developing and implementing a CSR strategy that is linked to and anchored in the company’s

identity. The third step, as it exceeds the scope of this paper, will not be discussed, but generally can

be fulfilled by making use of the same procedure that is normally applied when evaluating a new

concept or tool after some time.

3.1.1 Identifying a company’s identity

Identity in the context of an organization can be defined as the total of all the central, unique,

consistent and remarkable characteristics which define the organization. It is the essence, the

personality of the organization, or in other words its DNA (Morel, 2010).


16 Daniela Faßbach

Identity has three time-references:

a) History accounts for identity

b) The societal and economic position of an organization at the present creates identity

c) The projection of ideas, goals and visions, in short the future forms identity (Buss, 2000).

There are six elements that make up an identity. Each has to be addressed and made concrete in-

depth in order to create a unique identity (Morel, 2010):

3.1.1.1 Ideology

The first element is the reason for existence. Why does the company exist and for whom?

Sometimes a company must look back to the moment when the company was founded in

order to answer this question. It is important to identify the deepest motives employers

and employees have. What are their dreams and their motivation; what do they want to

reach through their work? Why have they chosen this company and what connects them

with their colleagues?

3.1.1.2 Vision

A company’s vision provides the answer to the question of how the organization sees the

world. What is its vision regarding its stakeholders, thus regarding all people or things that

are relevant to the company? It is important to look at the present (what do I see at the

moment) as well as at the future (what is the desirable future state of the company).

3.1.1.3 Mission and brand promise

Based on its vision a company commits to doing something, its mission. The mission

answers how the company will achieve its vision. For each target group or brand this can be

translated into a brand promise. A good brand promise is formulated from the consumer’s

perspective. It is distinctive (from your competitors), credible, short and powerful. It is not

to be mistaken for the advertising slogan!

3.1.1.4 Unique strength

A company must be aware of its biggest unique power, thus of what it is best at. Often an

organization spends a lot of energy on activities it is not good at, at the expense of the

activities it is best at. The result is that it performs moderately on all the activities and loses

its unique strength. A company cannot be best at everything, therefore it must concentrate

on what it makes unique, because this is its reason for existence and its reason to believe.

3.1.1.5 Value orientation and core values

Each person and therefore also each company acts according to its values. Based on

research, two dimensions of values can be distinguished: the sociological (‘I’ vs. ‘We’) and

the psychological (‘inside’ vs. ‘outside’) dimension. By contrasting these two dimensions,

four quadrants are formed (figure 3.1). An organization never finds itself in only one

quadrant, but it has to find the dominant one.


17 Daniela Faßbach

Figure 3.1: Quadrants of value orientation (based on Morel, 2010)

Core values are the foundation of an organization; they are the most important

characteristics. Using core values makes it possible for a person to immediately associate a

certain picture with the company. It is important to avoid category values which

characterize the whole sector instead of only the particular company.

3.1.1.6 Ambitions

This last element of the identity helps to make the mission concrete and tangible. The

intention is to determine when the company will redeem its promise. An ambition always

has to be specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic and time-dependent (in short SMART).

The result of the first step, identifying the company’s identity, can be an organization’s identity

passport. It may have every form one can consider as it provides answers to all six element of the

company’s identity. This passport can serve to inform employees or even potential ones as well as

customers about the company’s identity (Morel, 2010).

3.1.2 Anchoring the identity within the company

A company’s identity has to be individual and strong, so that it becomes the measure for all the

products and services a company sells as well as for all steps and measures a company takes. Identity

does not consist only of words; it must be visible, tangible and all-embracing. Everything, a company

does, has to reinforce its identity (Olins, 1990).

Once a company has identified its identity and formulated an answer to all six elements, it can start

to translate it into each part of the organization. Kaj Morel distinguishes in his ‘Vliegwiel van

identiteit®’ 12 organizational components that are part of the identity anchoring process (Appendix

D):

trust in yourself

development

experimental

challenge

passion

fun

harmony

friendship

concerned

fresh

perform

appreciation

luxury

status

structure

compliant

security

conservative

technical

solid

I We

inside

oriented

outside

oriented


18 Daniela Faßbach

1 motives

2 competence

3 leadership

4 product/service

5 environment

6 communication

7 customer

8 society

9 employee

10 reflecting

11 internalizing

12 cultivating

The exact translation of how the identity of one company can be anchored in these twelve

components depends on the company itself; the ‘Vliegwiel van identiteit®’ only explains where the

identity has to be anchored. In literature the process of anchoring the identity is often called ‘Internal

Branding’ and there are many books dealing with this issue (Morel, 2010, p.160).

Within the scope of this thesis especially two of these four groups are important. The three

components motives, competence and leadership form the basis of the identity of a company. Thus

they are the input for the three components customer, society and employee (together named

‘result’). They describe the results of the interaction between the organization and the outside world,

thus characterize the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy. The customer represents the primary

target group. The society can be seen as all other stakeholders that are influenced by the existence of

the company. The employee is the cross section between the inside and outside world of the

company (Morel, 2010).

3.1.3 Benefits

Identity Marketing has a lot of advantages. First, it enables the company to develop a clear and

strong focus on the activities that characterize its unique strength. Furthermore it makes the

organization less dependent on trends and whims because it concentrates on what the company

itself wants to do for the customers instead of what the customers want the company to do.

Another benefit is that the employees perform better. They feel connected to the company because

they can identify with what the company stands for and they are an essential part of it. This

promotes motivation, satisfaction, loyalty and productivity. A company that applies Identity

Marketing is more authentic and believable. In this way the company attracts the customers that it

wants to have. Once a customer found the company that fits best to his own identity, it is probable

that he will be very loyal. All this results in a distinctive and competitive position, that is especially

very valuable in recent times of change and uncertainty (Bouten & Morel, 2010).

In contrast to traditional marketing, Identity Marketing starts with the company itself and its reason

for existence. The goal is to develop a distinctive power that enables the consumers to identify

themselves with the company or brand via the same values. The process of Identity Marketing

strength

activity

result

feeding


19 Daniela Faßbach

consists of two steps. At first the company determines its identity through completing the six

elements of identity (ideology, vision, mission, unique strength, core values and ambitions) with its

own, unique and strong answers. Secondly, the defined identity is anchored within the company by

translating it into the twelve organizational components of the organization. As this paper

concentrates on the relation between a company’s identity and its Corporate Social Responsibility,

especially the components of customer, society, and employee are important. Thus, the way a

company finds to tie its identity, which is based on the company’s motives, competences and ability to

leadership, to these three elements determines to a great extent the company’s Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR) strategy and its success with CSR. But before this paper has a closer look at how a

company can best tie its identity to its CSR, it first deals with the concept of CSR in general.


20 Daniela Faßbach

3.2 Corporate Social Responsibility

“The term *corporate social responsibility+ is a brilliant one; it means something, but not always the

same thing to everybody.” (Votaw & Sethi, 1973)

Although Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is discussed a lot in society, literature and politics,

there is no generally accepted definition for the concept of the companies’ social (and

environmental) responsibility. That is why this chapter starts with defining the term ‘CSR’. Also it will

have a look at the development of the CSR concept. Other discussed aspects are the (international)

instruments and guidelines for CSR. This chapter will end with dealing with the criticism on CSR.

3.2.1 The definition

The European Union defines CSR as a system that “integrates social and environmental concerns in

their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis” (Bund

für Arbeit und Soziales, 2011). Thus, the idea is that a company makes voluntary efforts in the area of

environment and social welfare in order to improve the quality of life and the sustainable

development of society. The definition used by the World Business Council for Sustainable

Development in its publication "Making Good Business Sense" by Lord Holme and Richard Watts, is

more concrete, but neglects the environmental part of CSR: "Corporate Social Responsibility is the

continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development

while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local

community and society at large". While the EU stresses that CSR is not regulated by law but a

voluntary act, this second definition points out that CSR does not consist of one singular act but of a

continuing dedication to the benefit of society. This is also the basis for CSR as it will be seen in this

paper, but it has to be added the environmental aspect. Believable and sustainable CSR stands

always for a social and environmental commitment in the long term and may affect all areas that are

influenced by the company’s existence.

3.2.2 The development

In the 1980s and 1990s the economy improved and society experienced unknown prosperity.

Furthermore, the mass public’s access to the internet grew, so that consumers were able to inform

themselves more critically and independently about products and brands. As a result, the demand

for products that were produced environmentally friendly and under good employment conditions

rose. Companies saw themselves under great pressure. Many of those that were already dealing with

CSR were discovered as using CSR only as a marketing tool in order to get public attention or to avoid

negative headlines (Bouten & Morel, 2010). The concept of CSR lost its credibility, but at the same

time companies finding believable ways towards a CSR strategy that sticks out to the masses were

rewarded by their customers. A good example is the US-American outdoor clothing company

Patagonia. Since 1985, as one of the founders of the alliance “1% For The Planet” the company has

spent 1% of sales on environmental projects. It believes that “profit and loss are directly linked to the

health of our environment”. But providing money did not seem sufficient, the company also wanted

to supply time and ‘mankind’. In 1993, it started with the Patagonia “Employee Internship Program”,


21 Daniela Faßbach

in which employees can change their job with Patagonia, for up to two months, to a full-time job for

an environmental group of their choice. Patagonia continues to pay their salary. This engagement fits

very well to the company’s identity to sell simple and utile outdoor clothing with minimum impact

upon nature but maximum function in nature. Patagonia’s mission statement says “Build the best

product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the

environmental crisis” (Patagonia, 2011).

Today, the discussion about the responsibility of companies has not vanished but has even

intensified. Due to globalization companies relocate their production to low-wage countries with

cheap resources (labour, raw material). Also the number of well informed and influential non-profit

organizations as well as financially strong investors increases. They pressure companies into

becoming more active on issues, such as for example production conditions, environmental

protection and security (Habich, 2008). According to a global survey by Edelman 85 percent of

consumers prefer socially responsible brands. 70 percent are even willing to pay more for these

brands and 55 percent will advocate these brands to friends and family (Kotler, Kartajaya & Setiawan,

2010).

3.2.3 International framework and instruments

As CSR is based to a great extent on the principle of voluntariness, there is no global legal framework.

Therefore international initiatives and instruments are of great importance for the practical

realization of CSR. They function as guidelines and indicators for the ecological, economic and social

benefits of a company (Habich, 2008). The following overview presents the most important

guidelines or instruments that a company can use.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) developed guidelines for

multinational enterprises in 1976. They express what the OECD-countries regard as responsible

corporate behaviour. In addition to the basic principles of compliance with human rights topics

mentioned are disclosure, employment and industrial relations, environment, combating bribery,

consumer interests, science and technology, competition and taxation.1

Only one year later, the International Labour Organization (ILO) drew up the Tripartite declaration

of principles concerning multinational enterprises and social policy. “The principles laid down in this

universal instrument offer guidelines to multinational enterprises, governments, and employers’ and

workers’ organizations in such areas as employment, training, conditions of work and life, and

industrial relations” (ILO, 2006)2. The difference to the OECD guidelines is that this declaration is

addressed to all countries and companies worldwide and therefore, developing countries are also

prepared to continue it into the future. Besides this, the ILO declaration only contains the socio-

political topics of employment, formation, living and working conditions and labour relations

(Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände, 2005).

1 A complete publication of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises can be found on:

http://www.oecd.org/document/28/0,3746,en_2649_34889_2397532_1_1_1_1,00.html 2 The complete version of the declaration is published on: http://www.ilo.org/empent/Whatwedo/Publications/lang--en/docName--WCMS_094386/index.htm


22 Daniela Faßbach

In 2000 the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan founded the UN Global Compact aiming at the

reinforcement of the cooperation between the United Nations, the economy and other corporate

groups in order to contribute globally to sustainable growth. Today more than 4000 companies have

obligated themselves voluntarily to comply with the following ten principles of the Global Compact

(Geissler, 2011).

1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed

human rights; and

2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of

the right to collective bargaining;

4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

5: the effective abolition of child labour; and

6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;

8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and

bribery.

http://www.unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/TheTenPrinciples/index.html

The UN Global Compact does not monitor or measure participants’ progress, but the participating

companies are expected to publish an annual report on progress made in implementing the ten

principles (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände, 2005).

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) introduced the voluntary International

Standard, ISO 26000:2010, Guidance for social responsibility in November 2010. ISO 26000 is

intended to assist organizations in making a contribution to sustainable development by taking into

consideration seven core subjects (human rights, labour practices, environment, fair operating

practices, consumer issues, community involvement and development). The difference to earlier ISO

Standards is that the ISO 26000 is not a management system standard. This means that it is

developed for providing guidance, but is not intended for third-party certification. The special thing

about the ISO approach regarding CSR is that the Organization is aware of the fact that there “is a

range of many different opinions as to the right approach ranging from strict legislation at one end to

complete freedom at the other. The project is looking for a golden middle way that promotes respect

and responsibility based on known reference documents without stifling creativity and

development.”3

Independent of the participation in one of the international initiatives regarding CSR, each company

should have a code of conduct. These are rules, which companies implement in order to anchor their

ecological and social principles systematically within the company. Normally it also includes the

supply chain of a company. Each code of conduct is different, but often it combines the principles of

3 In order to get the complete catalogue one has to pay, but the following link provides a good overview over

the content of the ISO 26000:2010 http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/management_and_leadership_standards/social_responsibility/sr_discovering_iso26000.htm


23 Daniela Faßbach

the international instruments/guidelines named before with the individual values of the company. In

general, a company has the possibility to choose either its own company code of conduct or an

existing sector code of conduct (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände, 2005).

The performance a company effects through these instruments shall be communicated to the public.

A method often used is a sustainability report which presents a company’s efforts on the three areas

of profit, people and planet. There are some organizations that have developed guidelines for the

structure and content of sustainability reports as for example the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)4

founded in 1997. In five chapters it guides a company along the topics and the content of a

sustainability report. Although a sustainability report has many advantages, a company also has to

take into consideration some potential problems. Once started, publishing a report may not be

paused or stopped without provoking questions and suspicion. Furthermore a company can only

write a report when there is something to write about. The content should always be extensively

considered because a sustainability report informs the public about its social and ecological

responsibility but also makes the company vulnerable (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen

Arbeitgeberverbände, 2005).

3.2.4 Criticism

The criticism on the concept of CSR is mainly based on the fact that in the past many companies

misused CSR as means for ‘green washing’. This term describes the situation when a company spends

more time and money on advertising being green than on putting into effect green activities.

McDonald’s is a good example. In 2007, following the new animated film “Bee Movie” the company

launched the Happy Meal Campaign “Bee good to the Planet”. The idea was to sensitize children to

an environmentally friendly behaviour. But the question is, if it did not rather aim to distract from

the criticism of the unhealthy food which McDonalds sells (klimawandel-global.de, 2007). BP has a

similar problem of connecting its core business to its CSR activities. Although it seems very smart to

re-translate BP from the original “British Petroleum” to “Beyond Petrol”, one has to ask if it would

not be smarter to promote its research and development as its social effort instead of parrot some

ecological statements (Heitmann). The more companies which fail to relate their CSR activities to

their identity and core business, the more CSR loses its credibility because the public cannot see a

connection and will question it.

In addition, criticism of CSR does not only concentrate on the home countries of the multinationals.

Also the Governments of the developing countries also criticise CSR. They state, that CSR-standards

only serve as instruments for building trading barriers and for protecting jobs in the developed

countries. Furthermore, they claim, that the initiatives often do not consider the situation in the

producing countries, but only orientate towards the consumers’ claims in the developed world and

its production standards (Habich, 2008). Thus it is not only important that a company engages in an

area that fits to its identity, it also has to find a way to realize it, which takes into account all

stakeholders, especially those who have less power, such as the suppliers in the developing

countries.

4 More information can be found on www.globalreporting.org


24 Daniela Faßbach

There are many different definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In this paper CSR is seen

as the social and environmental long term commitment of companies that (can) affect all areas that

are influenced by the company’s existence. The concept of CSR experienced a great augmentation of

attention at the end of the last century due to an improving economy and the growing access to

internet. Many companies failed to answer the new demand for green and socially responsible

products because they used CSR only as a marketing tool. Globalization then added an additional

aspect to CSR: the production conditions in low-wage countries. CSR is mainly voluntary, but

companies can make use of many international initiatives and instruments for the practical

realization of CSR, for example the OECD-guidelines or the UN Global Compact. Additionally,

companies can implement a code of conduct. In order to publish a company’s performance on CSR it

can write a sustainability report. The Global Reporting Initiative provides a useful guideline for this.

The concept of CSR is basically criticised for its misuse. Too many companies promote its CSR activities

only in order to distract from other more serious problems. Often these problems are more linked

with their core business than the areas in which they engage. This makes CSR non reliable. Another

point of critique is that many CSR instruments only orientate on the standards in the developed world

instead of also considering the conditions in the producing countries.


25 Daniela Faßbach

self-actualization

/ meaning

esteem

belonging

safety and security

survival

self-actualization/ meaning

esteem

belonging

safety and security

survival

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Inverted hierarchy of needs

3.3 CSR and Identity Marketing

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” (Chinese

proverb; taken from Kotler, Kartajaya & Setiawan, 2010)

In Chapter 3.1 Identity Marketing was introduced. Chapter 3.2 dealt with the concept of CSR. But

what is the connection between the two terms? Why should CSR be an element of Identity

Marketing and how can Identity Marketing be of relevance when determining a company’s CSR

strategy? This chapter will uncover the link between Identity Marketing and CSR and present existing

instruments to translate this link into practice.

3.3.1 The link between CSR and Identity Marketing

Maslow’s classic hierarchy of needs, which Abraham Maslow published in 1943 in his paper ‘A

Theory of Human Motivation’, is commonly depicted as a pyramid with the more fundamental needs

(shelter, food, water etc) at the bottom and the need for self-actualization (morality, problem solving

etc) at the top. Years later Maslow admitted that he “felt his pyramid ought to have been upside

down. The inverted pyramid would then place the fulfilment of self-actualization as a prime need of

all human beings” (Kotler, Kartajaya & Setiawan, 2010).

Customers in developed countries are no longer looking for products that fulfil their

functional and emotional needs, but for products that meet their human spirit needs (Kotler,

Kartajaya & Setiawan, 2010). Spiritual needs are not personal but refer to family, friends, society,

world or planet. Morel (2010) distinguishes between three spiritual needs: to be relevant, to make a

difference and to do good. Identity Marketing gives an answer to these spiritual needs because it

enables a company to be of relevance and distinctive. Corporate Social Responsibility also meets

these needs because through doing good and acting sustainably a company makes a difference and

benefits society. Thus, CSR and Identity Marketing are based on the same needs.

Spiritual needs


26 Daniela Faßbach

3.3.2 Instruments

According to Porter and Kramer (2006), there are two reasons why the CSR efforts of many

companies have not been nearly as effective as they could have been:

1. Companies play business and society off against each other although the two are

interwoven.

2. Companies do not apply CSR to the firm’s strategy.

Their advice to companies is that they should use the same framework they apply in choosing their

core business for determining their CSR strategy. The basis for finding the CSR that fits best to the

company’s identity is to be aware of all social and environmental consequences of the company’s

products. For mapping this impact, the so-called “Looking Inside Out”, Porter and Kramer use the

value chain model (Appendix B). The value chain describes all activities part of a company’s business.

For each activity one can determine the positive and negative social impact as well as visualise where

the company already engages (Porter & Kramer, 2006).

Not only the activities of a company influence society, but also external aspects that result

from the competitive context in which a company acts (so-called “Looking Outside In”). These

impacts can be determined by using the Diamond Framework (Appendix C). It determines the

potential CSR engagement areas that result from first the context for firm strategy and rivalry, for

example intellectual property protection; second the local demand conditions (local customer

needs); third the availability of related and supporting industries and fourth the Factor (Input)

Conditions, like the availability of infrastructure and human resources (Porter & Kramer, 2006).

Of course, there are also other instruments that can be used to determine the CSR issues that

a company affects. In this paper the Value Chain Model and the Diamond Framework are chosen,

because they are internationally known and recognized models that each marketer knows. Normally

the Value Chain Model is used to display all activities that are unified in a company (Dr. van der

Meer, 2006). The Diamond Framework is normally known as an instrument for analyzing the

difference in competitiveness of countries (Prof. Dr. Kympers & Dr. Veldman, 2004). This chapter

shows that the two models are also useful for making a company analysis on CSR-level because they

enable a company to get aware of all CSR issues that the company affects directly (Value Chain

Model) and indirectly (Diamond Framework). The next step then is to prioritize those issues that –

when improved by CSR activities- mean the biggest benefit for both the society and the business. The

company’s identity is always the essential link. On the one hand it shows the company for which

particular set of societal problems it is best equipped to help and on the other hand a CSR activity

that fits to the company’s identity is not only valuable to society but also to the business because it

strengthens the identity and therefore the competitive position of the company (Spruyt, 2010). The

customers (or stakeholders in general) see the relation between the engagement and the values the

company stands for and this makes the organization authentic and believable.

The concept of Identity Marketing and the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility are based on the

same needs, the spiritual needs. Spirituality stands for the need to do good and to be of relevance.

Before a company can decide how it can meet these needs through its CSR, it has to determine all its

opportunities for CSR initiatives. Therefore it can use Porter’s Value Chain Model for mapping the

impact of the company activities and his Diamond Framework for mapping the impact due to the


27 Daniela Faßbach

competitive context of a company. The next step is prioritizing the potential CSR operation areas by

linking them to the company’s identity resulting in a meaningful benefit for society as well as for the

company. Up to now there is no model that helps a company do so. In chapter 6 this paper will

present the first guideline (4-Step-Model) for the whole process from determining a company’s

identity through choosing the right CSR issues to translating the identity into activities for these CSR

issues. But before that, let’s have a closer look at the practice by dealing with two case studies from

the fashion industry. These examples will help to get a better understanding of the importance of

linking CSR with the company’s identity.


28 Daniela Faßbach

Adult woman

Energetic

lifestyle

Quality Innovation

4 Field Research

“Research is creating new knowledge.” (Neil Armstrong)

Previous chapters have dealt with the theory of Identity Marketing and CSR. This chapter looks at

two practical examples. Gerry Weber International AG and G.Güldenpfennig GmbH, subsidiary of JCK

Holding GmbH Textil KG, are two companies active in the fashion sector. While Gerry Weber sells

clothes in the higher price segment to retailers as well as directly to consumers, G.Güldenpfennig

concentrates on clothes in the lower price segment and the business-to-business sector. Despite the

different target group and business area both companies are already engaged in CSR. First, this

chapter will analyze both companies’ identity, then their current CSR strategy and finally a link will be

made between the identity and the CSR strategy in order to determine whether or not the identity is

anchored successfully in the CSR policy and if there are possibilities for improvement. The goal of this

chapter is to make clear that every company can find its unique way to a believable and sustainable

CSR strategy when it takes its identity as the starting point.

4.1 Gerry Weber International AG

The company was started in Halle/Westphalia in 1973 with the vision of joining fashion, lifestyle and

experience (Gerry Weber International AG). Founded by Gerhard Weber and Udo Hardieck the

company started with trousers for women. Within a few years, an international, listed company had

arisen. Today Gerry Weber produces and sells all types of clothes for women. It has five brands,

GERRY WEBER, GERRY WEBER EDITION, G.W., TAIFUN and SAMOON by GERRY WEBER; each fashion

brand aiming at an individual target group, but all directed to the trendy adult woman. Top-level

fashion, perfect fit and high quality are the values that unify all brands. Annette Koch, Social

Compliance Manager, knows that “many customers would miss our company because there is little

choice of trendy clothes for women that are “too adult” for New Yorker or Esprit. Gerry Weber offers

what they are looking for.”

4.1.1 Identity

The identity of Gerry Weber can be expressed as the

idea to sell high-quality fashion to the adult, modern

woman who attaches great value to an energetic

lifestyle. In order to ensure this, Gerry Weber makes

use of innovative technologies and working methods.

So, quality, energetic lifestyle and innovation are the

three core values of this company.

Energetic lifestyle

Gerry Weber not only sells clothes; but rather an essential part of lifestyle. A modern, self-confident

and adult woman wants to experience and enjoy her life. Gerry Weber has found a way to combine

fashion with lifestyle and experience. The Gerry Weber Stadium, a multifunctional arena with 13,000

seats is “the” location for international sporting events and top-class concerts throughout the whole


29 Daniela Faßbach

year. It was the first German Stadium built by and named after a company. Since 1993, the highlight

of every season is the GERRY WEBER OPEN, the only German ATP grass court lawn-tennis

tournament. It is internationally recognized and attracts more than 100,000 people each year (Hofen,

2010). It represents the identity of Gerry Weber, because tennis is energetic and a sport mainly

favoured by adults and people with a higher living standard. Furthermore the company has its own

event and convention centre, a golf course, a sport park and the GERRY WEBER Sportpark hotel

inclusive spa. All events organized under the company’s name are the reason for very high brand

awareness. “According to the survey conducted by the woman magazine ‘Brigitte’ some years ago,

62% of women aged between 14 and 64 years old know the brand. What I found very surprising was,

even men stated that they wore the brand ‘Gerry Weber’, although there was no men’s’ collection”,

laughed Ms. Lauterbach, Public Relations Manager.

Quality

Gerry Weber is a global player. 59.4% of the finished goods are produced in Far East (China, Sri

Lanka, India, and Indonesia) and 36.1% in Turkey. The outward processing mainly takes place in

Eastern Europe. The company aims to close the gap to the premium segment within the next few

years and keeping the quality is a prerequisite to this. This is also a reason why Gerry Weber

concentrated more on vertical integration during the last years. The company opened its own retail

stores, the Houses of Gerry Weber. “*We+ cover the complete value chain from the production of the

collections to the point of sale. As a result, we have a unique standing in the market and are

excellently positioned to reach our growth targets. If you do not operate your own stores you will not

know how customers react to individual products”, Gerhard Weber, CEO, stresses. For the company

the experiences gathered in its own stores are of great value because they are more detailed and

closer to the customer than information delivered by retailers. Ms. Lauterbach explains that Gerry

Weber no longer felt confident in many of the multi-label stores where the different brands were

presented drearily side by side. In its own stores the company can better translate its values of

quality and innovation into the equipment and service. In 2010, there were 405 points of sale; 193 in

Germany and 212 abroad. This means 178 of its own Houses of Gerry Weber and 227 franchised

ones. Besides this there are 2,003 shop-in-shops plus the e-shop. According to Ms. Lauterbach the e-

commerce will grow in future, but it is not seen as competition to traditional retail, because the e-

shop attracts other customers than physical shops. Furthermore many customers only use the

internet in order to inform themselves about the new collection and they then go to a retailer for

fitting and buying.

Innovation

A first aspect where Gerry Weber realises its value of innovation is the employee and his work place.

The company is currently converting an old warehouse of 600 m2 into a modern creative centre.

Under the slogan ‘good ideas need space’ the new building abstains from unnecessary walls and

promotes short (communication) routes. Furthermore, the company offers its employees language

and computer courses which include e-learning.

Also very innovative but affecting the supply chain is radio-frequency identification (RFID), a

technology which Gerry Weber introduced in 2010. Meant is a small chip with an electronic product

code that is sewed into the care label of each garment so that each article can be identified and

located easily. In contrast to normal bar codes, this new one needs no inter-visibility between tag

and reading device. Gerry Weber is the first fashion company worldwide that uses RFID at the same

time for supporting the supply chain and as a retail security system. The advantage is more


30 Daniela Faßbach

efficiency, because the company has, at anytime a more precise overview of its inventory and the

replenishment within the stores is simplified, so that the sales assistant has more time for individual

advice and service. Gerry Weber informs its customers actively (with the help of information sheets

in the stores) that no personal data will be stored. Either the RFID chip is removed at the cash desk or

the customer removes it himself or it is automatically destroyed, at the latest, after being washed

three times.

4.1.2 Corporate Social Responsibility

Gerry Weber is aware of the company’s importance for the city and region, where it is established.

All facilities (company, stadium, hotel etc.) are located in Halle; with its only 21,000 residents (Stadt

Halle, 2008) at the first glace it seems not the place expected to offer such an event program other

bigger cities can only dream of. But for Gerry Weber it is. “Halle as the place of location is an

essential part of the company’s identity; the two founders were born here and therefore

decentralization has never been a topic to think about. Apart from the outsourced production and

logistics, all departments are established here” as Ms. Lauterbach explains. The local commitment is

also shown in the investment Gerry Weber was prepared to put into a new train stop near the

stadium in order to reduce car traffic. Additionally, the company is a long lasting sponsor of Arminia

Bielefeld (football) and TBV Lemgo (handball). But Gerry Weber also engages locally in other projects,

as for example the ‘Förderverein Therapeutisches Reiten Gütersloh e.V’. This is an organization that

gives people with a handicap the possibility to learn horseback riding. Which local projects are

supported depends on personal contacts and on the potential for long-term cooperation.

Gerry Weber has also taken CSR measures that concern the supply chain. The suppliers of raw

material have to comply with a Criteria Catalogue, that partly exceeds the Oeko-Tex® Standard 100

and the material is regularly tested by accredited laboratories. Since 2010, Gerry Weber also engages

more seriously in the improvement of working conditions on supplier level. In May last year, the

company became a member of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) and in this way

replaced its own code of conduct by the BSCI Code of Conduct. Founded in 2003 by the Foreign Trade

Association the BSCI is a non-profit organization for companies and associations that want to

improve working conditions in the global supply chain (BSCI, 2010). Ms. Koch, Social Compliance

Manager, states clearly the advantages of Gerry Weber’s membership in the BSCI: “The BSCI has

around 700 members and all audit results are recorded and shared in a common database so that

the effort and expenses both for member companies and for suppliers are considerably reduced. The

suppliers are no longer confronted with numerous audits, one for each customer, and different

requirements, but can concentrate on one common standard. Additionally, the BSCI offers capacity

building activities to both member companies and suppliers. This gives us the possibility to support

our suppliers in improving their social standards and to compare notes with other member

companies in order to learn from their experiences.” Being a member of the BSCI means that Gerry

Weber commits itself, within 5 ½ years of joining the initiative, to reaching after audit or re-audit

results rated with ‘good’ or ‘improvements needed’ for 2/3 of the suppliers in risk countries. For

Gerry Weber this means, practically, that it has to visit its suppliers regularly and to support them

when taking improvement measures; to inform and convince them to take part in BSCI training and

to organize the external audits. The engagement of Gerry Weber in this initiative demonstrates that


31 Daniela Faßbach

the company is interested in long term relationships with their suppliers. “What I regard as very

positive aspect of the BSCI is that we do not go to the supplier and tell him that we coming to audit

and he has to meet all requirements, however he achieves this. Rather we see how the situation is

and then we decide together how long it will take to develop the working conditions until they meet

the social standards,” Ms. Koch explains. “I have made the experience that often it does not cost a lot

of money to achieve better working conditions, but common sense and open eyes.” This last

statement is very important, because in its annual report Gerry Weber clearly states that the

company would relocate its production to cheaper countries whenever production costs are rising.

4.1.3 Current and potential link between identity and CSR strategy

Within 40 years Gerry Weber has developed into a trailblazer in the fashion business. Its identity is to

combine quality with an energetic lifestyle and innovation for an independent, fashion-conscious and

adult woman.

When positioning the

company’s CSR strategy in

Porter’s Value Chain Model,

it becomes visible, which

supply chain activities Gerry

Weber prioritizes.

The principle of innovation,

an important part of the

company’s identity, is

anchored in the work

environment of the

company. With the new

creative centre and the use

of e-learning the company

adopts innovative working

conditions that on the one

hand prioritize the

development of the

employee (Human Resource

Management) and on the other hand show that Gerry Weber is prepared to go in new directions.

Another very important aspect of the company’s goal to be innovative is the introduction of RFID. Up

to now this new technology is not used for anchoring the company’s identity in its CSR policy (broken

arrow in the graphic), although the RFID-Tags implicate many opportunities for this. They could

enable Gerry Weber to make the origin and production process of a product visible to its customers.

For example, customers could use a Smartphone for scanning the label of a garment directly in the

shop in order to get information about the supply chain. Or Gerry Weber could offer the customer, in

its e-shop, the possibility of entering the RFID-code when he/she wants to know where a product

was produced. It is probable, that in the long term, companies will be forced to find such ways to a


32 Daniela Faßbach

transparent supply chain, because, if they will not publish the information, others will do for them

(New, 2011). Thus, Gerry Weber could use this technology for providing the customer with more

transparency, which would make the CSR

policy more believable and catapult the

company another step ahead of its

competitors.

Quality is translated into the CSR strategy by

being a member of the BSCI. For Gerry

Weber this is a good and safe platform in

order to engage on supplier level, to ensure

the quality of its products by supporting and

controlling the procurement and in order to

keep learning (from other members and their

experiences). An adult, independent and

modern woman surely expects this from her

favourite fashion brand. But even this

includes much more possibilities to anchor

Gerry Weber’s identity more strongly in its CSR strategy. The company could make a clearer link

between its social engagement and the person for whom it produces, the adult and energetic

woman. For example it could support projects for (the independence of) women, either locally or in

the countries where it manufactures.

The energetic lifestyle is translated indirectly into the CSR strategy through the events that take place

in the Gerry Weber Stadium and through the other facilities. These cannot be positioned in the Value

Chain Model, because they are not a part of the supply chain. But they can be seen as an issue that

results from Porter’s Diamond Framework. Of course, the primary goals of these facilities are of an

economic and marketing character, as well as increasing the brand awareness. Nevertheless, these

events also, to some extent, answer to the local conditions of demand. On the one hand, the adult

and energetic woman wants to experience and enjoy her life and on the other hand Gerry Weber is

strongly connected to its roots, in Halle. This is the reason why the company combines the needs of

its customers with its own strong local commitment. As a consequence, the company is prepared to

invest in local projects and in the infrastructure. Additionally, the events often serve as a stage for

advertising the local engagement of the company, for example by handing over a cheque by a

famous tennis player.

Figure 4.1 summarizes once again the discussed result: On the one hand how Gerry Weber

successfully anchored its identity in its CSR strategy (blue lines) and on the other hand which

possibilities there are to do it even more thoroughly (red lines).


33 Daniela Faßbach

Figure 4.1: Gerry Weber – current and potential link of identity and CSR (Faßbach, 2011)

The Gerry Weber International AG is since the foundation located in Halle/Westphalia. It sells fashion

for adult modern women who want to express their energetic lifestyle through wearing Gerry Weber.

Thus, the core values of the company can be described as offering high-quality products that

represent the energetic lifestyle of its female customers by being prepared to go innovative ways. The

energetic lifestyle is characterized through the Gerry Weber Stadium and its events, which are the

perfect stage towards achieving high brand awareness and for showing local commitment.

Innovation is realized by a new creative centre, innovative employee training, and the introduction of

the new technology radio-frequency identification (RFID). This small electronic chip serves both as a

medium to identifying and locating each garment and as a security system. But it offers more

potential regarding CSR. It could be used to make the origin and the supply chain of a product visible

to the customer. In order to ensure more quality and to close the gap to the premium segment soon,

in 2010 Gerry Weber became a member of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI). It enables

the company to make use of a great database of auditing results and many useful workshops for both

their suppliers and themselves. The BSCI can be seen as a safe and growing platform that helps Gerry

Weber to improve and control the working conditions on supplier level. Further possibilities for

anchoring the company’s identity in the CSR strategy are provided by the target group of Gerry

Weber, adult, modern and independent women. The company could engage in projects for (the

independence of) women, either locally or in the manufacturers’ countries.


34 Daniela Faßbach

Sustainability

Long-term

relationships

Reliability

4.2 JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG

The company was founded in 1838 as a small hat and coat factory. In 1992 it became the

management holding that it is today. Under the name JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG several

subsidiaries are unified in different sectors (fashion, outdoor/sport, (promotional) gifts) providing the

holding with several main pillars. The common ground for all subsidiaries is the supply or sourcing

from the Far East. This means that all subsidiaries benefit from one common infrastructure. They

share their competence and experience; have one common CSR strategy and make use of synergy

effects. Nevertheless all subsidiaries still remain independent regarding their management.

One subsidiary is the fashion company G.Güldenpfennig GmbH. It is a trading company that imports

fashion from the Far East. The company sells all types of clothes in the low to medium price segment

apart from evening dresses.

4.2.1 Identity

“Our business approach is conservative in the best and

true sense of the word and is dominated by sound

financial management” (JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG,

2011). The two core principles for the company’s identity

are therefore reliability and sustainability.

Sustainability

The company attaches great value to long term

relationships with both its customers and its suppliers. As

products are mainly produced in the Far East (China,

Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Pakistan, Vietnam and Sri Lanka), the monitoring of the suppliers is the

first principle to ensure this value. A remaining level of quality regarding both the products and the

service (e.g. delivery time) is founded in a sustainable long term cooperation between the business

partners.

Reliability

It is very important to JCK Holding to be trustworthy and authentic, because reliability is seen as the

basis for successful business and refers to relationships with suppliers as well as to relationships with

customers. This also implicates, that the company does not make its social engagement to third

parties public. It does not want to (mis)use its CSR policy as promotion; all CSR activities exclusively

aim to guarantee the company’s value of sustainability. And even this enriches the reliance in JCK

Holding, because it lives what it feels: ‘Taking implies giving’.

4.2.2 Corporate Social Responsibility

In 1999 JCK Holding introduced its own Code of Conduct. For ensuring the compliance, the company

sent third-party auditors to the factories. But after a couple of years the company realised that this

did not have the desired effect. The suppliers were overstrained because they did not know how to

take the necessary measurements to improve the working conditions. As a consequence, in 2006 JCK


35 Daniela Faßbach

Holding took the decision to establish its own Compliance department with the central idea to help

and support the suppliers in their development process. Since 2008, some subsidiaries of JCK Holding

including G.Güldenpfennig GmbH are members of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (see

chapter 4.1.2 for more information about this initiative). The reason for choosing this initiative is that

the BSCI is a widely accepted standard that avoids multiple audits with different requirements. Due

to the recent development and growth, JCK Holding expects that the network will become one of the

best organizations regarding CSR in risk countries in the next years. Today, the BSCI is already totally

included and even advanced in the company’s Compliance Departments’ working process as figure

4.2 shows.

Figure 4.2: Working process of Compliance Department (JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG, 2010)

The JCK Compliance Team has its own offices in Shanghai (China) and Dhaka (Bangladesh). All its

employees are SA80005 certified auditors. Their contact details are given to the factories so that the

factory workers can always contact the auditors when there is a problem. During the qualification

period, the implementation, monitoring and training costs are paid by JCK Holding. At the moment

over 60% of all suppliers of G.Güldenpfennig GmbH have already completed the BSCI process, which

describes a three year cycle. Nevertheless, the JCK compliance department continues with a

monitoring audit every six months in order to ensure that the standards are kept. Through always

being present in the manufacturing countries JCK Holding is able to react efficiently and sustainably

to problems. A big problem for example is overtime because factories do not know how to calculate

their capacity. JCK Holding found a way to regulate it from Germany so that a supplier can only be

5 Highest standard for social compliance


36 Daniela Faßbach

assigned a new order when it has the capacity to produce it in time. This means more planning

reliability for JCK’s customers.

“Taking implies giving”, this is the principle on which JCK Holding bases its CSR strategy. As already

explained the company sets great value on the fact that its social engagement is not used for

promotion. Although it can provide brochures and information about its CSR activities, these are

aimed at their business partners and not to third parties (the general public). This is the reason why it

is very difficult to find detailed information, e.g. on the internet, about the measures it takes,

although there is a lot to tell. Under the Skill Development Training for Garment Workers Project of

Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) the company conducts training courses for 630 poor and

disadvantaged people per year. The goal is on the one hand to provide these people the necessary

skills for working in the factories of G.Güldenpfennig’s suppliers and on the other hand to provide the

factories with the needed skilled workforce. Since February 2010 and initially agreed for a three year

period, the training is conducted in two vocational training centres, one in Dhaka and the other at

Gazipur. The training is free of charge for participants and with a special allowance for food and

accommodation (Dhaka Ahsania Mission, 2011). The material needed for the training is collected

from the suppliers (e.g. fabric remnants) and transported by G.Güldenpfennig to the training centres.

Up to now 98 % of graduated trainees are employed and working as skilled operators.

Another part of the company’s CSR strategy is that JCK Holding has its own test laboratory where the

company tests products and material in order to ensure a high quality. It has obligated its suppliers

to exclude harmful substances in production based on the EU REACh Regulation (Registration,

Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) which entered in law in 2006.

4.2.3 Current and potential link between identity and CSR strategy

JCK Holding is a multifaceted company specialized in sourcing from the Far East, which offers its

customers long-term business relationships founded in sustainability and reliability. In order to

guarantee these values the company implemented a strong CSR strategy under the principle ‘taking

implies giving’ which concentrates exclusively on the supplier level, thus on CSR activities conducted

in the Far East. Such company engagement, as described in chapter 4.2.2, is not ordinary; especially

when it is not - or even may not - be made public. It speaks for a strong anchoring of the company’s

identity in the CSR strategy that JCK Holding does not use its social projects for promotion and

positive headlines, but for strengthening its core values. Therefore, the company also does not rely

on third parties when it comes to

realizing its CSR strategy. Although it

works with (local) partners, JCK

Holding prefers to pull the strings so

that it always can react fast and

efficiently to problems that can

threaten the company’s identity.

Within Porter’s Value Chain Model

the company’s engagement

concentrates completely on the

procurement. G.Güldenpfennig is

member of the BSCI and has


37 Daniela Faßbach

implemented the initiative’s principles totally in its Compliance Department. Nevertheless the

support and monitoring process that G.Güldenpfennig offers to its suppliers is even advanced to the

requirements of the BSCI. The goal is to reach the highest planning reliability, a prerequisite for

reliance and sustainability. But improving working conditions is not sufficient for the company; it also

wants to engage in the supply of skilled labour. Thus, it set up the Skill Development Training for

Garment Workers Project in cooperation with

Dhaka Ahsania Mission. This enables the company

to train the workforce for its own suppliers and as

director of the project G.Güldenpfennig can also

control and determine the quality of the training.

The effect is that its suppliers get skilled workforce

– a fact that ensures consistently high-quality

products which G.Güldenpfennig sells to its

customers. Reliability and sustainability are the

consequences; values that are surely rewarded by

customer loyalty. This engagement is not a direct

part of the company’s supply chain and therefore

cannot be positioned in the Value Chain Model.

But it influences the Input Conditions, which are

part of Porter’s Diamond Framework.

The P of ‘planet’

Despite the extraordinary CSR policy of JCK Holding, it could be argued, that the principle ‘taking

implies giving’ on which the company’s social engagement is based, could be anchored more

thoroughly in the environmental aspect of its CSR strategy. Although the company has its own test

laboratory and again trusts more in its own strength than those of third parties (independent

laboratories), it can be argued that this serves only to do what every company is obliged by law to

do: testing on the basis of the EU REACh Regulation. The material needed for textile production is

cultivated in the same risk countries where JCK Holding has its suppliers and there can be found as

many problems regarding environmental as social grievance. According to estimations, 6-10 percent

of the annual global pesticide production are needed for cotton cultivation. Furthermore the water

consumption for cotton plantations is extremely high (Havlik, 2002). So, does taking from the nature

also imply giving? Maybe JCK Holding could think about implementing an answer to this question in

its CSR strategy because the value of sustainability is not only founded in the responsible exploitation

of human but also natural resources.

Figure 4.3 summarizes once again the discussed result: On the one hand how JCK Holding

successfully anchored its identity in its CSR strategy (blue lines) and on the other hand which

possibilities there are to do it even more thoroughly (red lines).


38 Daniela Faßbach

Figure 4.3: JCK Holding – current and potential link of identity and CSR (Faßbach, 2011)

Founded in 1838 JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG has a long textile tradition. Today, it is a management

holding with many subsidiaries in different sectors; one is the fashion company G.Güldenpfennig

GmbH. The core values of all subsidiaries are reliance and sustainability. As the holding has its

suppliers in Far East, it has realized that it has to find ways to anchor its core values already at the

producing stage of the supply chain. The company’s CSR strategy thus concentrates on the Asian

developing countries. JCK Holding has an own Compliance Department with offices in Shanghai and

Dhaka. Its working process is based on the company’s membership in the international accepted

standard BSCI. This combination ensures the company high efficiency and control, especially when

problems arise. The efforts taken are rewarded by JCK’s customers through long-term relationships

and loyalty. Furthermore, JCK Holding engages in the Skill Development Training for Garment

Workers Project of Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), where the company trains poor and disadvantaged

people for working in the factories of its suppliers. On this way, the company can help people under

the principle ‘taking implies giving’ and at the same time provide its suppliers skilled workforce. This

engagement is extraordinary and a good example how identity is anchored successfully in the CSR

strategy. If the company wants to continue with this, it could also think about a possibility to anchor

its values more thoroughly on environmental level, especially regarding the raw material production,

because the principle ‘taking implies giving’ should have the same meaning for the ‘planet’ as it

already has for the ‘people’.


39 Daniela Faßbach

5 Conclusion

“I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time

I am right.” (Albert Einstein)

This is the first paper which analyzes the link between a company’s identity and its Corporate Social

Responsibility strategy. The conclusions drawn in this chapter are therefore completely based on

what you have read so far; up to now there is no company that really made the experiment of

consciously basing its CSR strategy on its identity. Maybe not everything stated in this chapter would

in practice be proved as true, but joining the theoretical background of Identity Marketing and CSR

with current marketing developments and the practical experiences from the two companies

interviewed for this research leads to a reasonable explanation why linking Identity Marketing and

CSR is relevant and advantageous for companies.

5.1 Integration of Field Research Results

Gerry Weber International AG and JCK Holding GmbH Textil KG are both fashion companies, but each

has its own distinctive identity. Chapter 4 described their current Corporate Social Responsibility

strategy and analyzed how this fits to their identities. It becomes clear, that both companies already

have anchored their identities or at least parts of it in their CSR strategy, although they have never

heard before of Identity Marketing. Is this a coincidence? Or is Identity Marketing not necessary for

linking the identity of a company to its CSR strategy? In my opinion it has nothing to do with fortune,

but with logical entrepreneurship. The two companies have linked their CSR strategy unconsciously

to their identity through putting in their strengths and competences into their social (and ecological)

engagement. The identity of a company describes who the company is and where it is best at. Of

course this is linked to the core business of the company. Then, once a company has to decide how

to fill its CSR strategy, it normally looks how it can engage successfully around its core business, so

that both the company (economic considerations) and the beneficiary, for example the society, the

environment or the employee, will benefit from it. Thus, the goal of linking CSR to the company’s

identity, namely strengthening the authenticity of the CSR activities through basing them in the

company’s identity, is reached automatically. JCK Holding is a perfect example for this. The company

has succeeded in building up interplay between its CSR policy and its identity: On the one hand, all

CSR activities are justified by the core values of the company and on the other hand these core

values are strengthened by the effects the CSR activities have (cp. chapter 4.2).

But does this mean, that Identity Marketing is superfluous for the process of linking a company’s

identity and its CSR strategy? No! Although the examples show that companies unconsciously feel

the link and therefore try to translate it into their CSR activities, chapter 4 also showed that these

unconscious links can be improved. The reason is that a company can only base its CSR strategy on its

identity, when it is aware of this identity. Both for evaluating an existing CSR strategy and for

developing a new one, determining the company’s identity is always the first step. The example of

Gerry Weber shows, that the company’s CSR strategy fits to its identity, but that it is rather safe and

ordinary. After determining the company’s core values, it becomes clear that there is much more

potential, especially for something that really differentiates them from their competitors.

Nevertheless, the prerequisite is that a company is really willing to put up a CSR strategy that is

based on sincerity and longevity. The consequences described in the next chapter as well as the


40 Daniela Faßbach

model described in chapter 6 are only valid for companies that do not want to do ‘greenwashing’ but

develop a significant and sustainable CSR strategy.

5.2 Consequences

This chapter tries to give an answer to my central question “What are the internal and external

consequences for a company which bases its Corporate Social Responsibility on the company’s

identity – the basis for successful identity marketing?”. Internal consequences refer to those which

affect the company itself, thus its products, its services, its employees and so on. External

consequences mean the effect for external stakeholders as customers, organizations or the

government. But before having a look at these internal and external consequences, this chapter first

will deal with general consequences, as the effect on (Identity) Marketing and the concept of CSR.

5.2.1 General consequences

The idea of linking the CSR strategy of a company to its identity has effects on two concepts, namely

on Corporate Social Responsibility and on (Identity) Marketing. The pressure on companies to do

more than to observe the law is rising simultaneously with the growth of social and ecological

problems. For many years the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility was seen as the solution,

until more and more companies were discovered to be doing ‘green washing’ (cp. Chapter 1.2). CSR

lost credibility and reliability. This paper and the idea to base a company’s CSR strategy on its identity

can return this lost authenticity to the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, because it takes

CSR in its original meaning: a concept of entrepreneurial responsibility that connects the idea of

sustainability with the companies’ behaviour regarding people, planet and profit. Thus, it connects

the company’s reason for existence (identity) with its ‘passport of existence’ (CSR).

The concept of this paper does not only help CSR to a new understanding, but also changes the

concept of practising marketing, because it permanently includes CSR as a part of (Identity)

Marketing. Marketing 3.0 stands for a values-driven marketing where companies “aim to provide

solutions to address problems in society” (Kotler, Kartajaya, Setiawan, 2010) and CSR provides

companies with exactly those values. Marketing is no longer convincing the customer of something a

company wants him to believe. With the help of new technologies, the customers are emancipated

and mature; they are better informed and have the possibility to prove what is promoted. Linking

CSR and Identity Marketing enables a company to carry out “true and honest” marketing that will

automatically convince those customers who can identify with the values represented by a company.

This also means that the focus of marketing managers switches from the visual to the content of a

campaign.

5.2.2 Internal consequences

The process of basing the company’s CSR strategy on its identity has many consequences for the

company itself. First of all, it means the input of effort and time. Determining a company’s identity

and then finding a way to a CSR strategy that is anchored in this identity cannot be done in a couple

of days. It needs time and the input of more than one person. The direction a company takes should

be considered as well as the employees and other stakeholders in order to find an answer to the six


41 Daniela Faßbach

elements of identity (cp. Chapter 3.1). Furthermore, it needs creativity and the willingness to gather

information for developing suitable CSR activities.

Nevertheless, this input is worthy because the process has many positive consequences. Firstly, the

employees identify with the CSR engagement of the company, acting as ambassadors and explaining

why the company has chosen these specific activities. Prospective employees apply to the company

because they can identify with its engagement. Moreover, customers reward the CSR strategy of the

company, because they see the relationship between the product and the engagement. For them it is

believable and authentic and therefore they are prepared to support this. Customer loyalty rises and

competitors it will find it much more difficult to lure customers away. It is probable, that the

company even attracts new customers, who previously purchased another (cheaper) brand, but are

now prepared to pay more because they identify with the CSR engagement of the company and see

the link with the product. All these positive consequences can be summarized as ‘Return on

Intention’ (Bouten & Morel, 2010). It describes “the degree to which the product or service delivered

by the organization enriches customers’ lives, that of its employees and that of society as a whole”.

Identity Marketing and CSR are both based on the idea that the degree of significance for people and

the planet are more important for the success of a company than profit and market share; the latter

being automatically derived from an authentic link between a company’s identity and its CSR.

Furthermore, all advantages are linked to the fact that the company may not stop or change its CSR

strategy from one day to another without comprehensible explanation. The product and its success

are directly linked to the CSR strategy so that an incomprehensible cut can damage the company’s

image sustainably.

5.2.3 External consequences

Not only is the company itself affected by the link between a company’s identity and its CSR strategy,

but also external stakeholders are affected. Firstly, the customers benefit from this, because they are

able to reward those CSR activities with which they can identify. As they now see the link between

the company and its CSR engagement, they no longer have to fear falling for a company that misuses

CSR as a marketing tool. Additionally, they get the feeling to be recognized as complete human

beings with mind, heart and spirit who are enabled by the companies to make a contribution to a

better world through their consumption.

Non-profit organizations benefit from the new company’s thinking and actions through sustainable

and authentic relationships. Many companies will not be able to realize their new CSR strategies

without cooperation with an organization specialized in the area where they want to engage. The

organizations are probably confronted taken more seriously, because the companies have a clear

picture of what they want to do and why they want to do it. The engagement is not seen as a short

investment or ‘marketing campaign’, but is considered thoroughly and as a long-term investment. Of

course, this also means that the organizations must be prepared to cooperate with the companies

and to be willing to develop sustainable projects.

Suppliers and other members of the supply chain are also affected through longer-term

relationships. The requirements increase, because companies are looking for the perfect partner in

order to realize their strategy. This is a great opportunity for suppliers, especially in less developed

countries, because the companies are prepared to support the supplier when he cannot immediately

meet the required standards. But of course, the prerequisite is that the supplier is willing to


42 Daniela Faßbach

cooperate and to develop. If this is not the case, companies are forced to find new suppliers.

Last but not least, the environment and society in general benefit through the change in quantity and

quality of CSR activities. More CSR activities are conducted, which are more creative, sustainable and

serious.

Joining the results from the desk based research and the field research leads to the conclusion that

making a link between Identity Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility is relevant and

advantageous for companies. The examples of Gerry Weber International AG and JCK Holding GmbH

Textil KG show that companies, to some extent, do link CSR to their identity without being aware of

either the concept of Identity Marketing or even their own identity. The reason is that companies

normally try to put their core competences into their CSR engagement, in order to reach a maximum

value for both society and themselves. Nevertheless, this does not make Identity Marketing

redundant for the linking process, because a company can only consciously bring its CSR strategy to

perfection, when it is aware of its identity. A conscious link between identity and CSR has many

consequences. At first, there are general consequences for the concepts of CSR and (Identity)

Marketing. Basing CSR on the company’s identity provides the concept of CSR with new credibility and

reliability, because it gives the company’s engagement an obvious and honest reason: its identity. The

understanding of Marketing also changes through permanently including CSR. It gives answer to the

customers’ quest for ‘true and believable’ marketing based on meaningful values. For the company

itself linking CSR and Identity Marketing means the input of time and effort, but leads to

‘ambassador’ employees who identify with the company and its engagement. Customers also reward

the CSR strategy through loyalty because they feel connected to the company and through their

consumption want to support a CSR policy that fits to their own values. Moreover, non-profit

organizations benefit from the new concept by developing sustainable and serious relationships. The

same is valid for suppliers, who are willing to cooperate. A last beneficiary is the environment or

society in general because CSR activities change in quantity and quality.


43 Daniela Faßbach

6 Recommendation

After having thought about all kinds of consequences when a company decides to link its identity to

its CSR strategy, one essential question remains: How can it then actually link its identity to its CSR

strategy? This chapter gives an answer by presenting a 4-Step-Model, which describes in four steps

what a company can do in order to base its CSR strategy on its identity. The reader will be confronted

with two expressions, ‘CSR issues’ and ‘CSR activities’. CSR issues stand for potential areas of CSR (for

example ‘child labour’), while CSR activities are specific actions a company takes within one CSR issue

(for example ‘providing education for children instead of them having to work but the company

continues to pay them’).

Figure 6.1: 4-Step-Model of linking identity and CSR

(Faßbach, 2011)

6.1 Step 1: Motivation and know-how

The basis for every development or changing process within a company is motivation; the motivation

to provide the necessary input in order to reach the goal. The purpose of this paper is to motivate

and interest its readers in implementing their own CSR strategy that fits to their company’s identity.

Of course motivation alone is not sufficient, know-how is also needed. By reading this thesis, the

reader is informed of the basics of Identity Marketing, CSR and the link between both, so that he/she

is able to put this theory into practice. The given examples may help; additional literature can also be

useful.

6.2 Step 2: Identifying the identity and (potential) CSR issues

Before determining a CSR strategy, the company’s identity has to be defined, because it is the

orientation for each CSR activity. The identity can be best determined by answering the six elements

of identity: ideology, vision, mission, unique strength, core values and ambitions (cp. Chapter 3.1.1).

It can also be helpful to state the answers in a company’s identity certificate, a document that

presents the company’s identity to its employees and other stakeholders.


44 Daniela Faßbach

Parallel to dealing with the company’s identity, the company has to think about potential CSR issues

with which they could engage. Useful tools can be Porter’s Value Chain Model and his Diamond

Framework (cp. Chapter 3.3.2) because they enable a company to raise its awareness of all CSR

issues which directly (Value Chain Model) and indirectly (Diamond Framework) affect the company.

In this step no choice of the CSR issues the company wants to become active in is made, so that all

potential CSR issue are gathered independent of their attractiveness. Companies that already have a

CSR strategy should also complete this step, because it may be necessary to change the current CSR

issues at a later date companies will then already know which other alternatives are available.

6.3 Step 3: Anchoring the identity in the CSR strategy

The third step is to anchor the determined identity in the CSR strategy of the company, thus choosing

the fitting CSR issue and the corresponding CSR activities. This step differs for companies that are just

starting with CSR (Case A) and those which already have an existing CSR strategy (Case B).

6.3.1 Case A: CSR as a new concept

A company, for which CSR is a new concept, shall start this step with choosing 1-3 CSR issues from

the list made in Step 2. This is a good quantity, because there is no need that a company engages in

every CSR issue that affects it. Especially for companies, which do not have any experience with CSR,

it might be better to concentrate first on only one essential CSR issue and then after having linked

this with its identity it can add one or two other CSR issues. It can choose those issues which it

considers to be the most interesting ones or those that affect the core business most. All in all, this

decision is difficult and subjective. Therefore it can be useful to ask not only the management of a

company but also its employees, which CSR issue they regard as important for their company to

engage in.

Once the CSR issues have been determined, the next task is to fill in the CSR activities. One CSR issue

can be answered by one or more CSR activities. It depends on the scope and the depth the company

wants to reach. The more specific a CSR activity is, the higher the quality can be, but the more

general a CSR activity is, the greater the scope can be. The CSR activities shall answer the CSR issue

in a way that is based on the company’s identity. Each CSR issue can be met in thousands of ways,

but the company has to find the way that best fits its identity. Therefore, the company can make use

of brainstorming or other creative thinking methods6 in order to gather all ideas for potential CSR

activities. One method is, for example, personal analogy: A person chooses an essential issue of the

problem and asks himself how he would feel if he was this issue in this special situation. Let’s take

the CSR issue ‘child labour’ and the adjectives ‘reliable, assertive and astonishing’ as our company’s

core values. Now we imagine being a child of ten years who has to work in a factory in order to

provide his family with money to survive. How do we feel and what do we desire to change? Which

solution (CSR activity) would we as the child regard as reliable, assertive and/or astonishing? And

which solution would even help us as the child to become more reliable, assertive and/or

astonishing? For example, we could think about this solution: The company abolishes the

employment of children in its factories (= assertive), but it keeps paying the child or finds someone in

6 A useful and interesting book is Byttebier, I. (2002). Creativiteit. Hoe? Zo!. (13th ed.). Tielt: Lannoo nv.


45 Daniela Faßbach

its family who wants to take the job (= reliable), while the child goes to school, where it is educated

for its future employment within the same company (= astonishing and reliable).

There is no limit of creativity when inventing CSR activities. The final choice then has to be based, on

the one hand on the degree of linkage between identity and CSR activity and on the other hand on

practical criteria, as feasibility, costs and sustainability. The degree of linkage can be proved by asking

the ten questions below (Figure 6.2: Question method). Each question can only be answered with

‘yes’ or ‘no’. When 8-10 questions are answered with ‘yes,’ the CSR activity fits to the company’s

identity. 5-7 ‘yes’ answers means that the company should think about the reasons for answering

‘no’ and modify the CSR activity according to those reasons. If there are less than 5 questions

answered with ‘yes’, then the CSR activity does not fit to the company’s identity and therefore

should not be conducted.

Question Yes No

1. Does this CSR activity contribute to our company’s ideology, thus its reason for existence?

2. Does this CSR activity fit to our company’s vision, thus the way our company wants to see the world?

3. Is this CSR activity in line with our company’s mission; does it even enrich our mission?

4. Do we make use of our company’s unique strength when conducting this CSR activity?

5. Is this CSR activity based on at least one of our company’s core values?

6. Is at least one of our company’s core values strengthened by the effects of this CSR activity?

7. Does this CSR activity fit to our company as we envisage/imagine it to be in 2020?

8. Does this CSR activity represent what differentiates our company from its competitors, so that our customers will know that it is our company engaging and not a competitor?

9. Is this CSR activity relevant for our primary target group: Can our customers identify with the chosen CSR issue? Does it affect them in their current phase of life?

10. Does this CSR activity contribute better than any other CSR activity within this CSR issue to our company’s goal to be of maximum significance for our customers, society and ourselves?

Figure 6.2: Question method (Faßbach, 2011)

Practical criteria of feasibility should be determined similarly to other marketing activities which the

company conducts. The company has to take into account its internal capacities, as knowledge,

readiness to assume risk and to invest money as well as external aspects, as for example the legal

framework or the availability of potential partners. Furthermore, it has to be considered that CSR

activities in contrast to many other Marketing activities are always planned for a long-time period.

6.3.2 Case B: CSR as an existing concept

A company, which already conducts a certain CSR strategy, should start this step by evaluating its

current CSR activities, making use of the ‘Question method’ explained in Case A. When all current

CSR activities reach a ‘yes’-score of 8-10, the company already has a CSR strategy, that fits perfectly


46 Daniela Faßbach

to its identity. But probably, there will be CSR activities that get less than 8 questions answered by

‘yes’. The company then has to decide if at least the CSR issue is relevant for the company’s identity,

so that only the CSR activity does not fit or can be improved. Depending on the result of this decision,

the company has the possibility to either modify the existing CSR activity or to replace the current

CSR activity by another CSR activity that answers the same CSR issue or to add an additional and

supporting CSR activity to the current one for the same issue in order to reach a more powerful and

more valuable anchoring or to stop the current CSR activity because the CSR issue is not relevant for

the company’s identity. In the case of this last option, which is always the case when only 5 or less

questions are answered by ‘yes’, the company can return to Case A and start thinking about other

more relevant CSR issues.

6.4 Step 4: Monitoring and locking overtime

This last step is never-ending. Once the CSR strategy that is based on the company’s identity has

been determined, it is essential to monitor and lock the link overtime. An evaluating process should

take place (e.g. with the help of the ‘question method’) at least once a year in which the CSR issues

and activities are critically examined to ascertain whether or not they still fit to the company’s

identity. The evaluation, of course, is also conducted when the company wants to implement a new

CSR activity. Another helpful tool can be the ‘Vliegwiel van identiteit®’ (Appendix D). It is not only

useful when translating the identity into the 12 organizational components; it can also be

implemented when a company wants to monitor the link between CSR strategy and identity. The

company has to ask itself whether its CSR strategy matches its identity. Therefore it relates each CSR

activity to one of the three ‘CSR’ components (‘customer’, ‘employee’ and ‘society’) and rates the

degree of anchoring in the identity of each component. Only when the result is an anchoring in the

middle circle of each component, is the CSR strategy sufficiently linked with the company’s identity.

In general, a company should always think thoroughly about changing an existing and successful (!)

CSR strategy because it always affects the company’s identity. Thus, replacing a current CSR activity

by an activity that better fits to the company’s identity can benefit the identity, but replacing a

current CSR activity that fits to the company’s identity by another one that also fits can be

problematic. The reason is that the customers and other external stakeholders approve the current

CSR activity and reward it through their behaviour. Replacing it can be seen as a refusal of their

approval. Therefore it is essential, that the reasons for a new CSR activity are stated honestly and

clearly, so that everybody can see and accept the new link and its advantages at once.

This chapter presents the 4-Step-Model: four steps for a company to go in order to link its identity and

its CSR strategy. The first step is motivation and know-how, the basis for change. The next step then is

to identify the company’s identity by answering the six elements of identity and to determine

(potential) CSR issues by making use of Porter’s Value Chain Model and his Diamond Framework.

These two models enable a company to be aware of all CSR issues that affect the company directly

and indirectly. In the third step the company has to anchor the determined identity in the CSR

strategy by choosing the fitting CSR issues and the corresponding CSR activities. It is differentiated

between companies that start with CSR (Case A) and those already dealing with CSR (Case B). Case A


47 Daniela Faßbach

starts with choosing 3-5 interesting or relevant CSR issues and filling them with CSR activities, which

best fit to the company’s identity. Creative thinking methods can be very useful at this point. Every

idea for potential CSR activities has to be evaluated regarding the degree of linkage between identity

and CSR activity by making use of the ‘Question method’. Case B starts with evaluating all current CSR

activities, also using the ‘Question method’, and then depending on the result keeping, modifying or

stopping the current CSR strategy. The last step is never-ending because it implies monitoring and

locking the link overtime. This means regularly evaluating the process of current CSR activities as well

as of new ones, for example by making use of the ‘Vliegwiel van identiteit®’.


48 Daniela Faßbach

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50 Daniela Faßbach

Appendix

A. Questionnaire Gerry Weber International AG

Unternehmensidentität

1. Warum wurde das Unternehmen gegründet? Was war der Antrieb bzw. Hintergrund?

2. Was würden die Menschen vermissen, wenn es das Unternehmen nicht gäbe?

3. Wie erkenne ich den typischen Kunden des Unternehmens? Und wie die typischen Kunden

der einzelnen Marken?

4. Was ist die Vision des Unternehmens?

5. Wo wird Gerry Weber als Unternehmen in 5 bis 10 Jahren stehen? (bezüglich seiner Position

im Markt, seiner Kunden, seiner Aktivitäten und seiner Mitarbeiter)

6. Wie möchte das Unternehmen diese Ziele erreichen?

7. Wie werden die Mitarbeiter über die Ambitionen und Ziele informiert bzw. in deren

Erstellung mit einbezogen?

8. Worin ist Gerry Weber am besten? Was unterscheidet das Unternehmen am meisten von

seinen Konkurrenten?

9. Nennen Sie drei Begriffe/Eigenschaften, die das Unternehmen am besten beschreiben (Core

values).

10. Welcher Zusammenhang besteht zwischen den Produkten des Unternehmens und seinen

sonstigen Angeboten (Gerry Weber Stadion, Event und Convention Center, Golfplatz und

Sportparkhotel)?

11. Wie erkenne ich den typischen Mitarbeiter von Gerry Weber?

12. Was bedeuten die Mitarbeiter für den Erfolg des Unternehmens?

13. Was bietet das Unternehmen seinen Mitarbeitern?

14. Gerry Weber hat viele als Franchise geführte Geschäfte. Wie werden diese in das

Gesamtkonzept eingebunden und wie wird für ein einheitliches Gesamtbild gesorgt?

15. Das Unternehmen ist weltweit tätig und führt Geschäfte in mehreren Ländern. Wie werden

diese Länder ausgewählt?

16. Wird das Erscheinungsbild des Unternehmens und die Kollektion an die unterschiedlichen

Kulturen der verschiedenen Länder angepasst und wenn ja, inwiefern?

Corporate Social Responsibility

1. Was bedeutet für Sie ‚Nachhaltigkeit‘ bzw. ‚nachhaltiges Wirtschaften‘?

2. Wie ist CSR im Unternehmen verankert? Wer entscheidet über das Engagement und wie?

3. Wie werden die Mitarbeiter über soziale Projekte informiert und bei ihrer Auswahl

einbezogen?

4. Wie sah das soziale und ökologische Engagement des Unternehmens im vergangenen Jahr

aus? Was wurde erreicht?

5. Was sind die Ziele/Ambitionen des Unternehmens bezügliches seines CSR Engagements für

die nächsten Jahren?

6. Wann und warum ist das Unternehmen der ‚Business Social Compliance Initiative‘

beigetreten?


51 Daniela Faßbach

7. Was sind die Vorteile dieser Initiative?

8. Wie sieht die Arbeit von Gerry Weber innerhalb des BSCI aus? Was sind Ihre Aufgaben und

Verpflichtungen?

9. Wie wird die Einhaltung des BSCI Code of Conducts im Unternehmen garantiert?

10. Wo werden Ihre Produkte hergestellt?

11. Wie wählt das Unternehmen seine Lieferanten aus? Was bedeutet ‚Global Sourcing-System?

12. Was erwartet Gerry Weber von seinen Lieferanten?

13. Was bietet Gerry Weber seinen Lieferanten?

14. Wann und wie informiert das Unternehmen die Öffentlichkeit über sein CSR Engagement?

15. Können Sie mir etwas mehr über RFID erzählen? Warum wurde diese neue Technologie

eingeführt?

16. Inwieweit profitieren auch die Kunden von dieser Technologie?


52 Daniela Faßbach

B. Value Chain Model (Porter & Kramer, 2006)


53 Daniela Faßbach

C. Diamond Framework (Porter & Kramer, 2006)


54 Daniela Faßbach

D. ‘Vliegwiel van identiteit®’ – Flywheel of identity

Based on Morel (2010, p.136/137)

The Flywheel of identity consists of 12 organizational components that are part of the identity

anchoring process. The idea is that a company starts by determining its identity and then translating

it into each component. A strong identity arises by continually adapting the components to the

company’s identity and to each other. Or in other words: the company passes around the Flywheel of

identity again and again until all components have reached the middle circle (dark blue), where the

identity is visibly anchored in all components.

If the identity is successfully anchored in the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy of the company,

it can be proven by the three ‘result’ components, the customer, the society and the employee.

identity marketing & csr

Documents