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PM Forum - Dublin
CSR Seminar - The value of corporate social responsibility – a win-win scenario for all?
At the February event hosted by Ernst & Young, Aldagh McDonogh, founder and managing director of marketing services agency, Alternatives, started by pointing out that CSR was now mainstream and was part of our collective attention. It is no longer the case of ‘are you doing something?’ but rather ‘what are you doing?’. CSR is increasingly becoming a source of competitive advantage.
She emphasised that CSR is about being a good business. In terms of implementing and integrating a CSR initiative into a firm, Aldagh suggests examining the key business objectives and core competencies of the firm, and then selecting a problem for which you can be part of the solution.
This new CSR landscape is increasingly seeing companies getting involved from a conviction-led response rather than a compliance culture. Alternatives looked to introduce a meaningful CSR initiative that would also fit their strategic competencies. This led to ‘Marketing for Change’ which successfully unites marketing talent for free with charities and not for profits around marketing projects, and has resulted in a significant ‘win win’ for all involved.
This presentation was followed by Kieran Loughran, founder and Chair of Boardmatch Ireland, who spoke of the challenges faced by many charities and NGO’s in terms of marketing, corporate governance, financial and legal expertise, with many such organisations looking for talented and experienced people to serve on boards and their compliance committees.
Boardmatch supports the development of the community by strengthening the governance of boards and helps build links between the corporate world and the wider community. To date, some 300 people have been successfully placed on boards, facilitated by an online skills match. The result again was a win win for business professionals, corporates and not for profits alike.
The process was becoming increasingly sophisticated in terms of skills match and the type of project undertaken. Kieran went on to note the benefits accruing for individuals and firms, such as broadening their knowledge, building external networks and strategic succession planning, making this a smart investment in CSR.
Lucy Murray of McDonald’s Ireland spoke about brand recovery from McDonald’s own experiences. Lucy described the difficulties facing McDonalds back in 2002 when it made its first-ever loss, with a plunging stock price and crumbling employee morale, whilst also under increasing scrutiny and public debates around obesity and consumer responsibility.
Lucy explained that McDonald’s needed a plan with a clear vision to reverse this decline. Following a senior management shake-up, the focus was shifted to doing things better rather than simply adding new outlets as had been the old approach to growth. This saw a return to the marketing basics - knowing your customer and acting accordingly. Menu changes were brought in; myths about quality were countered by transparency about the real facts. McDonalds also sought to rebuild pride of employees and rid itself of the old perceptions. Franchisees were to become ambassadors to their communities and employees were being certified with recognised qualifications. Such was the transformation that McDonald’s has been recognised as one of the top employers in Ireland.
Brand revitalisation is a major challenge; however, as Lucy eloquently argued, through open, transparent and responsible efforts, it is possible to build a stronger brand and make a difference.
Raphael O'Donoghue
UNICEF Ireland
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