Is Philanthropy the New Normal?

In 2016, we've entered the age of public relations dominated by corporate social responsibility. Justin Trudeau branded himself with exceptional PR on Facebook, to become Canada's Prime Minister. The number of corporate CSR campaigns in 2016 has boomed. CSR has become the new normal of video campaigns and the primary hack to appeal to consumers that is trending. 

Being considered an Ethical and 'Generous' brand, personal brand or corporate entity is now, big business!

While for independent retailers it's worth considering the foundations of CSR with regards to the sustainability of your products, etc. Major corporations are investing in CSR, because it's an easy way to hack the emotional customer experience (eCx) of consumers. Take the recent and rather well done commercial of Cheerios. This is a decent example of leveraging the following:

• Being cruelty free to animals
• Protecting an endangered species 
• Excellent use of music and emotionally stirring lyrics
• Creating video content and linking with it a branded hashtag

The Ethics of Good Public Relations

The problem of living in an age where philanthropy and altruism is a branding play, is how do we as consumers, decide or determine if it's authentic and imagine if this brand actually does care or identify it just as a marketing gimmick?

Not only now must we as Millennials be immune to bad advertising, we have to sift through CSR campaigns that may or may not actually be genuine. 

The New Normal of Retail Branding 

From the point of view of a independent retail brand, there's a lot to do, including being authentic and pro-active with regards to CSR: 

1. Eco-Friendly: Making sure my products are sustainable, ecologically friendly and contribute to a better world. 
2. Ethics: How does my brand impact the ecosystem of my industry or retail vertical with all the ethical considerations and implications consumers may care about?
3. Empowerment: Does my brand stand for values that are sustainable, offer lifestyle empowerment and contribute to the passions, hobbies and emotional experience of must customers?
4. Gratitude & Philanthropy: Does my brand say thanks to customers and give back to the community, local community, social causes or contribute to the real concerns of citizens in my area?
5. Value Congruence: Is my brand actively seeking out to match values portrayed with the values of my audience? Do I as a brand understand the personas of my customers to target them with consideration that are important to me that matches specific segments of my customers? Am I in tune with young people, memes and social causes important to the next generation who happen to be consumers of my products and supporters of my brand?
6. Social CSR: Is my brand actively doing campaigns, holding contests, inspiring user generated content of images and videos reflecting a social cause or using a branded #hashtag? Creating interactive content that taps into UGC is the true value of CSR that's trust-building, is shareable and the next level of social brand advocacy that inspires.

CSR is a great example of how retail brands can better target Millennial consumers and young people who may care more actively about ethics in business and want to support brands that are in tune with ecosystem not just about how their products impact the world, but how they treat their employees, the corporate culture they represent and the authenticity of their business practices in the day to day world of how they participate in community. 

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