Bragging or boosting?

How companies behave and how that behaviour impacts the environment and society at large are fast becoming very important business issues in South Africa - issues that can affect business performance and profitability.

Historically some companies in South Africa have been cautious in promoting their CSR initiatives believing that obvious publicity can be misunderstood, and seen as self-serving or self congratulatory.

In reality, audiences have evolved and progressed further than this. Today people want to make educated decisions about what they buy, what they invest in and who they are working for.

They are aware that social and environmental performance enhances profitability and sustainability for a business. And they want to know about it.

CSR-led communication campaigns now need the specialist focus they deserve and should be driven in conjunction with corporate communication strategies. CSR communications and PR will examine internal staff communication and engagement, stakeholder communication and customer communication - touching all the audiences that CSR communications need to reach, in the appropriate ways.

The benefits of a focused CSR communication strategy are obvious:

Building corporate reputation equity: CSR is now a value-adding differentiator in the competitive corporate marketplace.

Improving customer loyalty and retention: Research from the Reputation Institute shows that more and more customers are considering the social and environmental standpoints of the companies that they buy from.

Increasing employee trust and boosting morale: People want to work for companies that they feel good about. They are eager to build faith in a company's values and objectives and enjoy working for a business that projects a caring attitude and ethos outside of its corporate operating domain.

Winning over investors: Socially responsible investing is on the increase. The launch of SRI index on the JSE supports this as more and more investors realise the strong connection between social performance and profitability.

Engaging community support: By investing in community projects at a local level and by publicising the benefits of these projects - their successes and achievements - companies can leverage the support of communities they involved with.

A company that does not vigorously promote its CSR initiatives risks losing out on a valuable and innovative way of communicating with its audience.

A key shift is needed in the industry as communicators need to become more involved in CSR. No longer can CSR communications be seen as an afterthought in the planning or implementation of CSR strategy. CSR communications should become an integral part of the CSR strategy as it is developed, and all stakeholders should be spoken to in a language that they will understand.

A creative, focused CSR communication strategy can greatly contribute towards business success.