Giving back to the communities from where organisations operate may be viewed as merely good business ethics by many people. However, paying back to society is more than just good ethical behavior, it is key and fundamental to the success of every organisation’s marketing efforts.
Broadly defined, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a company’s activities and status related to its perceived societal or stakeholder obligations.
It is therefore important for organisations to acknowledge that individuals, who constitute the market and customers for organisation’s services and products,come from the communities. As such good marketing practice for organisations entails that they contribute towards the wellbeing as well as welfare of individuals and people in its society and surrounding communities.
Additionally, it should be understood that one of the strategic approaches to marketing which is market positioning, cannot be successfully carried out where there is no prior market education.
Market education involves creating awareness around an organisation, brand or product it is usually done in combination with public relations strategies such as the creation of publicity.
According to the American Marketing Association’s Journal of Marketing in October 2006, today’s competitive market environment, corporate social responsibility (CSR) represents a high-profile notion that has strategic importance to many companies.As many as ninety percent of the fortune five hundred companies, now have explicit CSR initiatives.
In order for any organisation to effectively position itself in any market, it must demonstrate the ability to fit in, contribute positively and earn acceptance and recognition by the surrounding communities or people. It is a well-known fact that most of us will respond favourably to an organisation that we regard to be truly part of our community.
The American Marketing Association further states that: Motivated, in part, by this mounting importance of CSR in practice, several marketing studies have found that social responsibility programs have a significant influence on several customer-related outcomes. More specifically, on the basis of lab experiments, CSR is reported to affect, either directly or indirectly, consumer product responses customer-company identification.
However, Corporate Social Responsibility is not a philosophy or principle that many commercial entities have been seen to espouse, if you took a walk in some residential areas of Lusaka whose names Iwon’t mention, which are predominately occupied by a high class of business men most of whom have shops in the Kamwala shopping area, you will be greatly disappointed with the state of the roads. Business men or millionaires who can’t even spend a penny on their own neighborhood. Can you imagine that these people use these very roads on a daily basis and that they have not seen their bad condition?
About three years ago, I had travelled to the copperbelt and among the towns I visited was Luanshya. I should point out that I was equally very disturbed to observe that what were once upon a time flourishing amusement and play parks were now in totally deplorable states.
I immediately had a question ran in my mind, what were the new mine owners and corporate organisations doing about this situation?This state of affairs is so much the case in most Zambian towns and cities which once boasted of having good recreation facilities but is now completely run down, if not taken up by property developers.
My biggest disappointment came when I visited a high residential site in Kitwe which happens to be a mining residential area. I was not amused at the pathetic state of the roads which were prominently characterised with pot holes which made driving a living hell.
Again I wondered why any corporate organisation couldn’t take it upon itself, to render some worthwhile service.
Corporate organisations or business entities should understand that good corporate responsibility is not philanthropy or mere charitable gesture. Any organisation that takes up the challenge, will surely earn itself some acknowledgment, recognition and rewards.
Taking up some road rehabilitation for instance, would provide a great opportunity for an organisation to place their sign posts or bill boards mentioning that the road works have been done and maintained by so and so.
This in turn will signify a good sense of corporate responsibility for the organisation in question.
A good corporate responsibility can be exemplified by the initiative taken by Celtel (now Airtel) over 8 years ago when the company invested millions of Kwacha towards the rehabilitation of Mandevu basic school in Lusaka, the mobile communications company further purchased new desks for the pupils of the same school .
This is kind of initiative signified good corporate responsibility and is a demonstration of a company that reciprocated the support it received from the local communities. The company took up similar initiatives in other parts of the country.
So you see, some of the benefits for CSR are the long lasting acknowledgement and recognition. What a company does for any community will leave a remarkable and lasting impression on many people which will in turn help create a strong corporate brand for the organisation and help with its marketing efforts.
Author is a consultant in marketing, public relations and customer service.
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