Heidi Verplank

Consumers today expect more than just products or services from organizations. Instead, they want brands who have clear values that they continuously and publicly support. As explained by Julia Petryk in an article for PR News, this is why corporate social responsibility helps companies build trust, support their community and encourage others to join their mission.

As noted in an article from Cision, CSR and promoting their responsible practices is increasingly becoming a focus for organizations (Cision). This means that it is even more important than ever for PR professionals to have a proficient understanding of how they can best help their clients communicate about CSR.

Patagonia, CVS, Capital One and Nike provide four examples that can help guide PR practitioners in learning how to best use CSR in their public relations strategies.

Patagonia

Patagonia, a company known for their sustainability and environmentally-friendly practices, produced a documentary called DamNation as a strategy to advocate for dam removal. This form advocacy acted as environmental activism and corporate social responsibility, which promoted both their brand and social change (Moscato, 2016).

Patagonia is a prime example of both successful advocacy and CSR because their actions aligned with their organization’s values. Staying true to your brand is a crucial part of good CSR, demonstrated by Patagonia.

CVS & Tobacco

CVS made the decision to remove tobacco products from their stores, which resulted in billions of dollars of lost revenue. This choice was made because CVS stated that selling tobacco did not align with their value of promoting health for their customers. The company saw it as their responsibility to remove harmful products from their stores, regardless of monetary losses (Ward et al., 2016).

The CVS case brings up important questions about balancing CSR with financial consequences. At times, protecting your organization’s values and enacting CSR efforts can come with backlash from publics who disagree.

Capital One

Capital One’s CSR efforts show that not only are your actions important, but also your communication tactics. After implementing several environmental initiatives, the company failed to report the progress they were making, which limited the scope of their CSR efforts (Smith, 2019).

Corporate social responsibility is more than simply doing good. This is where PR professionals must step in and help organizations communicate with publics so their actions can have greater impact.

Nike

Nike faced criticism in the 1990s and early 2000s regarding unsafe working conditions in their overseas factories. The company was forced to implement new initiatives and communication strategies to combat backlash, but still struggle with claims that they are not truly socially responsible (Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics).

The Nike case displays how CSR efforts fall short when the company does not follow best practices. Presenting yourself as a company who values CSR while failing to prove it to be can be incredibly harmful for your brand.

Why is CSR Important?

Each of these cases demonstrate that corporate social responsibility is more than simply a strategy, but something that should be at the core of every organization. These cases highlight how strategic communication and CSR is most effective when they reflect genuine organizational values, rather than trying to compensate for their shortcomings.

PR professionals must understand the importance of implementing and navigating corporate social responsibility initiatives within organizations that balance ethical responsibility, organizational values and long-term goals.

Keywords

Corporate Social Responsibility, Public Relations, Communication, Brand Management, Ethical Responsibility

Works Cited

Cision. (n.d.). How PR fits into corporate social responsibility and 5 brands that get it right. https://www.cision.com/resources/articles/how-pr-fits-into-corporate-social-responsibility-and-5-brands-that-get-it-right/

Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics: Nike’s Labor Practices Under Scrutiny. (n.d.) In Standards, Ethics, and Values (pp. 332–338)

Moscato, D. (2016). The brand behind the activism: Patagonia’s DamNation campaign and the evolution of corporate social responsibility. Case Studies in Strategic Communication, 5, 99-116. Available online: http://cssc.uscannenberg.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/v5art6.pdf

Petryk, J. (2021, July 22). Matching CSR with corporate values. PRNEWS. https://www.prnewsonline.com/csr-values-purpose/

Smith, S. A. (2019). Making plastic green: Capital One’s commitment to sustainability. In The future of public relations (pp. 348–353). Oxford University Press.

Ward, C. B., Roy, D. P., & Edmondson, D. R. (2016). Is CVS just ‘blowing smoke?’: Evaluating the CVS decision to ban tobacco products. Case Studies in Strategic Communication, 5, 249-264. Available online: http://cssc.uscannenberg.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/v5art14.pdf