The ALS ice bucket challenge has been a big hit on the internet. It has spread virally across the world and since the challenge began the ALS association has collected 41.8 million dollars in contributions. So the challenge has done two things very well. One it has raised the awareness of ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease and two common individuals have also got involved and contributed $100 each to the association. A great example of crowd funding, though the raising of awareness has contributed to big time donations too.
Social media is a great opportunity for corporates to get involved in CSR activities. CSR needs to be something which is transparent, genuine and which is seen to be benefitting the society. What better way to achieve all this than social media. Your customers or consumers can see you making a difference.
Just as an example, if this challenge was in India maybe a private hospital chain or a pharma company or any socially responsible organisation could have come forward and raised the bar saying that for everyone participating in this challenge and contributing $100 or Rs 5000 they will from their side contribute something extra. It could be even Rs 1000 per person. But imagine the goodwill they can generate with this gesture.
In India on the occasion of a festival or even valentines day or new year we see companies/brands make desperate attempt to link with the occasion. They will have offers or discounts and try to make it look like an offer because they want they consumers to enjoy that festival or occasion. Can they turn the same into a CSR opportunity which increases sale and also generates good funds for a good cause.
Last year in Oman for Valentines day, we did a proactive twitter campaign for a confectionery client. Confectionery are sweet, gooey, mushy things which come in handy on a valentine's day. But could we use the occasion to bring a smile to the underprivileged?
So we had a simple tweet offer. Instead of using the word love use hasgtag name of the brand in your tweet. So instead of saying "I love valentine's day" say" I #nameof brand valentines day". For each such tweet the brand will donate one candy and one unit of the local currency towards an orphanage. We invited some local celebrities to tweet the message and ask their followers to retweet the same. And there was a linked micro site which was keeping a tab on the scores.
Results were great. The brand had a high recall around Valentine day. The tweets got the brand to donate money and candies, bringing a smile for some orphans. The consumers got involved. Sales increased at the opportune time. CSR was achieved transparently and genuinely.
On hindsight we missed a small trick. We could have announced some simple prizes for the best or the most tweets. This way the consumer would have been motivated to do more and the healthy competition would have helped us to get better CSR response.
The point here is about doing CSR by involving the consumer. It's not just about donating some money to charity or sponsoring some event which can generate charity. It's about making the consumer be at the forefront. These ideas get bigger and gets viral because the consumer sees his own involvement. Its like their own contribution to a good cause. The brand or company's contribution become secondary.
I think there is a huge opportunity here. The festival season is now approaching. Brands like Cadbury's etc will spend quite a bit of money on promotion and advertising. Other brands like Raymonds, Samsung, Coca Cola (these are all indicative brands) will spend a lot on feel good ads. They will have promotions, contests, discounts. Can we expect them to think a bit differently this time? Can they use the festive occasion to spread cheer not just as an emotion but as a result of a good act? Can they first think of an idea of what they will do and then look at a TVC or press ad? Can their agencies take up the challenge to think about activities which will help the needy, involve the consumer and help increase the brand bottomline as well as the bottom line of a cause?
I am hoping to see some genuine CSR lead activity/media campaign/social media campaign this year. It's not a difficult thing. The challenge is to think Digital or more specifically social media first. The challenge is to think an activity. The challenge is to create a win win situation for all stake holders. Who will take the lead? #Mohit HiraNishad RamachandranKushalSanghviAtulHegdeJitenderDabas
Social media is a great opportunity for corporates to get involved in CSR activities. CSR needs to be something which is transparent, genuine and which is seen to be benefitting the society. What better way to achieve all this than social media. Your customers or consumers can see you making a difference.
Just as an example, if this challenge was in India maybe a private hospital chain or a pharma company or any socially responsible organisation could have come forward and raised the bar saying that for everyone participating in this challenge and contributing $100 or Rs 5000 they will from their side contribute something extra. It could be even Rs 1000 per person. But imagine the goodwill they can generate with this gesture.
In India on the occasion of a festival or even valentines day or new year we see companies/brands make desperate attempt to link with the occasion. They will have offers or discounts and try to make it look like an offer because they want they consumers to enjoy that festival or occasion. Can they turn the same into a CSR opportunity which increases sale and also generates good funds for a good cause.
Last year in Oman for Valentines day, we did a proactive twitter campaign for a confectionery client. Confectionery are sweet, gooey, mushy things which come in handy on a valentine's day. But could we use the occasion to bring a smile to the underprivileged?
So we had a simple tweet offer. Instead of using the word love use hasgtag name of the brand in your tweet. So instead of saying "I love valentine's day" say" I #nameof brand valentines day". For each such tweet the brand will donate one candy and one unit of the local currency towards an orphanage. We invited some local celebrities to tweet the message and ask their followers to retweet the same. And there was a linked micro site which was keeping a tab on the scores.
Results were great. The brand had a high recall around Valentine day. The tweets got the brand to donate money and candies, bringing a smile for some orphans. The consumers got involved. Sales increased at the opportune time. CSR was achieved transparently and genuinely.
On hindsight we missed a small trick. We could have announced some simple prizes for the best or the most tweets. This way the consumer would have been motivated to do more and the healthy competition would have helped us to get better CSR response.
The point here is about doing CSR by involving the consumer. It's not just about donating some money to charity or sponsoring some event which can generate charity. It's about making the consumer be at the forefront. These ideas get bigger and gets viral because the consumer sees his own involvement. Its like their own contribution to a good cause. The brand or company's contribution become secondary.
I think there is a huge opportunity here. The festival season is now approaching. Brands like Cadbury's etc will spend quite a bit of money on promotion and advertising. Other brands like Raymonds, Samsung, Coca Cola (these are all indicative brands) will spend a lot on feel good ads. They will have promotions, contests, discounts. Can we expect them to think a bit differently this time? Can they use the festive occasion to spread cheer not just as an emotion but as a result of a good act? Can they first think of an idea of what they will do and then look at a TVC or press ad? Can their agencies take up the challenge to think about activities which will help the needy, involve the consumer and help increase the brand bottomline as well as the bottom line of a cause?
I am hoping to see some genuine CSR lead activity/media campaign/social media campaign this year. It's not a difficult thing. The challenge is to think Digital or more specifically social media first. The challenge is to think an activity. The challenge is to create a win win situation for all stake holders. Who will take the lead? #Mohit HiraNishad RamachandranKushalSanghviAtulHegdeJitenderDabas
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