Erin Clark, directora de Planificación de Dieste
Erin Clark, Planning Director at Dieste, wrote a post at Provoke Weekly about the importance for brands to take a stand on a social issue affecting their specific industry. “By doing this, they built credibility which is a critical component of any successful CSR initiative” she said. “Conscious consumers is not a new idea, but it has taken some time for brands to figure out how to capitalize it” Clark said. For her, this has a direct impact going beyond philanthropy and straight into ROI, and she gave three examples of pioneers in CSR initiatives in their respective industries: H&M, AT&T, and REI. Clark explained that what started in 2007 as a non-profit foundation aimed at working conditions in the production of fast fashion eventually in H&M evolved into Conscious, a commercial line of clothing committed to sustainability, that has expanded to recycling initiatives at each of its stores. The “don’t text and drive” campaign of AT&T went beyond just marketing communications to generating pledge drives at stores and high schools across the nation. For Clark, what worked of this initiative was that while distracted driving continues to be an issue, AT&T’s long-term efforts are being paid off with strong brand recognition as a leader committed to addressing this deadly behavior. The REI initiative of closing stores on Thanksgiving produced a 26% increase in website shop visitation on that holiday. For Clarke, it worked because “it was clear that the company viewed its internal beliefs as an external competitive advantage, which in turn won not only the hearts (and wallets) of consumers but also attracted more talent to the company who shared the same values.”
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