The Importance of Branding as a Framework for Corporate Responsibility

How do you instill a culture of corporate responsibility? And how do you maintain that culture as your organization grows? One strategy is to focus on corporate branding, and to align the values of an organization with that organization’s public brand identity. The establishment of brand trust with external stakeholders can help to frame the actions of an entire organization, allowing for a common cultural identity and ethical outlook.

A great example of a company embracing the integration of its corporate responsibility efforts with its branding efforts is Starbucks. In management’s 2005 corporate responsibility report, Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz wrote that “while the company is strongly positioned for continued growth, we instinctively know that our future depends on deepening our commitment to CSR and then effectively communicating to our stakeholders what we do.”

An article in Ethical Corporation explores the Starbucks approach, and the successes they’ve had in branding Starbucks as a responsible corporation in the United States. Interestingly, much of this domestic branding success has not translated internationally as Starbucks has globalized. The article points to the need for more effective communication from the corporation to bring attention to its focus on corporate responsibility (a focus widely regarded as very progressive).

The establishment of the real trust that results from integrating a corporation’s social responsibility values into its brand identity has many advantages. It helps to inculcate an organizational commitment to those social values, serves as a thematic framework for all corporate actions (from strategic to tactical), and serves as a constant check against abuses. Such an approach does carry risk, however, as it creates broad openings for criticism should there be inconsistencies between a company’s issued credos and its actions.

UPDATE:

Back to Starbucks and their real trust approaches, I wanted to dig a little deeper into how exactly the company aligns its incentives and delivers on its corporate promises.

First, Starbucks' Corporate Responsibility Report, linked to above, is a publication that provides a transparent accountability mechanism. Details on volunteer hours logged, greenhouse gases emitted, and quantities of coffee purchased directly from farmers quantify actions and align those actions with the corporate responsibility mission the Starbucks corporation. In fact, the Starbucks Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy is central to its corporate mission, and is supported by a strong business case.

CSR benefits all Starbucks' stakeholders by attracting and retaining partners, reducing operating costs through such efforts as energy efficiency, fostering customer loyalty, and strengthening the supply chain. In this way, employees can tangibly see how good CSR translates into good business, and nurtures those employees to integrate CSR into their work missions, much as the larger organization has.

In creating a work environment that supports Starbucks' corporate responsibility credos, such institutional mechanisms as the Starbucks Standards of Business Conduct and the Business Conduct Helpline have been established to provide avenues for reporting unethical behavior. Interactions through these mechanisms are confidential, and the operators are afforded a degree of independence that provides gcredibilitydibilty to the grievance or reporting process.

Finally, Starbucks as an organization has put its money where its mouth is, operating The Starbucks Foundation, a separate charitable organization working in line with the corporation's social responsibility agenda.