As CSR/sustainability players are catching on, one truth is to be reminded: social media is an attitude, not a technology, as showed on the slide below extracted from SustainAbility’s interesting research on stakeholder engagement through web 2.0 (click here to download the slide deck).

One of the many mistakes organizations can often make with social media is the mistake of getting on social media and learning the technology and the tools/platforms offered (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc.), but not learning the best practices of what is called social media behavior.

Social media is about conversations and relationship building. Revolving around trust, social media requires openness, transparency, accountability, and two-way engagement with an ability to listen first….. and this is even more important in our field as all of these elements are fundamental principles of CSR/sustainability strategies themselves!!

Before getting on the social media bandwagon, it is therefore important to “be and live social”. As David Armano noted in HBR’s Conversation blog:

“Social media’s not a product you foist on others, or some rigid business process that, if implemented, yields results. You shouldn’t treat social media like a temporary advertising campaign. Social media is more organic than that. It’s a way of thinking and approaching business that requires passion and commitment and, above all, willingness to participate in social spaces honestly and freely and by the rules of the social network itself. When someone ridicules your organization in the social space, unfiltered in real time, how do you react? If you are trying to control rather than participate in the discussion, then you’re not living social. When your own employees talk about your organization on a social network what do you do?”

What do you think? How do you help your organization or your client be and live social?

(Full disclosure: David Armano now works at Edelman, the PR firm that also employs me.)

I have written about this topic some time ago already, but I found the diagram below very interesting as it shows the three core groups of knowledge areas that CSR pros need to nurture and expand today.

• Stakeholder Dialogue and Comns: Stakeholder engagement is the bedrock of CSR/Sustainability. Especially today as social media and digital platforms are pushing organizations to consider two-way dialogue and active relationships with their stakeholders (i.e. collaboration, co-creation) From internal comns and reporting to community engagement or consumer engagement…listening, conversation and influence skills are key! In the diagram below, they represent up to 47% of all knowledge/skills areas.

• Strategy and Business Management: ‘We can only manage what we can measure’ as the saying goes. I would also add that ‘we can only manage what we understand first’! CSR and Sustainability are first and foremost about business and strategy. It is about understanding/setting business goals and strategies, balancing risks and opportunities, measuring performance and progress, etc. It is also mostly about critical thinking and finding solutions to any types of issues any organization might face within the larger context of the ’stakeholder society’.
  

• CSR Trends and Core Issues: As I said earlier, CSR/Sustainability is an ever-changing field – in a perpetual state of beta. Keeping up with the core CSR and Sustainability issues (i.e. energy/climate, water, compliance/governance, labor relations/diversity, etc.), both in your market and globally is crucial. Staying up to date with regards to best practices, new standards and regulations, latest developments and trends is a must, not only for consultant jobs, but also for in-house positions.

This definitely reflects what I have seen lately in terms of jobs offers and requirements.

Few days ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that a Chinese netizen, Guo Baofeng, put together an open-source Google map that locates major pollution sites around china. As it went publicly-launched, the map attracted a lot of interest on Chinese Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) and forums: the number of views more than doubled to about 5,000 compared to a week earlier, when it first came online.

This is a very interesting case for many reasons:

• This is not China’s first pollution map. For example, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a Beijing-based environmental NGO, published a “name-and-shame” corporate water pollution map in 2007. The web has been used as a tool to publicly denounce corporate misbehaviors early on by, in this case, naming thousands of alleged pollution makers, including many multinational companies.

• However, Gua Baofeng’s Google map is the first one that enables other users to contribute themselves: netizens can mark spots associated with high levels of pollution or incidents of contamination, based on publicly available information (often media reports). Here, bloggers can now re-expose the polluters publicly, and their misbehaviors might potentially live forever in search and be accessible to a much larger audience, etc…

• When looking at the map as it is now, many ‘pollution spots’ are around the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta – China’s highly industrialized manufacturing hubs. But some other pollutions sites on the map show much more sensitive areas, i.e. locations where multiple lead contaminations cases got highly controversial, etc… Bloggers’s interest in this map is likely to grow (if the map remains accessible in the future) as public awareness of such pollution issues is high: such issues are extremely local and linked to what people care the most about, i.e. their health, safety and their families’ welfare.

• Given that peer-to-peer conversations or conversations with a “person like me” are among the most trusted sources of information, this Google map can have significant ramifications for corporate reputation as Internet users are able to scrutinize corporate activities to an unprecedented degree, while providing to companies an important barometer of the issues that matter to the public at a very local level.

To be followed then, if the map is allowed to last online in China…

Two weeks ago, Google released Sidewiki, a Google Toolbar-based plug-in that enables web users to post or view a comment in a browser window alongside any website they are visiting (yes, any, all of them!) – even if that site doesn’t have any social functionality. Sidewiki comes with the new Google toolbar, that millions of web users are already using. And I am sure it will soon be developed as Firefox add-on soon and so forth.

The idea is simple: Every webpage, on any website, now comes with a publicly accessible discussion board. All comments  are posted immediately and are ranked by usefulness.

The reality is that Sidewiki does not represent anything extremely new: there’s nowhere for companies to hide anymore. But, now, we are reaching a more advanced stage of development. And this is particularly important on the CSR/Sustainability front (including greenwashing), whether with consumers, activists, or citizens, especially noting that most of the companies are often failing leveraging digital communications to first listen, then participate or even co-create.

How to respond to Sidewiki?

If you can’t control what is being said about you (and you really can’t!) then you’d better consider getting involved. Brands, and companies behind them, are not only conversations, there are today created collaboratively and become the sum of everything that happens around them:  experiences,  dialogues and messages.

So far, commenting activity via Sidewiki has been relatively limited, and there is perhaps still some way to go before it becomes mainstream, but it is definitely something to keep an eye on…just to even see that Google is always ahead of the game.

To be followed!

Sources: Here and here, and here.

• On one hand, Cone’s new media study in the US underlined that new media users overwhelmingly believe companies or brands should not only have a presence in new media (95%) but also interact with their consumers and other stakeholders in this space (89%), with 40% of them believing their searching, sharing and discussing of information about corporate social responsibility efforts can have a significant effect on company business practices.

• On the other hand, a report by financial communications consultancy Lundquist spotted out the failure of major companies around the world to engage with stakeholders online, via their corporate websites, online CSR reports or social media.

What companies are afraid of totally makes the case for social media involvement!

Many CSR pioneers and leaders have very early understood the value of engaging consumers and broader stakeholders via digital channels in order to enhance reputation, build loyalty and even crowd source business innovation. My Starbucks Idea or Timberland’s CSR reporting are striking examples of successful online stakeholder engagement through continuous CSR improvement and two-way dialogue.

However, overall, digital communications are (unfortunately) not leveraged to their full potential, why so? While it is true that not everyone should engage in social media, there are still many reasons why companies are reluctant (not to say scared) to engage in social media, especially when it comes to CSR & sustainability. These same reasons that are making a stronger case for online engagement.

• Getting into social media is like “opening the Pandora box”

“What if people say very bad things about our CSR initiatives? Criticise us with bad spill over effect on our brand image?” This is probably the first answer that comes up anytime social media is discussed. Actually, before getting out there, in the (intimidating) openness and transparency of the online, companies should listen first. Listen to what is said about their brand, about the issues they face, and about the programs they have put in place. Only by knowing what the issues and stakeholders’ expectations are a company can change and develop meaningful CSR or Sustainability strategies with true benefits, for the business and the society as a whole.

• Getting into social media means “loosing control of the brand”

Message control is an illusion. Your stakeholders (employees, consumers, activities) are already talking about you and what you are doing, whenever you are talking to them or not. So you might as well join the conversations where they are (Facebook, Twitter, blogs…wherever) and participate as equals, inform the debate with credibility.

So yes, stakeholder engagement is the next frontier in CSR and Sustainability. But as for any topic that raises doubts, fear … it all comes down to educating people about what social media and CSR really are, that a company can get on the social engagement bandwagon at its own pace, etc. Have you ever tried to suggest social engagement strategies to your clients? Was it successful? How did you educate them about the rationale and benefits of such engagement? Did you overcome resistance?

To be followed then…!

Image credit: Martin Barraud, Getty Images

]]> http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2009/11/01/social-media-the-next-frontier-in-csr-stakeholder-engagement/feed/ 2 http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2009/10/15/733/ http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/2009/10/15/733/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:18:20 +0000 admin http://www.sustainabilityconversations.com/?p=733 Today is Blog Action Day, which this year is about climate change. This campaign, as some other ones, got a lot of people excited, including me, about the potential for using digital and social media to confront climate change, and most specifically ultimately influence the climate change debate.

With the negotiation of a new climate treaty coming up in December, the web and social media have quickly appeared as the “new” way to organize climate action, both online and offline:

• By trying to move away from feelings of despair, indifference, or fear, as people can get empowered to make a difference, and to be part of something BIG. To become agents of change.

• By focusing on leveraging horizontal conversations, i.e. peer-to-peer conversations (family, friend, someone ‘like me’) that are the most trusted sources of information, rather than just from top to bottom (via elites), in order to raise awareness and trigger engagement.

• In few words… by attempting to make COP 15 a collective referendum on our future, with everybody being part of the debate … and the solution.

But are we getting this right?

Copenhagen is undeniably driving a lot of innovations and experiments. However, Blog Action Day today got me thinking about all I have seen, read or written about so far.

• Are we all singing the same song?

UNEP, Hopenhagen, TckTckTck, 350.org, Energy Action Coalition, and many others (including movies such as Home or Age of Stupid) – All organizations have been working to catalyze and inspire web-connected communities to take action for the climate, in some very creative ways.

However, what can we hear among this ‘noise’? Is there any single and consistent message we can get out of it? Urgency? Building the world for the future generations? or Hope? or Green = Good for the economy?

Aren’t we in the end increasing citizens’ eco-fatigue? Are citizens tired of being exposed to so many messages, or being exposed to such cacophony?

• Are we pushing the right buttons ? Are we telling the right story ?

Are we efficiently helping people connect the dots and clearly understand why December 2009 will be so critical to their future, and how climate change relates to them as individuals, i.e. to what they care the most, to what they are concerned about the most? Are we putting climate change in the right context, i.e. an issue for the world or an issue for your health? For your job? Etc..

• Are we using the right levers?

In the age of the social media, it is key to engage in a decentralized and democratic way, by giving the voice to the people. However, are we also mobilizing key influencers of all stripes, both online and offline (i.e. influential business leaders, and entrepreneurs, etc?)

In the end, the key question is are we getting COP15 and the climate change issue mainstream? Are all these social media strategies creating a cultural shift? Long-lasting engagement? Are we still trying to raise awareness or are we ready for action?

I am asking more questions that providing answers in this post as I believe this is a discussion we should all have today. So what are your thoughts?

Few thoughts:

• Such data shows that people in general, whether consumers or citizens, are getting more interested in green issues, I see it as a proof that ‘Green’ is getting more mainstream. Perhaps the political agenda in the US, i.e. the Waxman-Markley bill which has largely dominated the news, can also explain that?

• As ‘Green’ is an increasing topic of interest for netizens, it inevitably becomes one on Google as well. Because Google is now companies’s new homepage, and because most of the online conversations between an organization and its stakehodlers start with search, this is definitely an area to keep exploring to further engage people on sustainability issues.

Even though beauty/fashion/style and teens remain the top centers of interest for web-users in absolute terms, such a growing trend in Green is to follow, and to check in the next months to come.

Does anyone know where I can find the same type of data for other geographical locations, i.e. Asia & Europe?

(Stats initially found on Thomas Crampton’s blog here)

Image Credit: David Muir

The other day I was reading that 113 billion searches were made worldwide on Google last July, far outstripping its rivals Yahoo, Bing and Baidu, the growing Chinese search engine. Quite an impressive record number!

Search engines have clearly become an integral part of our lives. We turn to them whenever we want to know something about anything, that could be a brand, an organization, a product, a cause or an idea, and whether we are a student, a prospective employee, a consumer, an NGO, a journalist, a business partner… or just a curious citizen.

Search Engines are King…and Companies’ New Homepages

Today, instead of turning to official company or brand web sites, we turn directly to Google through search, meaning that an organization’s homepage is no longer www.organizationname.com, but is google.com, and even twitter.com with its real-time search interface which is indexed on Google.

The results that comes out of search have therefore an increasing capacity to impact the reputation and brand image of companies, as the search results not only aggregate content from the organizations’ website and news, but also various content from blogs, micro-blogging platforms, video-sharing websites, etc…

Whether they like it or not, organizations are getting “naked” online, and this  of course includes  their social and environmental impacts, such as greenwashing practices or corporate misconducts that cannot be hidden from the public.

Google Suggest: Greenwashing & Corporate Misconducts Can Be Spotted As The Search Query Is Being Made

In July, Google  started rolling out ‘Google Suggest‘ into its main engine, by removing it from the ‘Google Labs’. Now, anytime you are doing a search, Suggest essentially feeds you suggestions in real-time as you type, based on the most popular keywords (and not those that bring most of the results) associated with your query.

After playing with the tool few minutes, several company names I was searching were associated with words such as “greenwashing”, “pollution”, “pesticide”, etc.

Below, are few (and easy) examples, demonstrating what type of information Google Suggest can potentially reveal to potential consumers or recruits/employees:

• I am a young consumer and I am looking for a sweater… In my search, I will start by typing the name of an apparel brand and then, as I will start writing “sweater”… there are great chances that “sweatshop” will come first and “sweater” second.

• I am a young graduate and I am looking for a job abroad, and more specifically in emerging markets … when searching certain brand/company names in association with geographical locations, i.e. China, India, Brazil, etc., environmental and social misconducts can easily come up as ’suggestions’

• Etc..

I believe this shows one simple fact: As companies’ social and environmental impacts are increasingly influencing stakeholders’ opinions and decisions, companies have no choice but finally taking CSR & Sustainability seriously, i.e. not considering this as a ‘nice to have’ or ‘add-on’ but something that is an integral part of their strategy aimed at maintaining their license to operate, both online and offline! Do you agree?

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