Cause Catalysts | Social Marketing, Messages, Media and Movements

Yesterday, BrandWeek reported on yet another survey that showed that consumers are continuing to warm up to the idea of supporting companies for their good corporate citizenship.

The survey results don’t surprise me, but I am shocked by Scott Osman’s clumsy “olive branch” analogy for corporate social responsibility practices.

CSR and cause marketing are not about companies offering after-the-fact peace treaties with the consumers they have been warring with for years.

That is a cynical and inauthentic use of cause marketing.

To be successful, a company must practice social responsibility because they want to inspire, enlist and engage audiences to join an important cause from the outset, not because they want pacify and bait consumers into buying more products from a brand they’ve already been disappointed in.