Monday 25 November 2013

Corporate responsibility and doing the right thing

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is about how companies conduct themselves.  Not just big companies, all companies.

It’s about how businesses align their values and behaviour with the expectations and needs of stakeholders - customers and investors, employees, suppliers, communities, regulators, special interest groups and society as a whole.

It gives voice to corporate culture and helps to ensure that everyone in an organisation conforms to a common set of behaviours – even when “nobody is looking.”

Having a clearly-articulated set of social values should be, I believe, at the heart of every business strategy.  For smaller companies, those values need not be onerous – but they should demonstrate that the company is thinking beyond itself.

After all, business leadership starts with clear purpose and values, and CSR is what happens when you express and live those values in all your internal and external relationships.

Nowadays, CSR can be used interchangeably with other terms including responsible competitiveness, corporate citizenship, social contribution, or the triple bottom line, among others. 

It has existed as a part of the business lexicon for years, but has increasingly come to encompass not only what companies do with their profits, but also how they make them.

It goes beyond philanthropy and compliance to address the manner in which companies manage their economic, social and environmental impacts and their stakeholder relationships in the workplace, the marketplace, the supply chain, and the community.

Many companies now look to support initiatives that are aligned to the issues and interests most relevant to them, their industry sector, and to the countries and communities in which they operate, often picking a few key thematic areas or challenges, rather than tackling hundreds of different things on an ad hoc basis. 

In terms of the tools they are using, they are increasingly applying their own core competencies in addition to money – for example the skills of their employees, the capability of their technologies, the leverage of their networks, and product donations to help tackle public problems.


CSR: a starting point

CSR is, in essence, about managing social, community and environmental impacts to help improve results, reduce risks and enhance reputation.  It is also about growing a business in a way that has value for everyone connected to it.

At its very simplest, a starting point could merely involve:

  • Recycle printer and toner cartridges, and print and photocopy only when necessary and double-sided
  • Buy materials only from suppliers who use sustainable sources, and audit the supply chain accordingly
  • Ensure lights, computers and other equipment are switched off when not in use, use power-saving devices – and, if possible, buy energy from renewable sources  In any case, replace lighting with low energy bulbs
  • Pay staff, suppliers and creditors on time.
  • Encourage support for local not-for-profit organisations.  Perhaps give staff a couple of paid days per year to work with local community groups, or “adopt” a local charity
  • Think positively about flexible and home working.  After all, a day saved on commuting will have an environmental impact.  Flexibility is also about home/work balances and being a family-friendly business.

Benefits will vary depending on the company, the specific proposed and the effectiveness with which they are implemented, and could include:
  • Attracting, retaining and developing motivated and committed employees
  • Winning and retaining business customers
  • Improving business reputation, positive publicity, and networking opportunities
  • Cost and efficiency savings

The above is no more than a starting point, to focus management minds on how to “do business better.”  That in itself is a good thing.

From a marketing perspective, it puts the company in a wider context, no matter the size of that company.  It demonstrates a commitment, however small, to the world beyond its office or factory.

It is, of course, about doing the right thing.  However, doing the right thing can also have commercial and reputational benefits – a win-win marketing and PR strategy.

CSR should be part of every business.




Charlie Laidlaw is a director of David Gray PR and a partner in Laidlaw Westmacott. We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery.  You can contact us at +44 (0) 1620 844736 or Charlie@davidgraypr.com or connect with us on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Corporate culture and commercial dividend

You can’t see or touch it.  But it’s there, an essential and invisible part of every company or organisation, and a potent force in marketing and commercial strategy.

Corporate culture has become increasingly important in recent years and, despite being intangible, it can affect employee performance and organisational success.


Prof James Heskett in The Culture Cycle suggests that an effective culture can make a 20-30% difference in corporate performance, as compared with “culturally unremarkable” competitors.

It’s something that every company should at least think about, and all those agencies that advise on business, marketing or PR strategy.

However, corporate culture is also difficult to pin down.  It has many definitions and is heavily influenced by, for example, geographical location, sector, history, and the personalities of leading managers.  For example:

Wal-Mart -  Founder Sam Walton’s concern and respect for staff from the foundation of the company created an environment of trust that still persists.  Walton met staff, calling them by their first name and encouraged change to maintain a competitive edge.  Even now, employees consider “how Sam would have done it.”

Southwest Airlines -  Its relaxed culture can be traced back to unconventional boss Herb Kelleher who encouraged informality and wanted staff to have fun at their jobs.  Employees are valued, with management acknowledging births, marriages and deaths by notes and cards.  Staff are encouraged to pitch in and help out, especially at check-in, giving Southwest a higher turnaround time than the industry average.

Hewlett Packard -  Problems several years ago encouraged HP to change its culture; staff are now required to formulate personal and professional goals each year, and are rewarded for meeting them, such as getting away early from work.

Apple - has a culture of innovation.  As one director explained, it’s “deeply embedded…. The boldness, ambition, belief there aren't limits, a desire to make the very best products in the world…It's in the DNA of the company.”

But corporate culture isn’t just for large corporations and essentially has several key elements, of which two most important are:

  • A clear corporate vision, supported by corporate values consistent with the aims of the company and aligned with the personal values of employees
  • A high value placed on staff with extensive employee communication at all levels

Simplistically, there are four types of corporate culture:

Academy Culture

Employees are highly skilled and tend to stay in the organisation, working their way up the ranks.  In return, the organisation provides a stable environment in which employees can develop and exercise their skills. Examples are universities, hospitals, large corporations.

Football Team Culture

Employees are “free agents” who have highly prized skills. They are in high demand and can rather (too!) easily get jobs elsewhere. This type of culture exists in fast-paced, high-risk organisations, such as investment banking.

Club Culture

The most important requirement here is to fit into the group. Usually employees start at the bottom and stay with the company, with the organisation promoting from within and valuing seniority. The best example is the military.

Fortress Culture

Employees don't know if they'll be laid off or not, in industries that often undergo regular and significant change.  While there are many opportunities for those with specialised skills, the nature of the business keeps changing.  Examples are high tech and IT companies.

Corporate culture can flow from a company’s Mission, Vision and Ethics (if it has those), but is largely unwritten. 

It comes from the personality of leading managers, corporate vision, how the company communicates with staff, and how employees interact with the company.  However, corporate culture can be influenced by:

  • The key things that a company is there to achieve, both for employees and to satisfy customer expectations
  • The “cultural” elements that are positive - for example, excellent staff, high motivation, good morale etc
  • The “cultural” elements that are hindering the business - for example, high employee turnover, or staff not helping one another etc.

Assessing what corporate culture exists within your company can be hard.  For example, staff may be reluctant to make their views known.  Sometimes an external assessment is the way forward.

However intangible, corporate culture does have an impact and, if planned, can have a commercial dividend.  Best not leave it to chance.

To reinforce the positive, an article for Harvard Business School quantifies the fact that companies with well-defined corporate cultures are generally perceived as good places to work – and that’s on top of other commercial benefits.  Not bad for something invisible.

Or as the Great Places to Work website puts it:  “30 years of research, in over 40 countries around the world, has shown us time and again that investing in a high-trust workplace culture yields distinct, tangible business benefits.”


Charlie Laidlaw is a director of David Gray PR and a partner in Laidlaw Westmacott. We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery.  You can contact us at +44 (0) 1620 844736 or Charlie@davidgraypr.com or connect with us on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Thursday 14 November 2013

Five steps to writing a PR plan

It’s nearly Christmas, and what better time than to consider your corporate plans for 2014.  If you haven’t already thought about it, what PR plans do you have for the New Year?

Every company has a business and marketing plan.  Yet it’s surprising how many don’t have a PR plan to support new business acquisition and growth.

However, effective PR can make a real difference, helping to position the company with its buyers and oiling the wheels of commercial success.

Essentially, an effective communications plan is about creating and sustaining relationships between the company and its ‘publics’ – whether those publics are the media, customers, potential customers, employees etc.

Creating a PR plan can be divided into five stages:


1. Situation Analysis

First, a full assessment of the business and the target markets you want to reach – a clear picture of where your business is now, and where you want it to be in five years time, against your business plan. 

It should also be based on an analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT), to give a comprehensive picture of the markets(s) in which you operate, the particular strengths you have in those markets, and the potential opportunities, dangers – and points of differentiation.

The PR plan should address all your ambitions and set key objectives, namely:

  • To raise corporate profile and reputation
  • To develop relationships with key publics
  • To build value into the brands(s)
  • To provide the best environment for achieving commercial objectives.
While many such programmes are open-ended, with a budget set at the end of the process, it is more sensible to have a rough budget from the start – that way choices can be made and priorities set in developing tactics.


2. Audience Identification and Segmentation

You need to be clear from the outset at whom the programme is aimed – the key stakeholders or publics that you want to reach:
  • Customers & potential customers
  • Employees
  • Suppliers
  • Investors
  • Those in a position to influence
A clear understanding of your business and markets will then illuminate the communications plan, segmented horizontally by target sector and vertically by target audience (age, sex, demographics etc).  That, in turn, will determine the range of media and other marketing activity best suited for each of your business requirements.


3. Messaging

The programme should have clear messages for each target audience, and which will help to underpin your corporate brand(s) and brand values.  Those messages must be appropriate for each target audience and consistent across all online and offline channels. 

Branding and messaging are vital to communicating an integrated and cohesive image of your company and products/services, and must work across PR, advertising, direct and online marketing etc.

Internal communications should also be part of the mix: at the very least, it gives staff the knowledge and tools to be active brand ambassadors for the company. 

It should perhaps also involve an element of crisis planning to ensure that all scenarios are considered in the PR process.  Reputation can take a long time to gain, but can be lost very quickly.  In any business, it's wise to integrate PR strategy into any corporate preparedness plan. 


4. Creating the PR Plan

Once the above steps have been completed, it becomes easier to look at the different ways in which you can influence key publics:
  • Media relations (online and offline) (press releases, articles, 1-to-1 briefings etc)
  • Direct Mail and E-marketing
  • Advertising (print, radio, TV)
  • Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) (social participation)
  • Seminars, conferences, exhibitions, business awards
  • Website and online strategy (including blogs, social and newsletters)

The plan should also address two other aspects:

Thought Leadership – a clear demonstration that you understand the key issues in each of your markets from the perspective of the customer.  This will differentiate the company from its competitors.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – a clear statement and practical demonstration that you understand that you have responsibilities to your communities, employees, and wider society.  Putting in place a CSR element within the PR plan is, again, a point of differentiation.


5. KPIs, Budget, Annual Planning

In the same way as every part of a business should be subject to performance measurement, the PR plan should also have Key Performance Indicators to determine how successfully the programme is being delivered.

The plan should be reviewed on a regular basis and, more systematically, on an annual basis - determining whether such aspects as reputation or brand recognition are being raised.  Double-guessing what your customers (actual or potential) think is never a good idea.  Companies that listen to what their customers say, good and bad, are generally more successful. 

Successful companies are ones that pay attention to PR, promoting themselves and their products/services and helping potential customers through the purchasing cycle.  It needn’t be hard, and it needn’t be expensive.

So if you make one corporate resolution this New Year, why not embrace PR as part of your sales and marketing armoury.


In future posts we’ll look at how companies and brands can create better commercial contexts from, for example, corporate culture and corporate social responsibility.





Charlie Laidlaw is a director of David Gray PR and a partner in Laidlaw Westmacott. We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery.  You can contact us at +44 (0) 1620 844736 or Charlie@davidgraypr.com or connect with us on LinkedIn or Facebook.


Monday 11 November 2013

Tips on writing the perfect press release

It can be daunting for small businesses to contact the media.  You may feel that you have a good story to tell, but how to go about it?  Sadly, many companies – particularly smaller ones – end up hiding their lights under bushels.

But if you’ve decided to take the plunge, the best way, now and since dinosaurs roamed the earth, is by press release.  However, there are certain rules and conventions to ensure that your release receives the attention that it deserves.

Subject

First and foremost, a bit of honesty.  How newsworthy is your press release?   Is it going to be of interest to the local or national media?  Or is it something best suited to the trade press?   In other words, create realistic expectations and work to them.  If you’re opening a café in Glasgow, that will of local interest – so no point thinking about the national media unless, of course, you plan to open a whole chain within five years. 

Create a media list

Having thought through your target media, create a list.  Your coffee shop is of local news, but how about food writers?  What about student magazines?  (You could offer them a discount on first purchases).  Research your target media, and identify who’s been writing on the subject.  And don’t forget relevant bloggers or other online sites – they can often be more influential than the mainstream media.

Structure

Draft out a rough structure for your release.  Remember, the media want to know who, what, why, when and where.  They want key facts, not waffle.  Ultimately, they’ll be writing the story, not you.

Headline

Journalists receive huge amounts of dross every day and, often, the headline is as far as they read.  Therefore, think very carefully about your headline.  New café opens in Glasgow will go in the bin.  New Glasgow café to put caffeine into the community will stand a better chance.

Key messages

Whatever your company, or its size, you want to communicate messages of importance to your business.  For our Glasgow café, are your ingredients Fairtrade?  Will you be creating new jobs?  Are you family-friendly?  Do you offer wi-fi?  However, don’t exaggerate and, if you’re quoting facts or statistics, double-check that they’re accurate.

News v advertising

It’s a truism, but a press release is about news.  Everything else is advertising.  Don’t get the two mixed up.  Glasgow café sponsors local football team is news.  Glasgow café would like more customers is advertising.   Likewise, don’t use words like “best” or “unique” or “world-beating.”  You may believe that about your company or product, but hyperbole is the surest way to cross the news/promotion boundary – and for the media bin to beckon.  (Also, don’t use exclamation marks).

Accuracy

It always helps if you can make a journalist’s life a little easier, so check and double-check spelling and punctuation.  It’ll also enhance your reputation as someone they can trust, and who is taking their media relations seriously.  Good tip: write your press release then go home.  Check it again the next day.  You’ll be surprised at the little mistakes you missed the day before.

Quotes

Quotes are great, because they’re the only part of a press release that can’t be changed.  But use them sparsely, and use them to get your messages across.  “We want our café to be an integral part of the community,” is probably quite a good quote.  “As part of the refurbishment, we bought a new coffee machine,” probably isn’t.

Jargon

Avoid like the plague.  You are the master of your subject; don’t expect anybody else to be (unless your press release is aimed at highly specialist publications).  A wise old advertising executive once said that jargon is the hallmark of a pretentious ass – and he’s right.

Length

In media relations, size isn’t everything.  If you can’t tell your story succinctly, it probably isn’t worth telling.  For inspiration, have a read of The Sun or The Daily Record – good stories need not be long stories.

Distribution

Once your release has been buffed and polished, send it by email, with a catchy subject line.  Paste your release into the body of your email (some media outlets don’t like attachments from unknown senders) and, under your fine words, provide full contact details, a link to your website – and any further information you think might be useful.

Conclusion

The media is there to serve its readers, viewers or listeners.  Not you.  However, the well-crafted press release is still able to cut through the media clutter and benefit you and your business.  Good luck!

Monday 4 November 2013

A guide to the ideal Christmas present

The first problem with Christmas is that you have to buy people, including clients, nice presents.  However, there are some fabulous gift ideas out there.  As a business person who wants to influence and impress, here is my pick of the gift bunch.

Top of my Santa list are underpants for squirrels.  It’s not a joke, by the way.  It’s what squirrels have always wanted. 

For a younger age group, why not fire their little imaginations with a Drug Dealer Magnet Set.  It contains everything, according to the blurb, to get them started in the drug trade.  Such fun. 

Or for an even younger age group, why not give a baby moustache dummy?

A rather nice present is a Fish Training Kit, although perhaps only useful for those who keep fish.  It teaches goldfish to perform tricks, apparently.

Still on a pet theme, how often have you looked at your cat and thought how much nicer it would look if it resembled a 1970s Cher?  I know I have.  The answer is a kitty wig.

But maybe your pet doesn’t want to wear a wig, but does want to look tough and super-cool on those cold nights prowling the neighbourhood.  What’s needed, obviously, is a pet hoodie



Having got the children and pets sorted, how often do you lie awake worrying about that half avocado in the fridge.  Will it be brown and inedible by the morning?  Will the evil drug magnets have sold it for cocaine?  Now we can all sleep soundly again with the specially-designed Avocado Saver.  Clingfilm would just be too silly. 

Some good ideas have inexplicably not made it into the shops this Christmas.  For example, the coat parachute.  That was the brainchild of Franz Reichelt who in 1912 fell to his death off the first deck of the Eiffel Tower while testing his fantastic new invention.

Or the hot-air balloon that, for propulsion, is first attached to an eagle or vulture (patented 1887).  Of course, it does also involve capturing a suitable avian raptor (but what else is Boxing Day for?).  Its one minor drawback is that you can only then travel where your bird wants to go. 

Others have perhaps not made it into the shops on the grounds that they might be illegal – for example, the plough (patented 1862) that handily doubles as an artillery piece.  I don’t see the problem myself, especially if the kids have been told by the fridge magnets that they need a bit of firepower.


Lastly, on presents, you could just splash out on a (real) flying hovercraft (a snip at $160,000) or, even better, a dual-function car-aeroplane. ($350,000, excluding pilot’s license). 


Whatever you give to your best clients or customers, I hope they appreciate all the hard work you do for them during the year!

Charlie Laidlaw is a director of David Gray PR and a partner in Laidlaw Westmacott. We are specialists in national and international PR strategy and delivery.  You can contact us at +44 (0) 1620 844736 or Charlie@davidgraypr.com or connect with us on LinkedIn or Facebook.