Marketers’ sustainability shout-out

The problem with corporate social responsibility (CSR) is that like so many terms it has become a label that is in danger of losing the meaning of the words behind it.

The fact that consumers are demanding companies’ sustainability efforts to be authentic rather than a ‘greenwashed’ sticking-plaster is only a good thing. And now that brands are integrating their CSR efforts to their core purpose and are therefore proud to ‘sing’ about them (as Procter & Gamble’s Virgine Helias puts it) equally so.

That’s still responding to your customers’ expectations but doing so more meaningfully. True corporate social responsibility goes a step further. It’s about leading the debate and making brave choices, ahead of what your customers are demanding, not in response to it.

And that really would be something to shout proudly about.

Felix Hall, managing director, 23red

 

Incentive intelligence

Lucy Tesseras’ article ‘Making your incentives the icing on the cake’ only scratches the surface when it comes to the omnichannel experience. Brands must offer a more engaging and interactive store experience by thinking mobile first and they must know their customers inside and out in order
to achieve this. 

Pushing vouchers at a personalised level will keep customers engaged and keep them in-store. If a brand can prove that they know a customer, that person is going to listen to subsequent correspondence. 

Technologies such as iBeacon are soon going to transform the way we shop by driving richer product information, comparisons and offers while in store. For example, there’s no point pinging a customer a voucher for a shoe sale when they’ve just bought a pair of shoes. Instead, how about incentivising them to take
a trip to the clothes department with suggestions of what would match their shoes? Now that would be the icing on the cake.

Chris Minas, founder of Nimbletank

Recommended