Stakeholder interaction which changes a business

The Guardian launched its video on open journalism a few weeks ago. The video examines the case of the three little pigs in modern times. It transforms a well-known fairy tale into a complex news story on which everyone has something to say. The video shows how the story progresses, with the input of experts and the influence of the public, to the stage where the three little pigs are convicted of insurance fraud (the wolf has asthma it seems and, even so, a strong blow seems hardly enough to cause a house to fall down), sparking riots and a national reform debate.

The video is clever and well put-together and it conveys in just over 2 minutes the Guardian's approach to journalism: an open one. They don't want people to just read a news story. They want people to share it, to contribute to it, to join the discussion and to help find the truth behind the story.

From a brand perspective it’s genius. The Guardian is no longer seen as a brand that is just trying to report the news, but instead as a brand that is playing a positive role in helping society find the truth. There’s also a lot that can be learnt from it in terms of how increased stakeholder interaction could actually change the way businesses operate.

Whilst many businesses have realised they need to play a more proactive role to engage their audiences in their communications, e.g. through providing feedback mechanisms, having social media pages or creating interactive games, most are yet to consider what this change in the communications landscape could mean for the way they do business, like the Guardian has.

We're already beginning to see crowd-sourcing to emerge within businesses e.g. GE Ecomagination but perhaps one day we will see it play an even more prominent role. Will we see supermarkets stocking their shelves with 90% pre-ordered items, reducing costs and waste? Will we see more businesses which are run and managed by an online community of stakeholders?

Reality and Perception

Congratulations to Marc Mathieu for continuing the current debate in the marketing world about the power of brands to drive social progress. This is about getting marketing teams to realise that when sustainability is made real, relevant and interesting to consumers, it can drive brand integrity and increase sales.

Step into the ring Puma and its clever little bag. This innovation, using 65% less paper than its old red shoeboxes, is a favourite: it’s genuinely ‘good’, it visually ‘good’ and it involves the consumer, who can use the bag over and over again. That little bag is a big platform for indicating to the world that Puma has values beyond profit. That’s why it’s so important that this kind of innovation is backed up by a credible strategy, and that’s also why it’s so relevant for corporate responsibility teams.

Mathieu has long been an advocate of the social power of brands. His latest suggestion is that marketing teams need to use a new language: one that’s more about people than profit objectives and targets. Those of you who read Greg Smith’s explosive resignation letter to Goldman Sachs this week might find that idea particularly topical. In it, he explained that he could no longer work for a company that talked internally about profit before people; that failed to put the interests of the customer at its heart. This is far from the image that the financial giant projects to its clients. So if the accusations are true, Goldman appears to have made its clever little bag before getting its house in order.

All this comes down to the simple question of whether the reality of a company’s values and sustainability is weaker or stronger than the image publicly projected. Sustainable Brands points to evidence that having a strong sustainability reality can reduce costs and risks, while achieving a strong perception of sustainability can drive up brand equity. Achieving both a reality and a perception of sustainability might seem the obvious thing to do, but too often those in charge of change fail to communicate it, and those in charge of communications fail to ensure the image they want to project is a reality. The current debate around the social role of marketing is good, but unless it sparks marketing teams to talk to strategy and corporate responsibility teams internally, we’re at risk of being flooded by greenwash.

Individuals and businesses join forces to march across the net

A few weeks ago I heard about a new campaign by the charity BeatBullying and I loved it. It’s called the Big March and it’s the first ever “virtual march” and it's happening today.

I don’t understand. A virtual march – what???

Individuals sign up to create digital characters of themselves that will “march” through websites on the day of the campaign. Organisations sign up to volunteer their websites so that these “avatars” can march across them. Both of these come together to make up a digital march that lasts 12 hours. The idea is to raise awareness of a child's right not to be bullied by marching across thousands of websites.

I’m still a little confused – can you paint a picture?

So what you might see on the day is a digital character marching across the BeatBullying website, then step off and find itself on another organisation’s website, march across that one, then on to another, and so on until the march is over.

It sounds interesting but why do you love it?

It offers a very simple and new way for organisations to get involved in a cause and show their support. And the BeatBullying website facilitates this further - it has a park for characters to march round with personalised sign boards, and you can wander into digital information “tents” created by BeatBullying and the

big partner organisations. Each of the digital tents has its own interactive content, which means that I could enter the Orange tent and watch their videos on staying safe online, or take a look in the Fruitshoot tent and get involved in their games. All this means that through the interactive website, brands are able to support the cause whilst also putting themselves in a positive light to the individuals taking part.

Sounds good. How can I get involved?

It’s taking place today and all you have to do is sign up on the website or get in touch to get your organisation involved. You'll see people marching across the partner websites like this: