Whose mission is it to define the global strategy of a brand? And how to talk about it?
Between the duty of transparency and the protection of reputation, the priorities of “communication” or “CSR”, within the same company, are not always the same. Friction, frustrations, power struggles… While real antagonisms can harm the group, here is a look at approaches and strategies that have proven themselves. And deserve to be copied.
Since the emergence of the concept of CSR in 1953 in The Social Responsibilities of the Businessman, by the American economist Howard Bowen, the notion of corporate social responsibility has continued to grow in strength to establish itself in the company as a real strategic issue. Today, legislators and stakeholders have increased requirements regarding the CSR performance of companies. These can indeed condition financing and collaborations, raising sustainability to a crucial axis of communication and a major statement of the company. Especially since social and environmental responsibility has become a strong trend on social platforms. In its report deciphering the scope of CSR, Visibrain counts 1.2 million publications relating to CSR in 2022, 30% of which mention brands. An increase of more than 39% compared to 2021 and more than 102% compared to 2019. This demonstrates a real paradigm shift in corporate communication, which has moved from “digital-first” to “CSR-first” according to Dan Geiselhart, founder of the media Climax, mentioned in the Visibrain report. In this context, it is even desirable to adapt a company’s story to impact issues. The boundaries between the scopes of action between B2B, B2C, corporate and CSR communications are blurring.
Towards skills development
While the idea of CSR is part of a research movement that dates back to the 1950s, its implementation in companies is relatively recent. Communication departments have gradually seen the arrival of CSR experts in their structures since the 2014 European Union Council Directive on financial reporting.
Ten years is not a long time to become familiar with these new profiles, who sometimes have objectives and visions that are opposed to those of the communication teams, or are messengers of recommendations perceived as restrictive and carrying issues that are not always understood. “Certain branches of the company have not yet understood the challenges of CSR,” confides a senior CSR executive from a telecommunications group. “A bit like legal departments, we are often seen as the ones who get in the way, the ones who will put the brakes on, by other teams.” Added to this a priori may be the fear of communications teams losing part of their scope of action. Especially since the topics pushed by CSR experts are new, complex, and not yet mastered by communicators, who sometimes feel the issue is slipping away from them.
We can deplore a reduction in scope on the communications side, or see it as an opportunity to improve our skills. “CSR issues are complex, and we need to understand them at a global level, but also at a specific level,” explains Béatrice Lévêque, founder of the PR agency Look Sharp. Indeed, in order to meet the company’s various challenges, in accordance with CSR requirements and the brand’s identity, the two entities must be able to work cross-functionally, without territorial struggle. It is not one skill or the other. It is both, without hierarchy. So that CSR is no longer perceived only as a constraint but also as an opportunity for all stakeholders in the company, it is essential to identify interlocutors in each team, capable of evangelizing employees, with specific knowledge of each profession. And the same story in all the companies surveyed: it is essential that the Management Committee be fully involved and set the rules of the game.
Managing the image of CSR?
A sustainable and coherent communication strategy, personified by the company, and which embraces all social and environmental issues, is written by four hands. We cannot do without the vision and expertise of CSR, nor the skills of communicators. “Companies, and in particular communication teams, are sometimes tempted to only mention the subjects and initiatives that highlight them. This is normal, they watch over their brand image,” explains Béatrice Lévêque. “But they must think globally, and link their speech to all their impact issues, not just those where they are efficient.” This is the role of CSR teams. But we must know how to tell this vision and make it desirable. In the same way that it is not a question of one skill or the other, it is not a question of one skill and then the other. The mistake would be to order a report from the CSR teams, then ask the communication department to distribute it. The entire strategy must be thought out globally, by all the actors, from the first discussions to the restitution. They must define together the priority research and analysis axes, the communication strategy, the speaking formats as well as the language elements. We can even imagine that in the long term, a complete reconfiguration of the organization chart of companies will be necessary, for a complete integration of CSR into the board and the communication department. In any case, a real convergence of objectives and skills will not happen without training the teams in each profession and issue concerned.
In a not so distant future, CSR experts will be seasoned communicators, capable of spreading the right messages to the right target. Communicators will have a detailed knowledge and a clear vision of all the issues relating to the social and environmental responsibility of their company, to form a single entity within the organization.
So, is the rag burning between communication and CSR? The trend is rather towards taming. The two departments being destined to collaborate, it is better to give ourselves a chance to maximize interactions. Sharing a territory does not necessarily rhyme with transfer. Isn’t the goal of the 21st century company to broaden the scope of possibilities?
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