Flagship community programmes are NOT the dominant force in corporate responsibility today, but everyone says they want to have one. How do we explain this paradox?
In late 2014 we conducted a survey of corporate social investment practitioners. This informed the research and findings of our latest thought leadership paper Flagship Programmes: Focusing Corporate Social Investment for Impact. The interviews made us realise that flagship programmes – where resources are prioritised towards a single global theme –are massively popular with practitioners:
- At present, flagship programmes are not yet mainstream. Only 12% of respondents said their current approach to community investment revolved around a flagship programme.
- However, flagship programmes will become the focal point of social investment activities: 70% of respondents without a flagship programme will embrace a more focused approach over the next two years.
This startling shift is due to the clear benefits associated with flagship programmes:
- Over 90% of respondents said flagship programmes maximise social and business returns on investment.
- 85% saw flagship programmes as the way for a company to own a space and differentiate its brand in the community.
- Over 60% saw flagship programmes as the best way to demonstrate a company’s social purpose (i.e. the reason for the company’s existence beyond creating economic value).
It’s clear that flagship programmes are only going to grow in prominence. Organisations reap enormous dividends from them.
So the question is, what is stopping people from ramping up their efforts and implementing a programme? Since our paper’s launch, we’ve had numerous discussions with community professionals, and one barrier keeps on coming up: people are wary of selecting a priority audience and focusing on them.
This ultimately risks resulting in failure. It’s impossible to design something from the very beginning that satisfies everyone. As it develops you can expand your audience. Three examples below show just how successful focussing on one audience can be:
- Unilever’s Lifebuoy campaign to improve the handwashing behaviours of 1 billion people has been hugely successful in engaging governmental and other key opinion former stakeholders. If consumers do increasingly buy Lifebuoy as a result, that’s a great success: but the original intended outcome was around handwashing behaviours.
- M&S’ Shwopping campaign. From day one the programme has been about getting consumers to think more about their clothes, and how they dispose of them. As the programme developed, employees have been getting more involved. This boosts the programme. But this wouldn’t have happened if the programme didn’t at first relentlessly focus on its consumers in order to establish itself.
- Amway’s Nutrilite Power of 5 Campaign, whilst helping fight child malnutrition, has, at its core, had Amway’s network of vendors in mind. By fostering this community, Amway has created an emotional connection between the brand and its vendors. This has boosted the power and reach of the programme, helping Amway connect with more communities and potential customers.
Flagship programmes are the most effective way to achieve deep impacts and get known for your social investment activities. If you’re thinking about how your social investment activities are going to evolve, consider who your true priority audience is, and take the brave step to focus on them, as you design a flagship programme.