Ten Tips for Sustainability Reporting

This is called an indirect impact.

My entry this week is posted not here but on one of my favourite blogs - The Sustainable Marketing Blog - by Peter Korchnak. Here it is! Enjoy Ten Tips for Sustainability Reporting.

Peter blogs about all aspects of sustainable marketing (one of my favourite posts is Word of Mouth Marketing - must read that book!) .

Sustainable marketing is a fascinating field and is of course a very relevant aspect of csr reporting, particularly for compnanies with consumer brands. This includes the way businesses choose to market, advertise and promote their products, which sectors of the population they target and how they reflect them in their marketing campaigns. Social marketing, or cause-related marketing are key elements of a sustainable marketing strategy. And of course the use of social media today has transformed the way companies consider reaching target audiences.

I was just taking a look at the Kellogg first global csr report, just released. They include a section on responsible marketing, and talk about an update to their marketing guidelines which have now prohibits marketing to kids under 12.

A final, and shocking view of irresponsible marketing is the way women are exploited for marketing purposes. Yes, feminist stuff again. but look at this . This represents the exact opposite of corporate social responsibility and sustainable marketing practices. Wonder if these ads appear in CSR reports ? So remember, next time you are tempted to indulge in a little cognac after reading a CSR report, DON'T go for Remy Martin.

Anyway, to round off, thanks to Peter for allowing me to guest-post on the Sustainable Marketing Blog.

Denmark does it ... Apple doesn't

There's always good news and bad news.... that's what happens when TWO headlines come up on your radar.

First .. the good news headline:
"European neighbours and multinationals will be watching closely as Danish government passes legislation requiring firms to produce CSR reports " The law doesn't require the 1,000 largest firms to actually DO anything to advance their CSR practices, but it does require them to report. Isn't that interesting ? It means that all those that have nothing to say, but have to report, will show up as less attractive. Which perhaps will prove the point that reporting is a catalyst for action. If you have to report, you first have to do something to report about. The Danish government says that this is likely to enhance Danist business as an an attractive investment proposition. This is based on the assumption that Danish businesses are very csr-worthy, but they just dont tell people about it. Which is absolutely a key part of social reponsibility - accountability is responsibility plus transparency. Well done Danes.

I took a quick trip to corporate register (CorporateRegister.com) and found that there is quite a good level of reporting in that country. Denmark is ranked 17th with around 500 reports issued since 1992, after US, UK, Japan, Germany, Australia, Italy and others. Some of reports to come out of Denmark include the best integrated reporters Novo Nordisk , Lego and others, unpronouncable for non-Danes.

Now for the BAD news:
Apple's launch of new green products at this week's Macworld show has been overshadowed by the company's attempts to quash shareholder requests for more corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. The Apple company says that producing another report would produce little added value and require time and expense.

It's a good thing they are not based in Denmark, right ?