If you start collaborating with a good cause, do you dare to communicate it as well? Because the fear of being labeled for ‘Greenwashing’ is one of the biggest reasons today for brands to not publicly communicate about their donations or their support to charity. And that is unfortunate, because as consumers become increasingly aware of the impact of their everyday choices, they are looking for brands and products that do good for people and the planet. So with the right communication, you can win brand recognition and grow with your customers. Here are a few of my tips for the right communication.
Here are a few tips to kick-off your CSR strategy with the right communication as the key to grow your brand recognition:
- Choose words that express the positive but realistic situation your company is in. Consider using descriptive words such as “we try to help out…”, or “we like to give something back….” When your communication shows that you are aware of your position or situation BUT you still like to do something good, gives your consumer a realistic idea of your CSR Strategy.
- Consider communicating around a (marketing) campaign or product-launch in which you introduce a new wat of thinking and working. This new way involves a collaboration with a charity and is introduced as a new chapter – not a way to fade away the past or way of working you handed previously.
- Don’t make it a “one-time” activation but choose a sustainable collaboration that maintains multiple years. Make sure you activate the collaboration multiple times during a year (for instance, do a campaign in May but repeat a giving moment around Christmas) and spend multiple blogs or posts on updates concerning the support and the work your partner-charity does.
- Be a representative of your partner-charity in many ways, not only communicating what your company does well. Promote and advocate the work they do in your network and be a proud partner.
- My last tip is a very easy one: avoid using the color ‘green’ in your communication about your charity-partnership. It is scientifically proven that communication with the color green in it, is easily interpreted as a sustainable message and can therefore be easily marked as “green-washing.” Avoid that by staying true to your own brand’s identity or the brand identity of your partner-charity.
Could you use some help with your communication?
Where these tips useful for you? Or could you use some help in your communication when partnering up with a charity? I would be happy to help you, so please reach out through my contact page!
XOXO Eva
