Companies these days are driven by more than just their primary objective of making profits. As a business serving local and global communities, they are also responsible for supporting their environment and giving back to the society. Socially responsible companies make efforts to devise and implement their Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) by integrating it with their business plans in a bid to take meaningful action.
Not only does it improve the community and uplift its people, it opens doors to a lot of resources, funding and goodwill.
Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) is essentially a way to do good for the local and global communities which are responsible for helping the business operate and thrive. Donations, ethical+social campaigns, volunteering and supporting small businesses are a few ways to do that. It also helps a company to improve its brand image, customer loyalty, media coverage and increased support from shareholders and the public.
CSR is how a company differentiates itself from its competitors and forms a meaningful and long-lasting connection with the people. Operating in a manner where the goals such as “improving the society” and “generating profits” function as a mutually dependent and beneficial unit is the way to go.
Here are a few brands that are making giant strides through their CSR activities:
1) Adidas – Plastic Recycling and Repurposing
Adidas has always been going above and beyond in its fight against plastic. In addition to not using it during its manufacturing or packaging process, the sports apparel giant has also teamed up with Parle to recycle and use plastic found in ocean to make sustainable sportswear.
Adidas has also partnered with various sporting teams that it sponsors to introduce team jerseys exclusively made from recycled ocean waste.
Furthermore, Adidas collaborates with Greenpeace to reduce the harmful chemicals from global supply chains through program called DETOX.
2) Google – Renewable Energy Development
Since 2013, Google has invested $3.5 billion in renewable energy projects across the globe. By 2020, Google successfully achieved its goal of producing renewable energy equal to its non-renewable energy consumption.
Additionally, despite its incredibly high number of daily users and their searches, Google has managed to conserve energy. The tech giant has used the same amount of energy since 2015 while increasing its computing power as a way to support that.
As a part of its long-term CSR, Google also aims to use only carbon-free energy by 2030 to support the planet.
3) Ben and Jerry’s – Philanthropy and Community Development
Ben and Jerry’s, the world renowned dessert brand brings smiles to the faces of people through more than just ice-creams. From every sale of their 1L tub, they donate $0.05 to charities.
As a way of helping out the society, they also support a plethora of community development programs related to the rights of refugees, LGBTQ community and more. Moreover, they donate a portion of their pre-tax profits to corporate philanthropic initiatives in a bid to combat societal and socio-economic injustice.
Other notable brands like Dell, Bosch, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Apple and many more also have impactful CSR plans that are worth emulating by firms across the globe.
Written by Gagan Dhawan
