When you want to delve deeper into a topic you ask the experts, right? That is just what Christian Conrad and Marjorie Ellis Thompson did for their book The New Brand Spirit: How Communicating Sustainability Builds Brands, Reputations and Profits. What originally was supposed to be a follow up to the book Brand Spirit, written by Thompson and Hamish Pringle, instead became an in-depth inquiry into how to effectively communicate multifaceted sustainable practices:
Surveying the current landscape, we realized that what makes communicating CSR or sustainability so complex and sometimes confusing is that there are myriad and varied perspectives on it, and accompanying those perspectives there are heterogeneous expectations. Each stakeholder defines the subject matter – CSR, CR or sustainability – in their own way and has a specific view on what companies should both do and communicate (p. 21).
The New Brand Spirit is a casebook resulting from nearly 100 interviews by the authors. Representing a variety of organizations and companies, the book provides an insightful viewpoint from different perspectives that are involved with corporate social responsibility and sustainability communication. The book is divided into essentially two parts – the interviews and the examples. Rich with figures and tables, albeit in black-and-white only, the book offers a tremendous amount of information that is presented in an organized and systematic manner.
The authors approached the book with the idea of letting the “stakeholders talk” and interviewed 95 experts from eight different stakeholder perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication. The stakeholder perspectives represented in the book without being “all-encompassing” are (pp. xxi-xxii):
Civil society and non-governmental organizations.
The public sector (government, governmental organizations and intergovernmental organizations).
Suppliers.
Employees.
Customers (consumers and business-to-business customers).
Shareholders.
(Social) media.
Academia and experts.
Each of the identified interviewees representing the eight different stakeholder groups responds to a series of the same questions, with adjustments made depending upon the group. Presented in a Q-and-A format, the questions addressed are:
RQ1. What do you associate with CSR and CSR communication?
RQ2. What are your expectations regarding CSR communication of companies?
RQ3. What is the role of the stakeholder in the context of CSR communication of companies?
RQ4. Can you share any best practice examples of CSR communication?
RQ5. How do you define “greenwashing” and could you name examples?
RQ6. What do you consider to be success factors of effective CSR communication from an investor and shareholder perspective?
Each chapter concludes with a nice summary table of “Key Messages in a Nutshell” that quickly identifies the expectations of the stakeholder, roles of the stakeholder and issues of CSR communication for each stakeholder.
The second part of the book focuses on case studies, again representing the eight stakeholder points of view. The cases offer a range of examples of best practices as varied as the different stakeholder perspectives. For example, from the Civil Society Perspective (Chapter 10), changing hand washing behavior is the focus of a Lifebuoy soap campaign, while another case centers on the Public Sector (Chapter 11) presenting the German Bio-label that “would clearly communicate ‘organic’ to consumers” (p. 169). One of the case studies from Chapter 14 “The Customer Perspective” profiles Cadbury’s decision to use Fairtrade-certified chocolate in their products and thus start the Fairtrade chocolate revolution. Additionally, the employee perspective is presented in Chapter 13 with IBM’s World Community Grid. “[…] IBM’s WCG is an excellent example of how a company leverages its core business competences to further social and environmental purposes” (p. 212). These are just a few of the cases included in the book, but the majority of the cases represent businesses and organizations in the UK and Europe.
Part III Summary and Outlook is a fitting conclusion to the book that identifies “the 10 Commandments of Effective and Credible CSR Communication” (p. 299):
Balance substance and perception – if in doubt, substance first.
Integrate sustainability into your core business and determine your direction before starting to communicate.
Set measurable targets and control them rigorously.
Communicate honestly and with transparency – be open about threats and shortcomings.
Communicate from the inside out by making your employees into ambassadors for what you do in the field of sustainability.
Be yourself, to come across as authentic – communicate only those things you do in terms of sustainability that have a good fit with your company or your brand.
Shift the focus from corporate- to product-related communication, for example, based on life cycle assessments or traceability, to ensure business and customer relevance.
Avoid one-way communication, and seek to engage actively with key stakeholders – this includes embracing social media.
Talk confidently about your achievements, and do not be destructively silent.
Invest as much creativity, craftsmanship and commitment into CSR and sustainability communication as into any other advertising or corporate communication.
A list of the contributors to the book is presented at the end in a clear table that lists the stakeholders’ names and organizations. A thorough index is also included.
The authors tackle a wide variety of perspectives that, at times, can leave the reader gasping for air from the murky CSR waters. While not exactly a quick read, the book would be useful to anyone interested in learning more about the best practices of communicating CSR and sustainability. Whether student, academic or practitioner, the interviews and case studies are sure to offer some insight and suggestions to make communicating sustainability more effective.
