Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Who's walking the walk?

Step into any store, pick up a magazine, or surf the Internet, and bam! … eco-friendly advertising everywhere! “Green” is the most overused word in marketing today, associated with companies from petroleum to pet food. But are all of these companies socially responsible, committed to sustainable practices? Or are some just “greenwashing” their way to financial gains and goodwill?

It’s clear that an authentic, socially responsible company has a marketing edge. While the economy wavers, consumers are increasingly selective about where their money goes. They value sustainability — in fact, 67 percent of American consumers say that a company’s social responsibility is extremely influential in deciding to buy a product or service from that company (Fleishman-Hilliard/National Consumers League Study, 2007).

It’s also clear that stretching “green” truths is prevalent, causing consumers to be increasingly skeptical, not knowing whom they can trust to do the right thing. That’s why it’s critical that good organizations tell their stories right. If they don’t convincingly communicate their commitment to sustainability, they risk getting lost in the clamor of players vying for a piece of the “green” pie, or worse, being labeled a “greenwasher.”

Paul Jensen and One Tribe Creative believe social responsibility and sustainability are synonymous, with both built on a triple bottom line — environmental, social, and economic. “Advertising and marketing efforts should never exploit these ideals. There is a fine line between employing truly sustainable practices and falsely promoting environmental efforts to increase a fiscal bottom line,” Jensen says.

For those companies that have a real story to tell, One Tribe Creative stresses the importance of honesty, credibility and transparency in marketing and advertising. By telling the stories of its clients in this manner, One Tribe has helped them improve market share, turning global consumers into believers who actively support the companies’ products and services.

We have one planet and one chance. Let’s work together to write the story of a better world.