How the concept of mutuality can help brands maximise profits and be a force for social good.

1. October, 2013
Mutuality: financial
profit with social good
www.feelingmutual.com
@tomwoodnu1
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

2. Doing social good and making profit
are compatible aims….
…This
paper
argues
that
it
is
more
likely
when
the
ethos
of
mutuality
Is
embraced
because
it
helps
build
stronger
brand
rela@onships
(meaning
more
long
term
profits)
.
.
.
The
presenta@ons
includes
an
analysis
of
the
key
challenges
preven@ng
this
from
happening,
before
arguing
that
the
principle
of
mutuality
can
be
a
big
part
of
the
solu@on.
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

3. The link between doing good and
making money is well-established
Most
sustainability
decisions
are
driven
by
the
desire
to
grow1
and
make
profit2
There
are
many
paths
to
profit
via
social
good,
including3:
-­‐ improved
efficiency
-­‐ innova@on
-­‐ employee
engagement
….to
name
a
few
SOURCES:
1
-­‐
‘Long-­‐Term
Growth,
Short-­‐Term
Differen@a@on
and
Profits
from
Sustainable
Products
and
Services,’
Accenture,
May
2012
2
-­‐‘Corporate
Ci@zenship:
Profi@ng
from
Sustainable
Business’,
The
Economist
Intelligence
Unit,
2008
3
-­‐
‘The
Top
10
Trends
in
CSR
for
2012’,
Forbes,
by
Tim
Mohin,
18/1/12
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

4. This paper focuses on its contribution
via improved brand relationships
Psychologists
have
linked
Corporate
Social
Responsibility
(CSR)
ac@vity
to
people
being
more
likely
to
advocate
and
buy
brands1
Similarly,
according
to
a
recent
Harvard
Law
School
study2
the
benefits
of
social
good
include:
“customer
loyalty,
willingness
to
pay
premium
prices,
and
lower
reputa5onal
risks
in
5mes
of
crisis”
SOURCES:
1
-­‐
‘Du,
Shuili,
C.B.
Bha1acharya,
and
Sankar
Sen
(2007),
‘Reaping
Rela@onal
Rewards
from
Corporate
Social
Responsibility:
The
Role
of
Compe@@ve
Posi@oning,’
Interna5onal
Journal
of
Research
in
Marke5ng,
24
(3),
224-­‐41.
2
-­‐
‘Inves@ng
in
Corporate
Social
Responsibility
to
Enhance
Customer
Value’
by
Noam
Noked,
HLS
Forum
28/2/12
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.
AKA:
‘deeper
brand
rela@onships’

5. Today’s brands can’t afford to ignore
their social responsibilities
Companies
that
do
‘social
bad’
are
being
exposed
by
hyper-­‐connected
networks
of
hyper-­‐cri@cal
consumers1.
Studies2,
3
show
that
people
not
only
expect
social
responsibility
but
cri@cally,
that
they
are
willing
to
work
with
them
to
help
achieve
this.
Doing
social
good
has
become
a
shared
obliga@on
with
the
public
too.
Mutuality
is
about
tapping
into
a
common
desire
to
create
shared
value
for
businesses,
brands
and
society.
SOURCES:
1
-­‐
‘Good
Business:
The
business
case
for
social
brand
behavior’
By
Faris
Yakob,
2012
2
-­‐
2012
Edelman
goodpurpose®
study
3
-­‐
2012
Cone
Communica.ons
Corporate
Social
Return
Trend
Tracker
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

6. The challenge to maximise profits by
doing social good is increasing
As
more
brands
increase
their
investment
in
social
good,
it
will
become
harder
to
make
it
dis@nc@ve
and
inspiring.
Success
will
require
proper
investment,
insight,
dialogue,
collabora@on
and
strategic
crea@vity.
Doing
social
good,
must
be
sufficiently
strategic
to
deepen
brand
rela@onships.
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

7. There are several challenges to
building brands through social good
The
main
problems
limi@ng
the
poten@al
impact
of
social
good
on
brand
rela@onships
(and
therefore
long
term
profits)
are
inter-­‐related
and
fall
at
different
levels:
1
-­‐
(Business
Level)
Brands’
social
good
strategies
are
oien
peripheral
2
-­‐
(Consumer
Level)
Social
good
ini@a@ves
frequently
fail
to
engage
people
3
-­‐
(Brand
Level)
Social
good
regularly
fails
to
build
the
brand
op@mally
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

8. 1 - Strategy for social good is often
peripheral
According
to
Milton
Friedman:
’The
main
responsibility
of
business
is
profit’
1
This
relegates
socially
good
business
prac@ces
into
a
lower
league
of
importance
compared
to
tradi@onal
profit
drivers
like
marke@ng,
opera@onal
efficiency
and
innova@on.
Unsurprisingly,
studies2
suggest
that
stakeholders
in
charge
of
CSR
oien
feel
disempowered
and
are
all
too
oien
segregated
from
other
departments2.
It
is
not
surprising
that
doing
social
good
is
oien
peripheral
to
other
business
concerns.
SOURCE:
1
-­‐
‘The
Social
Responsibility
of
Business
is
to
Increase
its
Profit’,
by
Milton
Friedman,
The
New
York
Times
Magazine,
September
13,
1970
2
-­‐
h1p://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/2011/02/28/
inves@ng-­‐in-­‐corporate-­‐social-­‐responsibility-­‐to-­‐enhance-­‐
customer-­‐value
3
-­‐
‘Integrate
And
Prosper,
Cross-­‐department
collabora@on
is
the
key
to
mo@va@ng
employees
and
driving
revenue.
by
Chris@ne
Crandell,
6/4/09
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

9. 2- Social good initiatives often fail
to engage people
The
lack
of
investment
or
concerted
effort
in
crea@ng
socially
good
ini@a@ves
means
they
are
oien
boring1
or
simply
unknown.
This
is
made
worse
by
the
tendency
for
CSR
communica@ons
to
default
to
corporate
language
that
fails
to
connect
with
the
mainstream
public2.
Many
ini@a@ves
are
short
term
rather
than
on-­‐going.
Worse
s@ll,
social
good
ini@a@ves
can
be
met
with
cynicism
from
people
who
sniff
out
any
inconsistencies.
For
example,
KFC’s
cancer
charity
campaign
was
accused
of
‘pink
wash’
on
social
media
since
its
product
was
also
cri@cised
as
being
a
contributor
to
the
illness
in
the
first
place3.
SOURCE:
1
-­‐
S-­‐ROI
Metric
Enables
Triple-­‐Bo1om-­‐Line
Decision-­‐
Making’,
Sustainable
Brands,
18/9/12
2
-­‐
From
Babel
To
Nirvana:
Six
Quiet
Rules
for
Shaping
Life-­‐
Sized
Messages
and
People-­‐Powered
Movements,
By
Julian
Bora,
Sustainable
Brands
3
-­‐
‘The
Pinkwashing
Debate:
Empty
Cri@cism
or
Serious
Liability?’,
Amy
Westervelt,
11/4/12
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

10. 3- Social good initiatives often fail
to reinforce the brand strategy
Given
a
general
lack
of
inter-­‐departmental
collabora@on
and
therefore
an
uninspiring
standard
of
many
social
good
ini@a@ves,
there
is
too
oien
a
weak
connec@on
between
CSR
and
brand
or
marke@ng
strategy.
At
worst
this
can
lead
to
contradictory
communica@ons,
such
as
General
Motors’
ad
campaign
targe@ng
students
with
the
message:
“Stop
pedalling,
start
driving”.
It
was
widely
a1acked
for
its
denigra@on
of
student
cyclists
and
contradicted
their
website
claim
that
they
“ac5vely
par5cipate
in
educa5ng
the
public
about
environmental
conserva5on”
.
The
irony
did
not
go
unno@ced
across
social
media.
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

11. The solution is not simply a case of
money
The
example
of
the
‘Pepsi
Refresh
project’
shows
how
big
budgets
and
converging
social
good
strategy
with
marke@ng
and
PR
can
s@ll
fail
to
grow
profits.
In
2011,
Pepsi
bravely
shunned
their
tradi@onal
Super
Bowl
spot
and
instead
commi1ed
$20m
to
social
causes
as
voted
by
the
public
across
social
media.
Despite
an
incredible
61
million
responses.
their
sales
suffered
during
the
period.
It
could
be
argued
that
this
was
because
the
execu@on
was
so
incongruent
with
its
core
brand
equity
(rooted
in
pop
culture)
so
it
failed
to
sustain
the
brand’s
relevance.
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

12. How the principle of mutuality can
help…
I
believe
that
the
principle
of
mutuality
can
help
overcome
these
problems.
In
nature,
mutualis@c
rela@onships
are
symbio@c
and
based
on
mutual
gain.
Like
the
rela@onship
between
the
sea
anemone
and
clown
fish,
who
live
side
by
side,
protec@ng
one
an
other
from
their
predators.
It
has
been
defined
as
‘a
state
of
reciprocity
and
sharing’.
Collabora@on
and
value
exchange
between
par@es
results
in
harmonious
rela@onships
that
are
equitable,
well-­‐
balanced
and
fair
Divegallery.com
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

13. Mutuality can help make business
better (and more profitable)
Mutuality
means:
1
–
understanding
people
be1er
2
-­‐
smarter
collabora@on
3
-­‐
more
shared
agendas
4
-­‐
greater
reciprocity
5
-­‐
strategically
building
the
brand
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

14. 1 - UNDERSTAND: Mutuality requires a
collaborative understanding of people
Mutuality
is
founded
on
a
true
understanding
of
different
par@es’
needs.
When
strategy
is
tuned
into
a
shared
agenda,
it
is
possible
to
create
win-­‐win
scenarios
and
shared
value1.
However,
tradi@onal
research
is
oien
based
on
a
narrow,
commercially
defined
client
agenda.
This
means
that
social
issues
are
oien
ignored.
Open
lines
of
digitally
facilitated
dialogue
between
brands
and
people
makes
it
easier
to
generate
the
feedback
and
data
necessary
for
S-­‐ROI
calcula@ons,
which
are
vital
to
building
the
case
for
investment2.
SOURCE:
1
-­‐
Crea@ng
Shared
Value,
by
Michael
E.
Porter
and
Mark
R.
Kramer,
Harvard
Business
Review,
Jan
2011
2
-­‐
h1p://www.demos.co.uk/files/Measuring_Up_-­‐_web.pdf
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

15. 2 - PARTNER: Mutuality is about
creating shared advantage together
Mutuality
is
also
about
working
together
in
strategic
partnerships
for
mutual
gain.
Working
in
partnerships
is
more
likely
to
create
experiences
that
add
value
to
both
brands
and
society.
Examples
include
Orange
who
teamed
up
with
RockCorps
to
reward
their
customers
for
giving
@me
to
charitable
causes
in
return
for
@ckets
to
exclusive
gigs.
Similarly
P&G1
teamed
up
with
Save
the
Children
to
promote
sanitary
products
in
developing
countries.
Their
brand
benefited
by
associa@on
and
by
crea@ng
demand
for
its
products
while
Save
the
Children
helped
reduce
the
school
drop-­‐
out
rates
among
young
women.
SOURCE:
h1p://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-­‐business/ngos-­‐partnering-­‐
businesses-­‐accelerate-­‐shared-­‐value?INTCMP=SRCH
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

16. 3 - INTEGRATE: Mutuality means
seeking cross-departmental synergy
Mutuality
means
diverse
departments
rallying
around
a
social
idea.
Marks
and
Spencer’s
Plan
A
involved
ambi@ous
sustainability
targets
and
the
mobilisa@on
of
all
stakeholders.
This
created
an
addi@onal
£50m
revenue
in
20101.
Ben
and
Jerry’s1
rallied
departments
around
its
ambi@on
to
be
the
first
wholly
owned
subsidiary
brand
to
join
the
B
Corpora@on
movement
(which
involves
high
standards
of
social
performance)
Such
synergy
and
cross
departmental
investment
requires
board-­‐level
buy
in.
.
.
SOURCE:
1
-­‐
h1p://www.marke@ngweek.co.uk/the-­‐new-­‐csr-­‐this-­‐@me-­‐its-­‐
profitable/3025435.ar@cle
2
-­‐
h1p://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-­‐business/ben-­‐jerrys-­‐b-­‐
corpora@on-­‐social-­‐responsibili@es?INTCMP=SRCH
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

17. 4 - RECIPROCATE: Mutuality means
earning the kindness of the crowd
Mutuality
is
driven
by
our
ins@nct
to
reciprocate1:
“We
are
human
because
our
ancestors
learned
to
share
their
food
and
skills
in
an
honoured
network
of
obliga5on.”
People
will
socially
reward
brands
that
show
a
genuine
commitment
to
social
causes,
especially
when
invited
to
join
in.
Like
US
bank
Chase,
who
let
facebook
fans
choose
where
to
donate
$1
million
and
got
4million
fans
in
the
process
As
Simon
Mainwaring
points
out
in
‘We
First’,
brands
and
society
can
benefit
from
this
two-­‐way
dynamic.
SOURCE:
1
-­‐
R.Leakey
and
R.
Lewin
(1978)
People
of
the
Lake.
New
York:
Anchor
Press
/
Doubleday
2
-­‐
We
First:
How
brands
and
consumers
use
social
media
to
build
a
be1er
world,
By
Simon
Mainwaring,
(2012)
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

18. 5 – BE STRATEGIC: Mutuality is about
brands ‘proving their purpose’
For
companies
to
do
social
good
in
ways
that
strategically
build
their
brands
they
have
to
‘prove
their
purpose’
(in
the
words
of
Jens
Bang
from
Cone
Communica@ons).
An
example
of
this
is
Levi’s1
‘Go
Forth’
campaign
which
featured
real
farmers
from
a
struggling
town
in
Pi1sburgh
to
celebrate
its
pioneering
spirit.
They
demonstrated
a
true
commitment,
by
inves@ng
$1million
into
local
projects
and
farms.
Similarly,
Haagen
Dazs
rooted
its
social
good
efforts
into
an
issue
of
direct
relevance
to
its
product:
the
threat
to
the
honey
bee
popula@on.
They
received
over
half
a
million
#savethebees
tweets
in
one
week,
and
gave
$1
for
each
one.
SOURCE:
1
–
h1p://www.forbes.com/2010/07/09/pepsi-­‐macys-­‐
twi1er-­‐@de-­‐levis-­‐adver@sing-­‐responsibility-­‐cmo-­‐network-­‐
imagina@ve-­‐csr.html
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

19. In conclusion: Mutuality can inspire
profits, social good and coaction
Social
good
can
help
maximise
profits
when
ini@a@ves
are
strategically
aligned
with
building
the
brand.
However,
it
is
not
simply
the
responsibility
of
the
corpora@on.
It
is
a
shared
obliga@on
between
customers,
employees
and
companies.
This
is
what
Cindy
Gallop
has
described
as
the
business
model
of
the
future;
one
based
on
the
equa@on:
“shared
ac5on
plus
shared
values
equals
shared
profit:
Financial
profit
and
societal
profit.”
Mutuality
provides
the
necessary
understanding,
collabora@on,
shared
agendas
and
reciprocal
value,
to
make
social
ini@a@ves
profitable
for
society
as
well
as
the
bo1om
line.
SOURCE:
1
–
Cindy
Gallop:
it's
@me
to
rethink
the
adver@sing
business,
The
Guardian,
26/9/12
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.

20.
If
you
are
interested
in
finding
out
how
mutualis@c
thinking
can
help
your
brand
or
issue…..or
you’d
like
to
help
develop
the
idea,
please
do
get
in
touch…
Twi1er:
@Tomwoodnu1
E-­‐mail:
tom@tomwoodnu1.com
Blog:
www.feelingmutual.com
Copyright
Tom
Woodnu1
Ltd.