CSR and Brand Marketing: A Strategy Alignment for Competitive Advantage

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility is defined as doing business in a responsible manner that delivers value not only to the organization, but also to all of its stakeholders and the community within which it operates. CSR covers five main areas: environment, community, employee welfare, financial performance and corporate governance. Corporations know that CSR is inextricably linked to their reputations and brand identities. Integrating CSR and brand building efforts without a roadmap, however, can be daunting.The current CSR debate is clear evidence of missed opportunities to leverage CSR in brand-building activities. More money than ever is being invested in CSR and Corporations are making wide ranging organizational changes to support it. Most Corporations are formulating separate budget for their CSR activities and have established CSR departments reporting to the chief executive, publishing CSR reports and developing CSR strategies and plans. However, despite this intense investment activity, results are few and far between. This paper examines inter-dependence of CSR and Brand Marketing; and reviews different models and approaches for integrating CSR and Branding.  It recommends alignment of CSR and brand marketing as aligned strategy for competitive advantage.

Keywords: CSR, Brand marketing, Strategy Alignment, Integration, Competitive Advantage