CHAPTER 26
Doing Social Good
We all love to hear about good things happening in our communities and our world. As Customers, we are proud when companies that we do business with are giving back to these communities and helping those in need. For example, Hyundai’s efforts to help kids fight cancer through their Hope on Wheels program are close to my heart, so I often choose to speak about them. My admiration for Hyundai as a brand has increased because of this program.
Many businesses have built successful social media programs centered on helping the community. One of the most notable examples is the Pepsi Refresh Project. Started in 2010, Pepsi Refresh awards millions of dollars in grants to individuals, businesses, and non-profits that promote new ideas to help the community or society as a whole. They then ask their website and social media viewers to vote on the best ideas. Based on these results, Pepsi’s marketing team then funds the winners. We have seen similar social media campaigns, like the Chase Community Giving Campaign, where users vote for the organizations or individuals who most deserve funds. This is a great way to help spread your brand message, while helping the community at the same time. It also often spurs the non-profit organizations to excite their own communities to visit the page and vote up their causes. Positive brand message can spread rapidly!
The challenge is that when we see successes like these examples, many other companies follow suit. Although ...
