Reading: Social Responsibility in the Marketing Strategy

You’ll recall that we defined corporate social responsibility (CSR) as the ethical behaviour of a company toward society. It means acting responsibly toward the stakeholders—not just the shareholders—who have a legitimate interest in the business. Let’s focus on how marketers use corporate social responsibility to achieve marketing objectives.

First, let’s return for a moment to the marketing planning process. Where does social responsibility fit in? It generally comes into the planning process in one of two ways:

1. Social responsibility may be a corporate-level strategy with specific objectives.
2. Social responsibility may be part of the marketing mix based on the situation analysis.

Corporate Strategy at Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola’s mission is:

• To refresh the world . . .
• To inspire moments of optimism and happiness . . .
• To create value and make a difference.

In support of the vision, the company has created what it calls a “roadmap” that defines the focus areas for company strategies and tactics. These include:

• People: Be a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be.
• Portfolio: Bring to the world a portfolio of quality beverage brands that anticipate and satisfy people’s desires and needs.
• Partners: Nurture a winning network of customers and suppliers, together we create mutual, enduring value.
• Planet: Be a responsible citizen that makes a difference by helping build and support sustainable communities.
• Profit: Maximize long-term return to shareowners while being mindful of our overall responsibilities.
• Productivity: Be a highly effective, lean, and fast-moving organization.^[1]

Which of the roadmap areas focus on social responsibility? “Planet” is clearly a social responsibility focus, as it acknowledges a responsibility to improve the world beyond the sale of Coca-Cola’s products. “People” also suggests a note of social responsibility; Coca-Cola strives to be a place where employees are not only doing a good job for the company but are inspired to be their best as people.

Marketing Strategies to Address Childhood Obesity

Coca-Cola doesn’t specifically call out customer health in its roadmap, but that concern has become a significant component of its marketing strategy, and the company has developed a specific set of marketing programs to address childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is a challenging issue for the company. If you were to conduct a SWOT analysis of Coca-Cola, you could imagine that this issue would appear under “external threats” and have a negative impact on its market.

In most K–12 schools in Canada, since 2004 the sale of soft drinks has been steadily eliminated. ^[2] Rather than wait to find out how this trend might play out, marketing decided to take a proactive role.

In 2013, Coca-Cola announced its four global well-being commitments to help fight obesity, each of which has a direct impact on the marketing mix:

• Offer low- or no-calorie beverage options in every market. (Product)

• Provide transparent nutrition information, featuring calories on the front of all packages. (Product)

• Help get people moving by supporting physical activity programs in every country where we do business. (Promotion)

• Market responsibly, including no advertising to children under 12 anywhere in the world. (Promotion)^[3]

Coca-Cola has added a number of water and juice brands to its product portfolio in order to achieve these social responsibility objectives, and has devoted a substantial budget to develop physical activity programs in its markets. The tone of the company’s advertising has shifted to focus on an older audience.

CSR and Emerging Issues: Data, AI, and Transparency

In the 2020s, social responsibility in marketing has expanded beyond environmental and health concerns into digital ethics and artificial intelligence (AI). As firms increasingly use AI to recommend products, personalize advertising, and generate marketing content, there are growing concerns around:

• Transparency: Consumers want to know when they are interacting with AI-generated content or reviews. Regulators such as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the European Union have updated disclosure requirements for AI-driven influencer marketing. ^[4]
• Bias and Fairness: AI systems may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes in targeted advertising, raising questions about fairness and inclusivity in marketing. ^[5]
• Privacy and Data Responsibility: With 38.27 million potential consumers in Canada and just over 1.15 million businesses, B2B and B2C marketers alike must handle customer data responsibly.^{[6]  [7] [8]}

Here, CSR is not only about “doing good” environmentally, but also about ensuring trust, fairness, and accountability in the digital marketplace.

Broader Adoption of CSR Practices

Increasingly, companies around the world are including some social responsibility objectives in their corporate-level plans. The majority of U.S. companies in the S&P 500 and Fortune 500 provide reporting to investors on their sustainability goals and performance.^[9]

In Canada, many firms are advancing CSR practices. Corporate Knights’ 2020 Best 50 report highlights leading Canadian companies with strong environmental and social performance.^[10] However, TSX-listed firms have been criticized for lagging behind global competitors on CSR reporting, particularly regarding diversity and ESG disclosures.^[11]

Conclusion

With this emphasis and accountability, social responsibility is no longer regarded as a “special project.” It is becoming an integral part of corporate and marketing planning, spanning from environmental stewardship to AI-driven data ethics. In the digital era, firms are increasingly judged not only on how they protect the planet and people, but also on how responsibly they use technology, algorithms, and consumer data.

Creation note: This content was updated with the assistance of ChatGPT, a language model developed by OpenAI, and was subsequently reviewed and edited by the author for clarity and accuracy.