Addressing the Philippine Marketing Association for the first time, Campaigns and Grey’s Group Chairman Yoly Ong gave impassioned pitch for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
CSR proposes that organizations, especially business corporations, have a duty to address the interests of their customers, employees, shareholders, and their communities, as well as the concerns of the world and its environment, in all aspects of their operations.
“Companies have to atone for what they have brought about to their surroundings, those around Manila Bay and the Pasig River,” states Ong, with serious mirth. “Consumers now are not just buying your products and services—they are buying the company behind the products and services.”
Maintaining that it is okay to have self-interest in incorporating CSR in marketing strategy, Ong goes on to say that good CSR efforts are actually good for society and therefore good for business. “It’s not just a good deed; it’s a good deal.”
Although the concept of CSR is not new, it is not as simple as donating old clothes to typhoon victims. CSR is initiating and upholding a new company culture. It goes beyond projects and programs to find solutions to the factors that hinder social development. It demands taking a position and making a stand, facing all risk to the corporation one represents.
Ong stresses, “it is a responsibility not for the faint-hearted, but remember, evil triumphs when good men do nothing.”
