It seems another model of integrating corporate responsibility might be emerging as something of a trend: the acquisition approach. L’Oreal’s absorption of The Body Shop is of course the latest example, but it follows a burgeoning tradition with Unilever taking over ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s and Cadbury Schweppes purchasing organic chocolcate maker Green & Blacks.
It is too early to make hard and fast assessments as to whether this approach achieves genuine integration of corporate responsibility (as compared to the in-house team or the consultants battling to keep CR issues high on management’s agenda). Many are up in arms about the Roddicks’ decision to sell The Body Shop, but the optimists among us might be forgiven for hoping that its robust and commercially successful ethical business practises might have an effect on L’Oreal.
CR communications may also benefit from the acquisition approach. The goal is to achieve consistency across all communication outputs, demonstrating that an organisation fully understands its responsibilities and considers them in all its decisions and actions.
The reality is that the company employs many communicators, charged with looking after separate issues and audiences (brand managers, web developers, internal communicators, investor relations professionals, marketing professionals plus any agencies for some or all the above). The CR agenda generally only gets a look in when the CR report is due. There is often little appreciation that the audience another communicator is dealing with is also a stakeholder of this agenda.
But again, the optimists might take heart from the acquisition approach. The Body Shop has consistently communicated its values across all marketing and communications functions and, to remain a valuable brand (and worth the vasy sum L’Oreal paid for it), it will continue to do so. L’Oreal does publish a sustainable development report, but one might hope that other communicators within L’Oreal’s organisation will start to see the value of integrated communications methods.
The value might not be immediately financial (eg product sales). For example it might begin with internal (employee) communications enabling real levels of internal questioning and debate as to how L’Oreal is benchmarked against The Body Shop and so how it will operate in the future. A workforce that’s engaged is a truly effective one.
GRI consultation
One last thing: there is one week to go before the consultation process for the GRI’s G3 guidelines closes. Judging by the discussion forum on its website, little debate or exchange of ideas has occurred publicly though maybe there is a wealth of feedback from the consultation. Maybe the realisation is beginning that integrated communications are more effective and the GRI will become just a part of the suite of CR communications available to a business. It was even mentioned in passing at the GRI sneak peak London event that one size rarely fits all.
Lucie Sinclair is a senior communications advisor at CO3. Lucie’s background includes SRI research at Henderson Global Investors and communications at Warner Bros Pictures. She holds an MSc in environmental technology from Imperial College London, with a specialism in business and environment. CO3 is a specialised communications service based in central London that assists companies and organisations in maximising the opportunities that their corporate responsibility credentials present and minimising the related reputational risk. www.co3.coop
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