BRAND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: An Integrative Perspective

Abstract

This article presents a description of brand social responsibility (BSR) integrally from a philosophical and strategic perspective. Philosophically, BSR can be defined as the brand's good faith in offering products responsibly, starting from the intention, input, process, and output, to outcome stages, to positively and beneficially impact consumers and society at large. Strategically, BSR is the effort of a brand in communicating its values ​​through activities that carry social meaning or show social responsibility for humanity and the natural environment. Some crucial traits determine BSR strategy's success; the program must be charitable, linkable, responsible, sustainable, investable, communicable, collaborative, and inspirational. Charitable is related to the brand's sincere, empathic, altruistic, compassionate, and philanthropic attitudes. Linkable is about brand relevance, as well as meaningful connections in community involvement. Responsible refers to moral and social considerations of its impacts and consequences. Sustainable is the extent to which the brand's social mission contributes to the survival of the brand itself and the continuity of the brand good perceived by the community. Investable relates to the ability of the program to attract investment potentials, whether economic (financial, capital, material), social (relations, communities, networks), political (regulatory impact, government support, moral movement), cultural (lifestyle, habits, and people's mindset according to the brand's social mission), and psychological (happiness, satisfaction, well-being). The program must be Communicable, in the sense that the message delivered is clear, engaging, and useful, in a pleasant, creative, and effective manner, without harmful excesses. The program must also be Collaborative, attracting many partners, sponsors, and volunteers to get involved. Finally, the BSR program should be Inspirational, mobilizing other brands, competitors, and the community to do the same good.

Keywords

• charitable
• linkable
• responsible
• sustainable
• investable
• communicable
• collaborative
• inspirational