Tag: sustainability

West Michigan Firms Win Awards for ‘Good’ Advertising and PR

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It is interesting to me that a conversation with students about certain professors in other major programs bad-mouthing the ethics of advertising and public relations coincided with news of two local West Michigan firms that earned awards not only for their work, but the fact that it exemplifies socially conscious communications work.

In my spring Fundamentals of Public Relations course, during a discussion of ethics in public relations, several students complained that professors in other courses labeled PR or advertising as nothing short of evil. While it is good to have students consider the negative consequences of some  in the field, it is also paradoxically unethical for someone from outside the field to make such a broad brush stereotype declaration about an occupation. It’s what scholars call a synecdoche, in which a part (or one bad example, often of someone not even in PR) serves as representative of the whole profession.

So I was delighted to learn of not one, but two West Michigan firms recently lauded for their ethical and socially aware practice.

First, the Image Shoppe became the first marketing firm in Michigan to be certified as a Benefit Corporation, also called a B Corporation.  Basically, a B Corporation is one that meets rigorous standards we in PR call the “triple bottom line” of sustainability, which includes positive impact on the “3 Es”–economic, equity, and environment (some also use the “3 Ps” of profit, place, people). Learn more about this award in this RapidGrowth article.

Then just last week, Lambert, Edwards and Associates earned a Silver Stevie Award in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program of the Year category. The award is part of the annual American Business Awards.  LEA won the award for its 10,000 Scoop Challenge cause marketing program that was created for Denali Flavors, the developers of the legendary Moose Tracks® ice cream. The campaign combined grassroots networking, experiential marketing, media/celebrity engagement, media relations and product sampling into one event. Attendees are encouraged to help eat ice cream for a cause, with every scoop eaten, Denali donates $1 to the local chapter of The Salvation Army, with the goal of raising $10,000 in a four-hour window.

We celebrate creativity and meeting business objectives in our field, and we laud local examples of excellence. It’s good to know that we have local firms who are also leaders in terms of not just doing good work, but doing work that does good.

Ford Friends Me

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My previous post “Fords Lost PR Focus” generated some attention from Ford. A Ford representative emailed me shortly after my post appeared asking to speak to me on the phone to clarify some things I alluded to about the Ford Focus event in downtown Grand Rapids.

I had thought the Ford PR team was on top of social media monitoring to respond to little ol’ me so quickly. But it turned out that a friend of mine who works in PR in Detroit, and used to work for Ford, forwarded my blog post to a VP there and it eventually got to Dan Pierce, the Global Environmental Communication Manager, who contacted me.

Chris Knape, meanwhile, told me no one from Ford had followed up as promised to answer his questions.

As Pierce explains it, the event was not intended to be a consumer event. The Ford Focus Electric is not out of production yet and they don’t want to offer consumer test drives until it is and they can make the right first impression. Those invited to the event were representatives of utilities, governmental units, and other early adopters such as hybrid owners who are interested in the concept and prototype before the release. While they didn’t stop Grand Valley students and others who happened by from looking, they did not have a drive-able car at this event. The consumer events will come later this year when the car is out of production.

As for Knape’s questions going unanswered, apparently there was one official spokesman at the event and that person was surrounded by TV and other media in the scrum that followed the official remarks. Still not good for first impressions to ignore the local business editor in any market in my opinion, but I’ll let you decide for yourself.

Meanwhile, the discussion I had with Pierce proved productive and a good example of PR fence mending. He’s offered to come to GVSU next month with a prototype car and an engineer to talk about it. Then he will address a group of PR students about promoting an all electric vehicle, sustainability and environmental communication. My students from last winter’s Fundamentals of PR courses are already getting out their plan books to show their own ideas on promoting the Ford Focus Electric to a college student market.

More to come.

Nominations Sought for Sustainability Efforts

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I have long argued that public relations professionals should lead the charge on sustainability issues. Sustainability is often summarized as the “three Es” of measuring an organization’s success–in terms of equity, environment, and economic indicators. That means that sustainability is consistent with Corporate Social Responsibility, mutually beneficial relationships, two-way symmetrical communication and other aspects of what is considered ethical public relations.

Well, now West Michigan PR pros have a chance to step up and show how sustainable your organization, or your clients’ organizations, are.
The West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC) is accepting nominations from now til April 1 for their Second Annual Triple Top Line Awards. The awards, a play on the phrase “triple bottom line” that normally refers to the three sustainability measures, will be given in three categories: Sustainable Business Leadership, Community-Based Achievements toward Sustainability and Governments Implementing Sustainable Change.
Nomination forms are available at WMEAC’s Web site.
Finalists will be announced April 8 and the winner will be determined by an online public voting process hosted by Rapid Growth. Voting will close April 15.
The winner will be announced as part of WMEAC’s 2010 Earth Week EcoAction Expo, a showcase for local non-profits and businesses with an environmental focus, at Fountain Street Church in downtown Grand Rapids on April 16th at 8 p.m. Businesses and organizations interested in exhibiting at the expo can download a booth and/or sponsorship form at www.wmeac.org/index.php/events/.
Let’s see if PR can be prominently equated with sustainability this year.

Sustainability and PR

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Many of you may have heard about and even worked with aspects of the new buzzword in management: sustainability. I hope you’ll do a favor to the PR profession and tell other management team members that sustainability is basically about fundamental public relations.

You can read more of my thoughts on this in the February issue of “Tactics,” the monthly publication of the Public Relations Society of America