PBS, NPR, Nat Geo, NYT Lead Underperforming Media Industry in Social Responsibility

Media as an industry is underperforming in contributing to the greater goodMedia brands have a meaningful opportunity to increase revenues and enhance their value by building a social responsibility platformThe media community39s poor competitive performance in social purpose is a contributing factor to the industry39s low scores in diversity talent retention and developmentThe study conducted by MediaVillage asked 1200 advertiser and agency executives to rate the 140plusamp160media brands on five established metrics of brand equity valueWhat is the magnitude of difference between this brand and its closest competitorsIn your opinion how culturally relevant is this brand in the United StatesHow would you rate the ability of this brand to thrive in the new media worldIn your opinion how strong is the emotional connection between this brand and its audienceHow committed is this brand to contributing to the greater good through its content andor specific social responsibility effortsamp160MediaVillage is sharing detailed results on each of the 140 brands with its subscribing companies and will continue to publish insights from the study on the perceptions of marketer and agency professionals toward media brands39 equity valueNPR aims to promote a wellinformed public and a greater appreciation for diverse cultures and ideasamp160 NPR embraced the purposeled approach long before it became a business buzzword in 2013 for example NPR sought to defy stereotypes among young listeners with its RadioTypesamp160campaignamp160 Although technically a marketing campaign this effort provided real value to prospective listeners by connecting them with programming to match their interestsamp160 and to encourage them to take pride in their unique attributesamp160National Geographic39s Furtheramp160campaign captures how the trusted brand desires to maintain its perception of integrity while going beyond to ensure that key voices in the current dialogue on environmentalism and other major global issues are heardamp160 Recently National Geographic exemplified its motto with the Planet or Plasticamp160campaign which emphasizes consumer education corporate commitmentamp160and partnerships with key nongovernmental organizationsamp160 The goalamp160 To inspire both individuals and organizations of all sizes to rethink their relationship with plasticamp160 This campaign has garnered great praise but of courseamp160it is rooted in the desire for a cleaner worldamp160 not in the desire to sell more subscriptionsamp160 Similarly it39s immediately clear that Amazon primarily seeks to do good with its charitable effort AmazonSmile which makes it easy for customers to donate to select charitiesPBS NPR and Nat Geo share nonprofit origins creating a potential halo effect with which corporate brands cannot competeamp160 Media brands that reframe the context of their audience relationship to reflect contributions to the greater good may find it positively impacts on profitabilityDetailed drilldown into the survey results also uncovers insights that confirm the hypothesis that the media industry underperforms in or at least is not being credited for delivering purposeful contributions to societyThe Purpose of Being PurposeLedA trending topic across a myriad of industries purposedriven leadership can transform how companies function and what they accomplishamp160 This unique approach39s effects are seen in employee satisfaction in customer loyaltyamp160and even in profit marginsamp160 Cultivating a purposedriven approach can prove surprisingly difficult however as many brands struggle to define their purpose and integrate it authentically into everyday operationsamp160Simon Sinekamp160says it best in one of the most viewed and most compelling TED Talks quotTo have purpose means the things we do are of real value to othersquotamp160amp160Path to Purpose author Bill Damon agrees he refers to companybased purpose as quota longterm forwardlooking intention to accomplish aims that are both meaningful to the self and of consequence to the world beyond the selfquotPurposedriven companies typically seek above all else to make a positive impact in a specific arena but the fruits of their efforts may ultimately extend well beyond their stated goalamp160 Research for example demonstrates that purposedriven employees are more fulfilled on a daytoday basis and therefore more likely to stick it out with a given company when the going gets toughamp160 A notable Deloitte Insights study reveals that missiondriven companies enjoyamp160a 40 percent higher employee retention ratePurpose and profit are by no means exclusiveamp160 Some of the world39s most successful brands are driven by a clearly defined social or charitable purposeamp160 Rather than standing in the way of high profit margins these companies39 meaningful missions drive innovation and with it customer loyaltyamp160 According to We First founder and bestselling authoramp160Simon Mainwaring 91 percent of consumers would happily switch brands if they discovered that a similarlypriced product of equal quality supported a great causeThe unique interplay of purpose and profit is best evidenced in the bookamp160Firms of Endearmentamp160in which experts tracked the financial performance of several missionled companies over the course of ten yearsamp160 These businesses on average enjoyed an annualamp160return on equity of 131 percentamp160 well above the 9 percent return on equity seen in theamp160SampampPamp160 Likewise Harvard Business School professorsamp160John Kotter and James Heskettamp160demonstrated inamp160Corporate Culture and Performanceamp160that purposedriven companies outperformed other organizations by a factor of twelve in terms of stock priceDeveloping and Communicating PurposeA purposeoriented approach should not be cultivated purely as a marketing initiative and yet it is critical that missionled companies get the word out to employees and consumersamp160 It all begins with framing purpose as a discovery rather than an analysisamp160 Purpose cannot be constructed from thin air it is discerned through empathy and careful observationamp160 Authenticity is key and it can be found in feedback from a variety of employees and consumers

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PBS, NPR, Nat Geo, NYT Lead Underperforming Media Industry in Social Responsibility

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Jack Myers

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PBS, NPR, Nat Geo, NYT Lead Underperforming Media Industry in Social Responsibility

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