One of the core conclusions of our research is that companies need to integrate sustainability into their management structures and align it with core business practice in order to derive maximum value.

We turned to Dave Stangis of the Campbell Soup Company for his perspective on this conclusion. Dave was recruited to Campbell to build an executable business strategy around sustainability and CSR, areas of performance that have been elevated to be one of the company’s seven core business strategies. We asked Dave to comment on his day-to-day experience in driving this agenda.

CSR and Sustainability as Business Strategy

I realize I may be stating the obvious – but considering CSR and sustainability as business strategies, and driving them as such, is really what I enjoy about my role.

In just the past few weeks, I have participated in several external events, each positioned with a different focus. At the beginning of the month, I was on a lunch panel for the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future (WNSF). 

In addition to Campbell Soup, the panel also included Ogilvy and Herman Miller and focused on the challenges and opportunities of getting environmental marketing right. I’m not a big fan of environmental marketing. I do, however, advocate for telling the truth. If a certain product uses less packaging, or perhaps less energy or water to manufacture than a previous or competing product, I think that information is fair game to be shared with interested consumers. One key point I tried to make on the panel was that communication, regardless of whether it is advertising, social media, or content such as a CSR report, should all be part of a communications strategy anchored in audience needs.

A week later, I participated in USA Today’s Cause Branding Summit. This was my first time at such an event and I found it very interesting. The corporations were far outnumbered by the nonprofit organizations in the audience.  Listening to all the examples of partnerships between large corporations and well-known nonprofits, I was struck by how few of the examples I had actually heard about. This is one area where there is no lack of good work to be done. Efforts are only limited by dollars, desire, or bandwidth. A key takeaway message from this day for both the companies and the nonprofits was that, goodness aside, differentiation and credibility were the result of focus and strategic alignment … of both partners.

Last week, and arguably most importantly, I participated in Campbell Soup Company’s Investor Day at our Maxton, NC plant. Because our commitment to CSR and Sustainability is called out explicitly as one of only 7 core business strategies, it is a subject that is not only routinely addressed by the company’s leadership, it also drives behavior and long-term thinking inside the company. In addition to the business update provided to the analysts, we also took them on a tour of our plant and operations.  Two of the stations on the tour included Sustainability and Safety. Each station included plant and company leaders explaining our strategies and results.

Asking and being able to answer the tough questions about how what we do makes our company more competitive today and better positioned for the future. That is what being a CSR professional in a corporation is all about.