http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2013-11-18/the-age-of-corporate-aid-and-social-investments

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19876138

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) as we learnt in class has become a requirement for companies – while many do the bare minimum as required by laws, their compliance fails to show an actual recognition for the need to give back to the community. The video above highlights that many companies view donating to charities as a “corporate branding opportunity” where they “give out favors” to charities that will be helpful to them in boosting the company’s image. Especially in the developing regions of Asia that are struck by natural disasters, most recently the Typhoon Haiyan Relief in The Philippines, they are mentioned in the video as incidents that are being “used to build corporate brand identity”.

As we learnt in class, there is a recognizable need for CSR and the creation of mutually beneficial situations where both the company and community have something to gain however, there remains the need for watchful eyes over the ulterior motives of companies that treat CSR as an industry where they try to gain favor for themselves in terms of public relations instead of a genuinely wanting to “develop longer term, more sustainable relationships with charities”.

With the boom of the Internet and social media, there is need to recognize the evolution of the new age consumer.  While buyer power for the everyday consumer has certainly seen its increase, firms now face a new challenge of keeping up with the times in their marketing strategies. Competitors are all looking for the point of difference that will allow them to rise above and be distinguished in the ever evolving market. Change should perhaps be the only constant for marketers today, where “change has become the norm”; competitors lose out should they miss out on utilising any of the various popular social media platforms today – Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube. Stephen Quinn, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Walmart, acknowledges the need for markets to forcibly become “customer-centric” despite this being a “painful transition” whilst Joseph V. Tripodi, executive vice president and chief marketing and commercial officer of Coco-Cola, “discussed how risk-taking must become second nature” and the need to be “bold” and “disruptive”. Considering the words of the power brands in the marketing world, one should definitely take note of how emerging brands would revolutionize the social media chase of the 21^st century.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/business/media/marketers-chase-the-rapidly-evolving-consumer.html?_r=0