A reason to believe – what is your company’s unique point of difference?

Well, for many years now, the main focus of being seen to be doing good has been focussed around sustainability. This has been a good thing and without doubt, has had a positive impact on the world and the people who live in it.

Years ago, this was flagged as ‘corporate social responsibility’. But if you think about it, the opposite suggests irresponsibility – so ‘CSR’ should be a given for all organisations. Having said that, some companies have gone a lot further to create genuine positive impact, such as Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan and Marks & Spencer’s Plan A. Many other companies, including IKEA, Amazon and many more go further to achieve high targets.

Future generations of employees and committed influencing organisations, such as Client Earth, Imagine and many others will also insist that the focus on improving the planet will remain and be a standard approach.

So how can you add value to your brand and achieve stand-out by not only being sustainable, but also do something else to create both external and internal positivity to make your brand the one clients are most likely to engage with and enter into commercial arrangements with.

There is no reason to feel shy about linking good work you do to business growth and success. There is no need to say we do good things but don’t like to talk about it. Business is business.

Depending on the size of your organisation this may be a local community project, a relationship with a charity or a more global remit. Anything that is good, is good.

Initiatives like this can be a very effective way of engaging and unifying employees either in a single site company or a global, multi-site organisation. Communications such as activation toolkits, intranet communications, town hall meetings and workspace branding can engage and deliver consistent and positive messaging to your internal audience and enhance positivity around the reasons they come to work.

Brand differentiation is a constant challenge and is not always linked to a product or service offered. Sometimes a consumer decision will be an emotional one rather than a subjective one. So anything additional you can do to win that business should be considered.

Creating a brand point of difference while doing good is a win for all.