Consumers keep companies afloat; if a company does not have customers, it does not receive income. If things were ever to reach that point, then it would only be a matter of time until the company exits the market. The businesses who see the most success are the ones who care about their customers. Businesses that build brands that consumers not only support product-wise but also support on a community and social level, tend to be the companies who see the most success. Consumers are more interested in supporting brands that are making an effort to make a difference in the world and their lives as opposed to companies that just release products. That’s why companies like Starbucks have seen great success; corporate social responsibility is a cornerstone of their business model, and the unwavering support from their customers shows that social and community initiatives really do pay off.
A strong social strategy can connect a brand to the world, it’s employees, and the community; equally important is the fact that most brands have the resources to address social and environmental problems on a global scale rather than through grassroots efforts. For instance, Starbucks is a corporate leader when it comes to social responsibility. Since 2002, Starbucks has made efforts to create a global network of farm support centers, ethically source their coffee beans, reduce the environmental impact of their cups, and provide their employees with scholarships—who wouldn’t support a corporation striving to make the community and the environment a better place? As a business, you are bound to build a good rapport with consumers if your company takes initiatives and works toward solving problems that would make the world a better place.
So how do you run a successful social campaign?
To begin with, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to see what your customer-base and local communities stand for and believe in. If a business aligns themselves with the social and economic interests of their customers and communities before taking on a social responsibility campaign, then a business is bound to garner support and have people standing behind their initiatives. By giving members in the community a voice that echoes the problems of people and the environment and welcoming them onto a bigger stage, new and current customers will align themselves with the company because they support the issues that the company is working towards solving. It is important to listen to your customers and the community; not everyone’s interests are aligned—especially at big corporations—so it is good to get perspectives from different communities to see what those groups believe in and fight for. One company doing this is NOIZ; NOIZ is a blockchain-based ad-network that will be donating a portion of its profits to social impact projects each month. NOIZ is empowering users to select and vote for social impact projects they believe in so that these projects can be recipients of NOIZ’s monthly donation.
Blockchain technologies make a great tool to carry-out social impact campaigns because blockchain ledgers are decentralized, cryptographically secured, and nearly immutable. If a corporation chooses to run their impact campaign over a blockchain network, there can be full transparency in the flow of funds the company is allocating to social initiatives; this can be especially useful for organizations who focus on distributing aid in impoverished countries. For instance, in 2017, the United Nations used the Ethereum blockchain to give Syrian refugees cryptocurrency based vouchers that they could redeem at participating markets. Blockchain gives entities the ability to transact peer-to-peer, and in cases where aid is being distributed, a blockchain can cut out middlemen and third-party processors so aid can be delivered directly to individuals at a faster pace than usual.
Transparency leads to stronger companies
In the past year, blockchain technologies have seen just as much success as brands who incorporate social responsibility into their business models. Similar to corporate social responsibility campaigns, blockchain technologies empower users: consumers like to have a voice because having a voice gives them more confidence in their decision-making and more freedom of choice. A blockchain can decentralize authoritative powers and equally transfer that power into participants in the community. Rational people prefer to have more control rather than less when it comes to decision-making; if businesses launch meaningful impact campaigns, then they can give consumers a reason to stand behind their brand.
By empowering the community and working toward solving problems that the community and the planet experience, businesses are likely to accomplish more, increase profits, and strengthen the rapport with their customer-base while gaining new customers in the process—and what business would not want to do that?
Oliver* 
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