Advertising and CSR

How to generate maximum awareness of your CSR

By Dilaila Mohd Yunus

Ride on a personality

The fastest and easiest way to create awareness of your CSR is by using a household name as your spokesperson.  This could mean getting a prominent high-profile politician (or his equally well-known spouse) as your patron, or appoint a celebrity as your CSR ambassador.

Good examples are Angelina Jolie and UNHCR, or Marina Mahathir and Malaysian AIDS Foundation.

Prominent politicians and celebrities court media frenzy. The press covers everything they do. Any new ventures will automatically become news. The publicity value of riding on a personality is priceless.

Make your event a happening one

Find an angle. Find a theme. Make your event unique and newsworthy.

Are you the first CSR that focuses on Orang Utans? Or are you a much improved version of an existing CSR? Do you have a new agenda? Or a newer agenda?

Think about your most important issue and include them in your theme. Earth Hour for instance decided to focus on one hour at a time.

TV Commercials

It’s better to advertise just once during prime time and reach 25 million people, than have 50 insertions during a cheaper slot at 2am when you can’t guarantee even 200 people will see your commercial.

News segments are your best bet as they are watched by almost everyone, from the average support workers to captains of industries. Other good segments with high viewership are popular soaps, sitcoms, awards nights, reality shows and some sports programmes.

Print Ads

Choose the main sections of the newspapers, for example the local and world news section.

Choose the right-hand page of the newspaper when you book your media. An ad on the right-hand page is harder to ignore.

Forget the supplements unless they are relevant. It’s better to invest in trade magazines instead.

Billboards

Pinpoint the most congested road and stick your  billboard there. When people are bored, they would read your message.

Bus back is another good option for outdoor advertising.

Online

In the future, print ads would be obsolete as cyberworld takes over completely. It is worth investing in a proper website to communicate your CSR messages.

While the initial cost of constructing a website may be more expensive than designing a brochure, you save on the cost of printing so it is actually a better investment.

You can also advertise your url or other messages through banners in high traffic sites such as online newspapers, popular blogs and social networking sites like  facebook.

The author is an international award-winning KL-based creative consultant with more than a decade’s experience in some of Malaysia’s most prominent advertising agencies and now runs In Other Words.

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