CHRIS ATCHISON - Special to Globe and Mail Update - Published Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010
According to a 2010 survey by Toronto-based advertising agency Bensimon Byrne, 66 per cent of Canadians said that corporate reputation has a significant impact on the brands they choose. A 2009 study by Toronto-based market research firm GlobeScan found that 57 per cent of Canadian consumers have refused to buy from companies they felt were socially irresponsible.
“I think (CSR) is becoming so common now and companies are talking more and more about their CSR practices, that if you’re not doing this you’re conspicuous by your absence,” says Lara Ryan, a Ferguson’s Cove, N.S.-based CSR consultant. “One of the biggest reasons companies do this is for awareness and to gain a competitive advantage.”
For John Stanton, founder of Edmonton-based running shoe retailer the Running Room, sponsoring hundreds of fundraising events across Canada each year – and in turn raising millions of dollars to benefit charities – has been a core part of his socially focused business philosophy since founding the company in 1984.
“If you look after the customer, they’ll look after you,” Mr. Stanton says. “Great companies are those that look at what they’re doing for themselves, their customers and their community – they create a triple win.”
doing good is ethical... in life & business
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