ACEF_2015 : Corporate Social Responsibility

All of us at home were studying CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility for 1 year as it was the major subject for my niece Aditi. 

Naturally I r.s.v.p.ed eagerly and instantly when I saw the ACEF_2015 event schedule at BlogAdda forum. Thanks to BlogAdda I got this golden opportunity to listen to top-notch corporate honchos as well as to meet my Facebook friend ( Shaivi Sharma ) Face 2 Face for the first time. Lots of Firsts and a feast happened at ACEF_2015 (ITC Grand Central Hotel, Mumbai) on September 12, 2015.

Today, it is important to make ‘meaningful’ profits in all sectors. We cannot be entirely driven by our capitalist instincts. Firms as well as individuals need to take some responsibility and make the lives of those around them simpler. Because they are consumers, the people for whom firms design products and services. Profits are of course important, but these profits should not come at long term damage or losses. With the help of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) we take a leap from profits to ‘meaningful’ profits. We explored all these aspects at the ACEF event on September 12, 2015.

Post the welcome address , the event kicked off with the topic : Where Marketers Need to Grow by Sanjeev Kotnala ( Founder and Head Catalyst- The Unconsult Way). The audience was all ears and fingers ( live tweeting ) for Mr. Kotnala's session : CSR is 'building a reservoir of goodwill. Marketers are evolved people - They live and love in present. Today and QSQT ( Quarter Se Quater Taq ) is their span of attention. CSR is different from Charity, Donation , Sponsorship and Philanthropy. CSR is not one time injection.

Next topic after a brief tea-break was , Creating Strong CSR Brands versus using CSR to create Strong Brands by Mr. Saurabh Uboweja ( Founder, CEO and Director, Brand Strategy - Brands of Desire ). He emphasized on : A brand is a value perception in the minds of people. Its an attribution. The world's oldest brand is God and the second oldest is Religion. Good Karma is not just a Hindu religion principle. In CSR, you have to create equity, not revenue. Create-Store-Use : CSR. There must be sincerity in CSR campaign. Look Good, Do Good, Feel Good. 

Ms. Sangeeta Robinson ( Founder and CEO , Enduring Value Advisory and Practice LLP ) hold forth on the topic : CSR; Its Correlation and Impact on the board. Five factors that define a Brand : 1. The Brand Promise 2. The Brand Perception 3. The Brand Expectations 4. The Brand Persona 5. The Brand Elements.

Mr. Vikas Singh ( AVP- Brand Marketing, Dainik Bhaskar group) shared his thoughts through a topic : Building a strong brand in cluttered and commoditized print media spaces.

" Customer Engagement Through Social Media in Emerging Markets ", this keynote was delivered by Mr. Amitha Amarasinghe ( Head of Neo@Ogilvy Sri Lanka  and Allan Rodrigues ( Vice president - Hansa PR ). This session was followed by Panel Discussion - Integrating Brand Marketing with CSR and PR. Ms. Jessie Paul ( CEO - Paul Writer ) moderated it fantastically with engaging participation from Betsy Vincent ( VP- General Carbon ) , Nilesh Jagad ( Sr. VP- Indian Centre for CSR) , Hasrath Manasinghe ( DGM Marketing - Commercial bank of Ceylon PLC - Srilanka ) , Vaishali Sharma ( Sr. VP Marketing and Communication - SONY MAX and MAX2) , Umesh N. Jhawar ( VP Strategy- Arihant Superstructures ltd. ) , Sangeeta Thakral ( Head of marketing and Communication - Charities Aid Foundation-India )

And the last as well as the most important and awaited for the event of Awards for Excellence happened. The Head of our BlogAdda Family Mr. Nirav Sanghavi won the prestigious Best Partner-Marketing award at #ACEF_2015

Corporate Social Responsibility is highly spoken about by those who work in corporate sector. We’re all passionate about doing good and making the world a better place. So when a corporate system takes social responsibility in consideration, it creates positive resonance across the community. But how much is really known about Corporate Social Responsibility? How much of our CSR initiatives are taken into account for when it comes to speaking about the bigger picture? A lot was discovered at ACEF_2015 and one of the most important discovery is how we use the social media as a platform to connect with customers. How do we make CSR a beneficial contingency for companies ? We the participants of ACEF_2015 got answers for all of these and more at the ACEF event.

This post is about Integrating Brand Marketing with CSR and PR event conducted by #ACEF_2015 in association with BlogAdda.com 

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