According to the 2011 Cone/Echo Global CR Opportunity Study, consumers worldwide are demanding a higher level of corporate social responsibility, especially from those with which they engage with or purchase from.

Over 10,000 consumers in 10 major countries were surveyed, with 94% saying companies must analyze and evolve their business practices to make their impact as positive as possible.  

93% also agreed that companies must go beyond their legal compliance to operate responsibly. One suspects that the grounding of the Qantas fleet, which inconvenienced over 100,000 passengers (plus their families, friends and colleagues) was not seen as a either a positive or responsible action by consumers globally.

With 93% also saying they would boycott a company for irresponsibility (and over half said they already have done so), the long-lasting detrimental impact on brand loyalty and bottom line profitability from not being in sync with consumer demands for heightened corporate responsibility are great.

Additionally, 81% of the surveyed consumers feel brands and organizations have a responsibility to address key social and environmental issues beyond their local communities. With global trust in governments at an all time low, consumers are now insisting that the role of business in society must become more than simply making higher amounts of profit. 

In fact, it is obvious from a careful reading of this study that consumers globally believe companies have an explicit responsibility to help change the world. Consumers believe it is important for companies to address a full range of social and environmental issues. In fact, only 19% felt that companies should have a limited (13%) or no role (6%) in the communities they serve.

As companies finalize their 2012 marketing plans, they would do well to read and understand the full implications of this important study, which was conducted across 10 countries representing approximately half the world's population.

The creation of Earth Day in 1970 is considered by many as the birth of the environmental movement. Some 20 million Americans joined rallies in the streets, parks and auditoriums across the USA that day to demonstrate their support and desire for sustainable environmental policies and actions by governments and corporations.

Earth Day 2011 is being organized with a theme of: A Billion Acts of Green®. The goal is to generate one billion pledges from individuals, corporations and organizations to live and act sustainably. The deadline for registering these billion pledges on the A Billion Acts of Green website is the Earth Summit in Rio in 2012. 

Elements of the 2011 Earth Day campaign include:

Athletes for the Earth: using Olympic and professional athletes to give voice to the environmental movement.

Trees for the Earth: increasing efforts to speed up global reforestation.

Women and the Green Economy (WAGE): engaging women leaders in the further development of a global green economy. 

Creating Climate Wealth: bringing together 200 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs to generate ideas for solving climate change and creating a robust green economy.

How can you personally get involved? You can donate to the cause, help spread the word through your social and professional networks, and register your own company or local community events at the Earth Day 2011 website. 

The annual Earth Hour event is just two weeks away. Have you planned on how you will turn off your lights and all electrical appliances on Saturday March 26th at 8:30pm (your local time)?

Now organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on a global basis, Earth Hour started in Sydney in 2007 when more than two million people and over 2000 businesses simultaneously turned off their lights for an hour.

Within a year Earth Hour became a global movement for sustainability, with over 50 million people in 35 countries participating in 2008. Major landmarks such as San Francisco's famed Golden Gate Bridge, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the CN Tower in Toronto and even the Colosseum in Rome cut their lights for an hour.

This global movement continues to grow in both size and scope. Last year hundreds of millions of people across 128 countries and territories joined in. Lights were turned off in millions of homes around the world, as well as in iconic buildings and landmarks as communities and corporations joined in.

In addition to turning off your lights, you are encouraged to also cut electricity to all of your electrical appliances and devices. This includes turning off your computers, switching off modems, and unplugging all clocks and other devices (DVDs, VCRs, microwaves) powered by electricity that are often left in stand-by mode.

Gather your friends and families to discuss, in the dark, other things you can do to make a difference to reduce the ecological impact of modern society on this planet, as well as your own individual and collective environmental footprints.

After all, it's only for an hour on a Saturday night. But the outcomes can benefit the next generation or two.

Tomorrow (March 8th) marks the 100th International Women's Day.

Founded at a conference of activist women in Copenhagen in 1910 and first held in March 1911, International Women's Day is a global day aimed at celebrating the social, political and economic achievements of women.

What can you do in conjunction with International Women's Day?

Here are a few ideas:

SCHOOLS — celebrate the life story of any woman who could be an inspiration to both your male and female students. Or simply ask each class to list the 10 most inspiring or famous they know. Have a discussion on why these women are famous or inspirational.

PARENTS — this is a good day to remind your male children that boys never hit girls and that men are never to hit women.

BUSINESSES — give surprises to some of your female customers today and tell them "thank you" for being mothers, daughters, sisters and women.

EVERYBODY — make a small contribution to a charity of your choice that will help to alleviate poverty and illiteracy amongst women. (Statistics show that 70% of the world's poor are women and that 65% of the estimated 780 people around the globe who cannot read are women.) If everybody donated the price of their favorite cup of coffee, or one fast-food menu item, a large influx of funds would be received by organizations working to end these situations.

What else can you think of? Please leave your ideas in the comments box below.

MasterCard and the Singapore National Committee for UN Women have team to create an initiative to inspire 18 to 35 year olds to share their visions for creating a better world for disadvantaged women and children in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and African regions.

The initiative, called Project Inspire, asks individuals and teams to submit 5-minute videos or 2-page outlines of their life-changing ideas to www.5minutestochangetheworld.org. The entries must also include practical ideas on how the submitters would utilize a US$25,000 grant to implement their ideas.

With statistics showing that 70% of the world's poor are women, and 65% of the estimated 780 million people who cannot read are women, Project Inspire aims to develop ideas and momentum to support the empowerment of women across the globe.

Two winners will be chosen. One will receive a US$25,000 grant for the best economic empowerment, skills development, financial inclusion, health, or social entrepreneurship idea. A second will receive US$10,000 as a grant to implement the best financial literacy or livelihood project.

Submissions for Project Inspire open on March 8th, in conjunction with the 100th International Women's Day, and close on June 30th.

In 2010 we watched the public meltdown of three major, formerly stellar brands — Tiger Woods, Toyota and BP.

Meanwhile, numerous research studies show that trust levels for businesses, corporations, government, politicians, business leaders, and just about every other formal institution are at or near all-time lows.

For the past tens years it seems that fear, greed, self-interest, and egos have been the established drivers of successful businesses and their leaders.

The backlash to this is that consumers are beginning to demand ethics, morality, fairness, mutual respect, and social contribution in their dealings with business and government entities. This reaction will become the underpinning of an Era of Responsibility, with success in this new era requiring authenticity.

This conclusion is supported by the findings of the third annual Edelman goodpurpose Consumer Study of 6000 people in 10 countries, which showed that an increasing number of people are spending on brands that have a social purpose, despite the prolonged global recession.

In this study, 57% of respondents globally said a company or brand has earned their business because it has been doing its part to support good causes. Most interestingly, the countries reporting the highest level of such consumer support were China (85%) and India (84%).

Two-thirds (67%) globally also reported they would switch brands if another brand of similar quality supported a good cause. For these consumers, a corporation's or brand's identification with supporting social causes would be a key differentiator between brands with similar features and attributes.

In a sign of hope for the world our children will inherit, the vast majority (87%) of respondents to this survey globally agreed it was their duty to contribute to a better society and environment, with 82% feeling they can personally make a difference. Most important to marketers, 83% of consumers are willing to change their own consumption habits to help make tomorrow's world a better place.

The bottom line for the new Era of Responsibility: every organization has a responsibility to ensure that our children inherit a better world.

Please add your thoughts in the comments box below.

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  brand image business ethics Cone/Echo Global CR Opportunity Study corporate social responsibility CSR Earth Day Earth Hour Edelman Era of Responsibility goodpurpose study Individual Responsibility International Women's Day marketing MasterCard Project Inspire Responsibility social and environmental issues Sustainability