Others are talking the talk but not walking the walk. Several large retailers, for example, embrace the image of kindness by asking customers at check-out to donate to charitable causes. That's, arguably, a far cry from a sustained and deep-seated effort from within. Even then, this national epidemic of corporate kindness is grounded in one rationale: It works.
Some 47% of consumers say they buy, every month, at least one brand that supports a good cause, according to a 2012 global survey by public relations firm Edelman. That's a 47% increase from 2010. What's more, some 72% of consumers say they would recommend a brand that supports a good cause -- a 38% increase in two years.
Just as compelling, consumers say they're more likely to discuss the good deeds a company does than they are to discuss a company's financial performance, according to a 2012 Weber Shandwick survey.
Doing good is becoming less an option and more a requirement. But it's tricky. It's not just about writing checks anymore, and most Millennials have a seemingly innate ability to smell out manufactured kindness. Corporate kindness must be grounded in an holistic sense of good that can't feel, smell or taste like it's been painted on by the corporate spin-meisters. It has to come from within.
"You can't hire someone to give you values," says Ron Shaich, founder of Panera Bread, which in the past 18 months has opened a handful of Panera Cares restaurants in urban areas that ask customers to pay only what they can afford -- even if it's just volunteering for an hour. "Kindness can't be a corporate tactic that's buried in the marketing department."
At the five Panera Cares restaurants, some customers don't pay at all – but that's OK, because others willingly some pay extra. The profits are primarily used to job-train at-risk kids.
Panera Cares is now making that difference in five cities, with plans to expand to more.
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