17 July 2008
Timberland uses social networking to connect consumers
The goal: gathering 1 million consumers to protect the environment.
Outdoor clothing manufacturer, Timberland, is driving corporate sustainability through the use of new media websites such as YouTube and Facebook. Robin Giampa, director of corporate communications, recently spoke about Timberland’s new sustainability campaign on the CSR Wire site.
Goal: 1 million consumers
Timberland’s goal is to gather 1 million consumers who share Timberland’s passion for protecting our environment. This campaign – Earthkeepers – aims to inspire people to take action that will shrink their environmental footprints.
This campaign – Earthkeepers – aims to inspire people to take action that will shrink their environmental footprints.
Giampa says Earthkeepers links Timberland’s sustainability work “with everyday people concerned about the environment.” She believes this connectivity will build individual actions into “a global movement that can make a real difference in helping solve the climate crisis.”
In Patagonia’s footprints
Patagonia is another company connecting with consumers. Its Footprint Chronicles website describes Patagonia’s supply chain and invites consumers’ improvement suggestions.
To encourage people’s efforts, the company is awarding US$5,000 to the best Earthkeeper video “about lightening their environmental load.”
Applicants should post their video on YouTube’s Earthkeeper page by 26 July, and promote it on the Changents site – a social networking site linking change agents with backers.
“In the past, we were only able to share our sustainability initiatives with a narrow group of other companies and sustainability experts,” Giampa says. With the advent of web 2.0, Timberland is connecting directly with consumers through social networking sites, video sharing sites and blogs.
“Green” is go for internal communication
Peter Eschbach, senior vice president, corporate practice at PR firm Porter Novelli poses a question for internal communicators in the Hub’s case study. “If ‘green is the new black’ in company external communications, is it important enough to warrant being a key part of a company’s internal program?”
He believes it is. “A company may be able to reach certain environmental goals without the active involvement of its employees. But it stands to reason there’s a much better chance of realizing those goals if its workforce is aware of them; buys into them and is actively supporting them.”
In his top tips article on the Hub Eschbach says communicators must avoid “greenwashing” – “Disinformation produced and distributed by an organization to present a more environmentally responsible image than actually exists.” He also speaks about how and why internal communicators can help motivate employees to embrace and participate in greener working practices.
Rallying around social responsibility
Timberland has also launched a dedicated page on JustMeans, “A social media platform that rallies people and companies around social responsibility.”
We at Timberland are passionate about sustainability. It’s not optional for us; it’s encoded in our DNA.
Timberland follows its quarterly updates with a public conference call encouraging feedback. “Giving diverse stakeholders the opportunity to engage with us directly is a novel move in corporate sustainability, and we’re excited about its prospects,” Giampa says.
“We at Timberland are passionate about sustainability. It’s not optional for us; it’s encoded in our DNA.”
Have your say
How involved have you become with external efforts at communicating with consumers – do these efforts link with internal communication objectives?
Should organizations closely match internal and external sustainability messages? Or is it still the case that internal and external communication professionals belong to separate worlds?
Discuss these issues with other comms practitioners by joining the Internal Comms Hub members' group on the Communicators' Network.
Recommended resources:
Timberland’s engagement of stakeholders in CSR
Melcrum's Communicators' Network scoops SIPA award
Employers sweet-talked into social networking in 2008
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