Businesses should look at the overlap between what their companies or brands are good at and what consumers or customers are looking for.

At a basic level, a company should draw a Venn diagram that in one circle asks, “What is a genuine and credible role for the brand or business?” and in the other circle asks, “What are the real issues that consumers care about?” The area a company should look to play in is at the intersection of these circles.

A strong word of caution: A lot of greenwashing and nicewashing has occurred because companies have just looked at the “What do consumers care about?” circle and concluded, “Consumers want business to be greener or more responsible, so we’ll say that we are.” Others have made the mistake of focusing on something that, although important to the company and a genuine and credible role for it, was of little or no interest to consumers. Finding a genuine credible role for a brand that will have a positive contribution to both the world and its own profitability is the way forward.

The next step is to find the overarching idea that can be used as a strategic compass, not only to communicate these actions externally but also to galvanize the organization itself. This idea must:

- Lie at the intersection of the two biggest trends impacting business today: social responsibility and social media

- Allow social responsibility to sit at the heart of business strategy, not in a silo

- Be a rallying cry for the entire company

- Embrace all stakeholders inside and outside the organization

- Be based in transparency and authenticity

- Position the company to deliver long-term, sustainable profit growth and/or savings

Social Business Ideas™ are ideas that are inherently social, because they are good for society as a whole, not just for the company. And they are business ideas because they are designed to drive profitable growth or make major savings. Above all, the idea must align the goals of doing well and doing good. We call such an idea the Social Business Idea™.

Step One: Stakeholders

Look at all of the business stakeholders, including employees, shareholders, consumers, and the media. What do they think of the company and its brands?

What is it they are looking for from the business? What are their issues and concerns? Stakeholders are a broad group, often with conflicting interests. The Social Business Idea™ resolves these conflicts by identifying a unifying thought that appeals to all of them.

Overall, this circle helps answer the question: “What is the issue that stakeholders care about?” Or, in essence, “What do people (in the broadest sense) want?”

Step Two: The Company

Conduct a thorough analysis of the company itself, looking at the brand or brands and the company behind the brand. This includes looking at the brand, or brands, and the company behind the brand. What is the company’s history and purpose? What are its key awareness and image measures and relative positions versus its competitors? What are its core beliefs? Where does it want to be?

Overall, this circle answers the question: ”What is a genuine and credible role for the company or brand?”

Step Three: The Environment

What is the overall environment in which the business is operating, from political to legal, to competitive, to financial?

This circle sets out to answer the question: “Given the overall environment in which the company operates, what is the tangible opportunity?”

The Intersection

The next step is to craft a concise summary statement for each of the three circles. Based on these clear statements of what stakeholders want, what the business can genuinely deliver, and what the tangible opportunity is, you should work as a group to generate a number of potential strategic ideas, each of which should play to the insights agreed up in the overlap areas. Then test them—both internally and with external audiences—until the single most powerful idea is articulated and agreed upon. This is the Social Business Idea™.

Interested in learning more about Havas and Euro RSCG Worldwide’s thinking on social good and social business? Here are a number of books and websites you may find of interest:

Book: Who Cares Wins: Why Good Business Is Better Business

Book: Good for Business: The Rise of the Conscious Corporation

Book: The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business

Website: One Young World

Website: Euro RSCG Social

Website: Brand Sustainable Futures