Mallen Baker's Blog

Game, set and match for predictable campaigning

2 Jul 2009

Every time there is a major sporting or cultural event, one thing is pretty much guaranteed. Some campaign group or another will produce a report, or at the very least a press release, hoping to make big news stories on the back of the media coverage of the event.

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When does the reformed character win your support?

1 Jul 2009

British Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, who is now old and infirm, has been denied parole by the government. It seems that many decades have not been enough to forgive Biggs. He will stay in prison for the rest of his life.

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The iPhone app that warns you if you're buying dodgy goods

28 Jun 2009

Most products are now required to provide lists of the ingredients that are included. Often, the names are long and scientific, and the average consumer has no idea what they are, and what they might potentially do. (1 comment)

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When the experts don't help

23 Jun 2009

Two companies provoked some criticism in my hearing recently - for similar reasons - and it made me realise what we're up against at times. (1 comment)

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What's a fair price?

22 Jun 2009

Recently, it was reported that Toyota had been bumped from its top slot as the suppliers' favourite customer. It came out that Toyota and Honda were putting almost as much pressure on suppliers to lower prices as the Detroit dysfunctional mob.

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How do ideas of social responsibility spread across the world?

21 Jun 2009

If you are working to get your company to be the first in its country to commit to corporate social responsibility, and to produce its first CSR report, what is going to most help you? (1 comment)

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Be careful before you wear the clothes of a niche brand

20 Jun 2009

We know the different between mainstream companies and ethical niche companies, don't we? Mainstream companies service mainstream consumers. They sell on quality, price, cool, sex or rock n' roll. They try not to be unethical, because unethical is not cool.

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Who's reading your online CSR report?

19 Jun 2009

I've spoken to quite a few people in the last few weeks that are responsible for producing a CSR report for their company. Most of them now have a section of their website that lays the report out for the interest of their audience. (4 comments)

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Fly me to the moon

11 Jun 2009

British Airways boss Willie Walsh has said that meeting the costs of climate change will put fares up for passengers.

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Remind me why you produce a CSR report again?

10 Jun 2009

The purpose of any communication is the impact you expect to achieve by making the communication, right? (1 comment)

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Don't do it the way I did it

9 Jun 2009

Jack Welch, former head of GE, recently said that the single-minded pursuit of shareholder value had been shown by recent events to be crazy. He, of course, had carried the standard for this approach when he was in post par excellence.

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We need leaders that have failed

8 Jun 2009

The former CEO of UK bank HBOS, Andy Hornby, is apparently in line for another big CEO role with Alliance Boots. Various people are outraged. Alliance Boots doesn't much care that these people are outraged, and surprisingly I think that might be a good thing. (1 comment)

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Does Burger King think 'global warming is baloney'?

7 Jun 2009

According to signs outside some of the Burger King restaurants in Memphis - yes they do. The signs say exactly that - 'global warming is baloney'. (5 comments)

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Zero is a big number

4 Jun 2009

I remember the first time I was told about a company adopting the policy goal of zero. I was impressed, and slightly overawed.

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Would you mind awfully not doing the bad thing?

3 Jun 2009

I managed to miss the WHO's 'no tobacco' day this year. No great loss. The theme was tobacco health warnings. Should there be pictures? How explicit and grisly should the warnings be? One problem. It's a waste of time.

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CSR according to Bing

2 Jun 2009

You may be aware that Microsoft are taking on Google with their own newly revamped search engine, called 'Bing'. (1 comment)

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Could the next green iconic motorcar be a BMW?

1 Jun 2009

Premium car maker BMW has said that its cars will in future be defined by sustainability, not just by power or luxury. This is a good thing, although I'm sure there'll be a fair few environmental groups huffing and puffing.

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From disability pioneer to slave runner in forty years

29 May 2009

At its inception, Henry's Turkey Service was a model of social responsibility. It set up in Texas in 1967, and did what no-one else at the time was prepared to do, it hired people with learning disabilities to make up the bulk of its workforce. (1 comment)

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A celebration of perfection

28 May 2009

Take a moment to count the number of people in your life who are completely and absolutely perfect in every way.

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Believe in the impossible

27 May 2009

It used to be that people believed that it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in four minutes. It was something that people had been trying to achieve for centuries, without success. Everyone concluded it just couldn't be done. (1 comment)

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