The Swedish communications group Ericsson has launched a worldwide advertising campaign to publicise a social responsibility initiative that commits it to improving the third world’s response to natural disasters.
Adverts in newspapers and magazines have publicly tied Ericsson, which operates in 140 countries, to leading what it calls a ‘global disaster response initiative’ under the banner of the ‘Ericsson Response programme’.
The group says the advertising campaign was launched partly ‘to stimulate dialogue about disasters and disaster response’, but also to announce its new commitment to the world.
Fredrik Jonsteg, of Ericsson’s social marketing team, said the programme had been set up ‘to ensure our business interests also serve current social issues’.
He claimed internal research showed there was ‘a fit’ between work on disaster response and Ericsson’s communications expertise. ‘We felt we could make a contribution in this area, based on our technology, our global reach, and our past response to world disasters,’ he said. ‘It was something that our employees around the world could relate to and become involved with.’
The decision to launch the initiative was taken after lengthy research and discussions with governments and stakeholders, plus an audit of existing social responsibility activities among its competitors and other large Swedish companies.
‘We identified that one of the most significant issues facing the world today is the increase and severity of disasters, and that although it is a problem that threatens everyone it is an area where there has been little corporate involvement,’ said Jonsteg.
Ericsson companies have in the past provided emergency communications equipment for disasters, including the recent floods in China, Venezuela and Vietnam.
‘We were already doing it, so it made sense to formalise our commitment to the issue on a global basis,’ said Jonsteg.
The Ericsson Response programme, which has been based on discussions with international humanitarian organizations, will centre around a number of activities ‘aimed at developing a better and faster response to human suffering caused by disasters’. These will include:
l local Ericsson offices working to set up local aid programmes in partnership with the United Nations and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
‘fast deployment’ of Ericsson communications systems when crises arise
a volunteer program for the company’s employees who want to become involved
gathering together international expertise on disaster responses to create a bank of best practice advice.
The group has already begun to develop plans to tackle disasters if they occur in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam – and to set up ‘local market working groups’ to look at other countries.
It says it wants to involve other companies around the world in its programme.