In many parts of Asia, corporate social responsibility still looks the same.
A donation is made. A cheque is presented. A photo is taken. Everyone moves on.
The intention is usually sincere. But the impact rarely lasts.
For many founders and CEOs, CSR sits outside the business, something done after profits are made, rather than something that shapes how value is created in the first place. As a result, CSR becomes an annual activity instead of a long-term advantage.
Cause marketing takes a different approach.
Instead of asking, “What should we give?”, companies begin asking, “What problem are we already positioned to solve?”
When the answer aligns with the business itself, impact becomes sustainable. Marketing becomes education. And social good stops being a cost centre.
One of the clearest early examples of this came from an everyday product: soap.
Case Study: Lifebuoy — Selling Soap by Changing Behaviour
The Business Context
Lifebuoy, a hygiene brand under Unilever, operated in markets where infectious diseases remained a major public health concern, particularly among children. Handwashing with soap was proven to reduce disease transmission, yet adoption rates were low in many communities.
For Lifebuoy, this presented both a social problem and a business challenge. Selling more soap required changing daily behaviour, not just increasing advertising.
The Strategic Shift
Instead of running short-term charity campaigns, Lifebuoy shifted its focus toward hygiene education at scale.
The company invested in long-term handwashing programmes in schools and communities, working with local partners to teach simple habits that could reduce illness. The message was not about brand promotion first. It was about behaviour change.
If more families adopted regular handwashing, public health outcomes improved. And naturally, demand for soap increased.
The cause and the business objective became the same thing.
What They Did Differently
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Built hygiene education into long-term outreach programmes rather than seasonal campaigns
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Partnered with schools and communities to encourage habit formation
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Measured success through behavioural adoption, not just campaign reach
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Positioned the brand as part of a health solution rather than a consumer product
The initiative ran across multiple countries over several years, reinforcing credibility through consistency.
Why It Worked
The programme worked because it did not sit outside the business.
Lifebuoy did not invent a new cause unrelated to its product. Instead, it leaned deeper into its core purpose – hygiene and health. The social outcome and the commercial outcome moved in the same direction.
This alignment meant the programme could continue long-term without depending on goodwill budgets or annual approvals.
Impact became operational.
What This Means for Founders & SMEs
Many companies assume CSR requires large budgets or foundations. In reality, CSR becomes expensive when it is disconnected from how the business operates.
A more sustainable question for founders is:
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What problem does our product or service naturally help solve?
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How can solving that problem better create both business value and social value?
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are often viewed as reporting frameworks. But for businesses, they can be more useful as design guides, helping identify where commercial activity and social impact can reinforce each other.
When impact strengthens the business, it lasts longer than any campaign.
Closing Reflection
If your CSR activities stopped tomorrow, would your business still create positive impact through the way it operates?