CORPORATE CULTURE
A company’s cultural identity is a common good that goes beyond the organization itself. Promoting its cultural and social values is an extraordinary opportunity to address the theme of social and cultural responsibility at a time when this is a widely recognized value.
This heritage that companies possess is often the result of the development of products and entrepreneurial skills that have modernized the country, work, infrastructure, technological capabilities, and services. It has led to historic achievements. It has created iconic objects. It has distinguished, for example, Italian design, fashion, and style.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
As a promoter of cultural values and a key player through the implementation of projects aimed at enhancing the historical and cultural value of its heritage, a company can foster an ecosystem of people, content, values, and relationships, generating benefits for the entire community.
These projects can involve and engage different sectors: from university research to local institutions and organizations, to vocational training bodies, as well as service companies such as facility management providers, employing the personnel needed for digitization and historical reconstruction projects.
Sharing this heritage for cooperation and inclusion represents areas of intervention that distinguish these corporate Heritage enhancement projects. In this process, the key stakeholders are cultural and research institutions, young people and schools, education and scientific research, social operators, and employment.
PROCESS SUSTAINABILITY
Can the theme of sustainability—typically understood as the combination of social, environmental, and economic sustainability—be applied as a process to the digitization of historical archives?
Digitization is in itself a dematerialization process that brings benefits in terms of reducing the movement of people and goods and, in the case of a historical archive, represents an opportunity to enhance content and make better use of it in the company’s daily activities.
The physical archive is thus transformed into a digital asset for the company, becoming a powerful tool for research and development.
In addition, by choosing to undertake this type of initiative, companies can contribute to addressing the broader issue of enhancing cultural assets through digitization, proposing a sustainable process model.
FROM PURPOSE TO ACTION
Many companies, museums, and archives in Italy preserve cultural heritage and, even when they have the necessary financial resources, often lack the knowledge and expertise required to organize a digitization process. Through initiatives that could be defined as Brand Activism, it is possible to provide a powerful and sustainable pathway for the digitization of historical heritage—one that combines a high level of technology, the ability to enhance both the quantity and quality of published content for the benefit of the community, corporate staff training and upskilling, and social inclusion.
The Role of Marketing in Social Responsibility
According to Philip Kotler, one of today’s leading experts in strategic marketing, answers must be sought on multiple levels. Marketing can aim to analyze the market, sell products and services, create value for the customer, improve quality of life, and contribute to people’s well-being and happiness.
This last objective is difficult to define and achieve, and it concerns not only marketing but all business models of companies.
“Companies must have social responsibility. Today’s customers want to know their purpose.”
(Brand Activism: From Purpose to Action, book by Philip Kotler, October 9, 2018).