This special Master Class edition of Meaningful Impact features CSR pro Tiffany Payne, who shares candidly how to make the business case for CSR, using Comcast’s Project UP as the real-world example. Tiffany reveals how to position social impact initiatives as ‘mission-aligned investments with a long-term strategic return’, which can yield: expansion into previously under-served markets, first-mover advantage, and products with broader appeal that lead to mainstream competitive advantage. Tiffany also offers insights on how to highlight: the skills and leadership training yielded by corporate-sponsored volunteerism, the recruiting and retention benefits of a purpose-driven corporate culture, and the dividend of strategic philanthropy. Tiffany also addresses the difference between community relations vs. community investment. She explains how community investment fosters goodwill among policymakers and how the CSR halo effect yields benefit-of-the-doubt if a PR crisis were to occur.

On this episode, you’ll learn Social Impact Storytelling do’s and don’ts from Professor Jacqueline Babb (Northwestern University) and Fortune 500 consultant J T. Ramsay. The master class begins by demonstrating how to create a narrative that inspires consumers to be a co-hero of the story — by supporting a brand’s corporate citizenship efforts. Then Babb and Ramsay provide practical advice on how to leverage social impact storytelling to highlight product benefits and to potentially attract new customers, increase share-of-wallet among existing customers, bolster reputation among stakeholders, and enhance employee recruiting.

This pilot episode tells the epic, behind-the-scenes story of Coca-Cola’s ‘Hilltop’ ad, one of the earliest cause marketing commercials. Better known as “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing,” follow the Coke ad’s development, from a scribble on a cafe napkin, to an unrelatable radio jingle and a catastrophic film shoot, before becoming a global sensation.