Just as Corporates have social responsibility so do individuals. My Personal Social Responsibility is around the following causes:
End Brandism – It’s not racism, its brandism.
The more I travel, the more I see that people are very similar. But media and politics teach us to not like other people. Indians are meant to not like Pakistanis. Arabs and Israelis have their own issues. Islam is often branded negatively in the United States. For me countries, religions, skin color, weight and height are all a part of branding. Brandism causes wars as well as freedom for people.
As a marketer, I see the world as brands. For a more peaceful world, we can educate the world about what a brand is and how we are constantly sold by the media in our countries not to like a different brand than our own.
Education
I didn’t really “get” the purpose of education until I was in my late 20s. Don’t get me wrong – I had a decent education. But until I learned that self education was what counted – the fact that an education will give you a better quality of life. Not everyone has access to the best educational resources. I am driven to help in the world of education. This is through my own blog which you are now reading, from Webpreneur Academy which builds curriculum to teach internet and entrepreneurship as well as through consulting for various Government and non-profit organisations.
Rebrand Pakistan
Originating from Pakistan, I see it as currently having a relatively poor global brand. This impacts the ability of Pakistanis to earn an income. Pakistan has similar branding issues as Palestine/Afghanistan/Iran and a host of other countries. As I happen to originate from there I am passionate about helping to “rebrand” Pakistan to show a more positive side to Pakistani’s and Non-Pakistani’s. A brand is a self-fulfilling prophecy – if we are exposed to “doom and gloom” than that is what we will get. Pakistan needs to highlight positive role models as well as stories to help rebrand itself.
Although I am a "citizen of the world", born in the UK, lived most of my life in Europe and now settled in Dubai, Pakistan is a brand that I have a special "spot" for and whereever I can I try and do some positive "brand product placement" in my books, ideas and videos.
What is the poor image of a brand costing you? In the global economy, you will also need to help your country's brand!