Jason Rzepka: Use Your Superpowers for Social Good

A Few Questions with Jason Rzepka from MTV
By: Scott Lyon

Jason Rzepka is Vice President of Public Affairs at MTV, the #1 global youth brand. As the man responsible for the strategic direction of all of MTV’s “pro-social” campaigns, he’s a driving force in the role media can and will play in corporate social responsibility and social good models–influencing a new generation of do-gooders and business leaders.

TEDxPresidio: Hey Jason, thanks for taking the time to share with us what’s coming up in your presentation at TEDxPresidio.  But first off, what were you working on today that motivated you?

Jason Rzepka: Wow, the better question might be what I wasn’t motivated by – the answer would be shorter!  Using MTV’s superpowers for good is a hugely inspiring job and I feel privileged to do it.  A few tasks that motivated me today were: catching up on our crowd-sourced competition to help more low-income college students navigate the financial aid maze; making some key decisions about the next phase of our big national STD and HIV testing campaign; and working with a contact at the Department of Education on some last minute preparations for a bullying prevention summit, taking place at the White House tomorrow.

TxP: Wow…  That’s definitely superpowers perpetrating some super good.  We like that.  Here’s your first question… We live in a highly-politicized society with a rapidly-changing media environment.  With the potential risks and complexity of social messaging, what advantages are there for businesses when engaging in and promoting issues of social good?

Rzepka: I see at least three major benefits (and there are many more than three)

BEING ABLE TO SLEEP AT NIGHT – At the most basic level, the peace of mind to know you’re not just money-grubbing scum.  Also, given the massively difficult and densely-packed challenges we face as a people, it’s simply the right thing to do.

A FORTIFIED RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CUSTOMER / VIEWER / USER – if you’re authentic about making positive change, your customers will recognize it – and reward you for it.

EMPLOYEE MORALE – there’s a growing hunger, particularly from Millennials entering the workforce, to engage in meaningful work that doesn’t just make old, rich, white guys richer.  If you don’t offer your employees this opportunity, someone else will.

TxP: What are three initial steps businesses can take to figure out which social good messages or corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices resonate with their organization?

Rzepka: First off, businesses should be focused on social good actions – not just social good messages.  Messaging in the absence of action is meaningless and absolutely the wrong starting point.  But semantics aside, three important questions to ask yourself – or rules to follow – when weighing potential pro-social or CSR initiatives, are:

Is it germane to my business? If you’re a b2b software company, and you’re launching a big malaria eradication campaign, you might want to think again.  See also: QSR giant tackling child literacy.  Granted, these are both extremely worthy and important causes, but is there any logical connection to the companies’ core operations and competencies?  If the answer is no, the answer should probably be no.  Unless…

Do my customers / viewers / users care deeply about the issue – or does it profoundly impact them?  If you’re attentively listening to your customers, and you hear that they’re passionate about an issue, you have permission to break the 1st rule.  As an example, several years ago mtvU saw that students nationwide were mobilizing to help end the genocide in Darfur.  You wouldn’t think MTV’s college network would have any business taking on mass bloodshed half a world away, but the campaign became a brand-defining effort for us.  Similarly, MTV has taken on cyberbullying – an issue that doesn’t poll at the top of Millennials’ stated concerns – but one that profoundly impacts their generation, and one that we are well equipped to effect.  Lastly…

Can I have a meaningful impact on this issue? If you can’t leverage your core strengths to really move the needle on an issue, don’t touch it.  There’s room for error on the questions/rules above, but you can’t cheat on this one.  It’s the base of the pyramid.  To pick back up on MTV and cyberbullying, part of the reason we were so taken by the issue is that it’s a function of social norms and the decisions our audience makes every day.  And we’re in a unique position to impact both of those – at scale.

TxP: Are there any traditional communications or media ideas the C-Level officers need to “get over” to engage in social good and CSR?

Rzepka: To tell you the truth, it’s been so long since I’ve been exposed to a traditional media environment that I’m no longer fluent in the dogma that’s holding these folks back.  All I can say is that if you still haven’t implemented a cohesive CSR strategy, you’re 10 years behind the game.  And if you’re not starting to ramp up – in a meaningful way – to empower your customers to have an impact on issues they care about, the clock is ticking – loudly.  It may feel far away, but the Millennial spending tsunami is coming, and this generation is going to vote with their dollars.  You don’t want to be a lame duck.

TxP: Are there any trends in the types of social good or CSR that businesses are championing that might surprise people?

Rzepka: I don’t know that I can make generalizations about emerging trends, as I’m not necessarily seeing the volume of activity necessary to distill trends from.  But two smart and unexpected campaigns I admire are The Girl Effect from Nike / the Nike Foundation and Connect a Million Minds, from Time Warner Cable.  The former focuses on empowering girls in the developing world – as a way to unlock human potential and economic prosperity – and the latter is encouraging students to pursue studies and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  I like these campaigns because they’re not totally obvious choices for these brands, they both target critical global / national challenges, and they tie back to the companies’ business goals and strengths.

TxP: And finally, why are you excited to participate at TEDxPresidio?

Rzepka: Mostly the stage at the Palace of Fine Arts.  That stage looks fucking incredible!  But I’m also looking forward to hanging with a bunch of inspiring, smarty-pants people for a day, sharing some of what I’ve learned, and learning more than what I share.  Oh and more twitter followers, hopefully. ;->

Thanks Jason, we’ll definitely follow you!  We also suggest you follow Jason…  But to TEDxPresidio at the Palace of Fine Arts on April 2.  Not only to be inspired by what socially-responsible practices can accomplish, but how to actualize them.  Register now at http://tedxpresidio.org/register.

Tags: Corporate Social Responsibility, Kaiser Foundation, Millennial, MTV, New Media, Social Good, Social Message, TEDxPresidio, Youth Market