A new class of socially-conscious viewers have inspired brands and entertainment properties to utilize their content to make social impact.

“Consumers are telling us that they expect there to be some kind of corporate responsibility in everything the brand does,” Philips McCarty, the CEO of Good Scout Group, said at PromaxBDA: The Conference 2016 on Thursday.

Since social good alliances are becoming an industry norm, both talent and brands have the opportunity to align themselves with a wide array of worthy causes and charities. So how exactly do they decide which partnership to create?

“Speaking from the perspective of the talent, whether it’s those in front of the camera or the creators behind the cameras,” said René Jones, the executive director of UTA Foundation, “I think that it always comes down to authenticity.”

Making a partnership with a celebrity should be about more than just getting them to appear in a single commercial for the cause.

“You aren’t just asking the talent to lend their name,” Jones said. “You want them to intertwine it to their press junket, or the story in their magazine cover story, or using their social media presence.”

And to do that, the cause should be something that the talent is truly passionate about.

Will Ferrell, for example, is both a sports fan and a huge advocate for the organization Cancer for College, which grants scholarships to cancer survivors. (It was Ferrell’s USC frat brother Craig Pollard after his baseball career was cut short due to the disease.)

Thus, it made sense for Ferrell to partner with HBO for the tv special Ferrell Takes the Field, in which the comedian raised money for the charity while playing for ten different pro-teams during spring training. Ferrell’s gear was auctioned off and HBO donated $1 million.

“Before you approach the talent or the show creators, do your homework to know if they are passionate about it,” Jones said. “Would it make sense for the characters? A lot of people just think, oh who’s hot rather than what makes sense. The amount of requests we get for Amy Schumer are all over the place.”

Authenticity is important for entertainment properties as well.

“I had the privilege to build a campaign at USA called Characters Unite, which is about combatting hate and discrimination,” said Toby Graff, current SVP for Corporate Social Responsibility at NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. The campaign messaging aligned perfectly with the identity of the network, which used the tagline “Characters Welcome.”

“The thing that was important from the start was that it was authentic to the brand,” Graff said. “The other thing that is important is having top-down support from your company.”

Both consumers and employees want to support companies that are doing social good — so brands should make sure that their employees are involved with the charitable efforts as well.

Social responsibility is now becoming a part of many companies’ DNA. And that’s a shift in perspective and action that benefits everyone.

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