How does a business do well and do good?  This question was firmly on the national business agenda last week at the launch of a major new report and conference called Who Cares Wins – The Rise of the Caring Corporation.

Devised by Seven Hills for client Havas Worldwide, the global marketing and advertising group, the Who Cares Wins conference attracted over 120 senior business leaders and generated widespread coverage as commentators looked to make sense of BP’s unfolding reputational crisis.

David Jones, global chief executive of Havas Worldwide and co-founder of One Young World, the global youth congress, explored the reputational challenges that businesses face in a digitally empowered world:  “If you are not a socially responsible company, you will be punished so act before somebody acts on your behalf,” says Jones. “The most successful businesses over the next decade or so are going to be the most socially responsible.”

Guest speakers on the day included James Smith, chairman of Shell UK; Dianne Thompson, chief executive of Camelot plc; Doug Richard from Dragons’ Den and founder of School for Startups; Jennifer Siebens, vice president and London Bureau chief for CBS News; Santiago Gowland, vice president, Brand & Global Corporate Responsibility, Unilever; and Kate Robertson, UK group chairman, Euro RSCG and co-founder of One Young World.

To date, the Who Cares Wins report has been featured on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, CNBC Europe, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, the Evening Standard, Marketing and Marketing Week.

The report itself, based on new research from YouGovStone, was described by conference chair and veteran broadcaster Martyn Lewis as a “revelatory and timely document”.  You can download the report here.