Verizon CMO: brands should take stands on issues that relate to their businesses

Diego Scotti, chief marketing officer of Verizon, said it is critical when his company is considering philanthropic pursuits that it chooses issues that "have a strong connection to what we do ... or it will look like BS."

Scotti discussed Verizon's "brand purpose" on Monday at Advertising Week New York on a panel with Michael Roth, CEO and chairman of IPG, the parent company of Verizon Wireless creative agency of record McCann.

"There is so much pressure for companies to be seen that they are doing good that you find a lot of companies not doing things that are authentic," Scotti explained. "We made a decision a few years back to focus on purpose. As a big company, we really have a responsibility to be responsible."

Once Verizon settled on the issues that it felt were authentic to its own brand, Scotti said it was key to "be consistent in the message you put out there" going forward.

In 2012, Verizon committed $400 million to a program called Innovative Learning that provided under-resourced schools in the U.S. with free technology, Internet and a modern curriculum to help students better prepare for "jobs of the future." Scotti said when Verizon first started the program, a young girl told him that she had to do all of her homework, including writing essays, on her mother's phone because she didn't have a computer.

In February, Verizon claimed to become the first U.S. telecommunications company to launch a Green Bond, committing $1 billion to renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, sustainable water management, biodiversity and conservation. That followed the company's pledge to make 50 percent of its total electricity usage renewable by 2025—which coincides with its other commitments to reduce water consumption by 15 percent by 2025 and to plant 2 million trees by 2030.

"Stay focused on the message," Scotti advised of other brands. For Verizon, that's "humanizing technology."