Purpose – To discuss the importance of understanding corporate social responsibility (CSR) by analysing the issues that comprise CSR. Without this understanding it will not be possible for organisations to develop responsible brands.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on the existing business and marketing literature to define four aspects of issue complexity. It also draws on a range of real and hypothetical examples affecting local and global organisations to explain the four components.Findings – Developing CSR requires intensive corporate commitment and failure to deliver on stakeholder expectations will result in reputational damage. It is essential to understand CSR issue complexity and to consider carefully CSR‐linked brand positioning. Basically, the implementation of CSR activities requires something substantial and communicable in the first place.Research limitations/implications – The work is conceptual in nature and additional research needs to be undertaken to better understand how ...