The article considers the communicative potential of corporate social responsibility of subsoil user companies in the northern territories of Russia as a tool for the formation of a territorial brand for the internal target audience living in northern settlements with an unfavorable climate. The purpose of the study is to determine the formation of the KhMAO brand for residents of this territory and the role of corporate social responsibility of subsoil user companies in this process. From the authors’ point of view, the presence of a strong brand of the northern territory, in addition to the population’s knowledge of its heraldic symbols and emotional attachment to the place of residence, is expressed in a high degree of involvement of residents in public life and the desire to continue living in this territory.The study was conducted in October-December 2022 by an online survey, which was attended by residents of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Yugra: large cities and small settlements (n=287).The results of the study show that the KhMAO can be considered as a brand: its residents highlight the unique qualities of the place of residence, about half give it a positive assessment, most know heraldic symbols, about a third plan to continue living in this territory. The study also revealed that knowledge of CSR programs implemented by subsoil user companies and their assessment as e ective is higher among those residents of the territory who plan to continue living in this territory. This is especially noticeable on the example of the rural settlement of Salym, the data for which were analyzed separately. This approach to the analysis was chosen because a number of large projects are being implemented in the territory of this settlement within the framework of corporate social responsibility by the oil company Salym Petroleum Development.The results of the study allowed us to conclude about the e ectiveness of corporate social responsibility as a tool for building and strengthening the brand of the northern territory for the internal target audience, to identify the most promising areas of this activity and to show the importance of its information support.