M&S is a British retailer with 32 million customers across the world. We’re known for our award-winning food, clothing and homeware
Marks and Spencer
Customer Behavior Change: The Holy Grail of Conscious Brands
9 years ago - “If we can’t get the consumer involved, we will always be behind the curve,” Marks & Spencer CEO Marc Bolland said when he launched the retailer’s ‘Plan A’ sustainability stakeholder consultation.The logic is compelling. Changing customer behavior is a natural part of the sustainable business strategies businesses must create to achieve long-term success. And instead of being seen as an extension of CSR strategies they will be seen more as Long-Term Marketing strategies that are creating the company’s preferred future operating environment.
Want to Nudge Consumers to Waste Less? Make It Easy, Fun and Popular
9 years ago - As my Green Marketing students are learning, companies large and small are reducing their carbon footprints by adopting strategies to make their operations, goods and services more environmentally sustainable. But with the world population headed towards eight billion, marketers also recognize the important role that consumers play through their usage and disposal of products. To nudge consumers towards less wasteful behavior, take some advice from social marketers — make it easy, fun and popular.Easy Does It
M&S Uses the Power of Co-Design to Drive Behaviour Change
9 years ago - Marks and Spencer (M&S) recently piloted training toolkits for its supplier factories in the UK and Sri Lanka, as part of its Plan A commitment to being a Fair Partner. These toolkits were a result of a collaborative design process between M&S and its factories, led by A Very Good Company (AVGC). The process of co-creation has helped to engage suppliers with M&S’s sustainability agenda, leading to the creation of a product that connects with the needs of M&S, its factory managers and their employees. This collaborative approach to creating behaviour change within a factory environment has transferable learning for brands as they seek to engage consumers with new, more sustainable propositions.
The Top 8 Things We Learned from Marks & Spencer's 2013 Plan A Report
9 years ago - Year after year, Marks & Spencer sets a high standard for environmental sustainability in the UK retail world. Its large scale and high level of social consciousness give it the unique position to promote change throughout the industry. As a part of its Plan A initiative, launched in January 2007, M&S makes a varied range of responsibility efforts, from beach-cleaning and cancer fundraising to recycling programs and organic produce.Let’s take a look at the year's most important changes and surprises, as revealed in the company's recently released 2013 Plan A Report:
Forget the 'S' Word: How to Make a Sustainable Lifestyle Sexy and Aspirational
9 years ago - This is a call for lots less chatter, twitter and yammer about the earth’s limits and in place of those, a world of new, real and lively conversations around ‘persuasive’ limits.Let me give an example of why: According to the latest data, concentrations of carbon dioxide in the global atmosphere have reached 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in human history. The problem, however, is that that very sentence is capable of making otherwise contented people run screaming for the nearest copy of Hello magazine.
Indigenous Helps 75% of Artisans in Its Fashion Supply Chain Escape Poverty
9 years ago - Fashion company Indigenous says some 75 percent of the artisans in its supply chain are no longer at risk of poverty and many have achieved milestones of financial security, with some even starting their own artisan workshops.
'Fresher for Longer' Campaign Hopes To Reduce UK Food Waste by Highlighting Importance of Packaging
9 years ago - In a recent report from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), researchers determined that consumer attitudes and behaviors surrounding food packaging could help reduce household food waste.
UK Retailers Increase Efforts To Decrease Food Waste
9 years ago - Coca-Cola Enterprises, Unilever, AB InBev, Nestlé, and 45 other retailers, manufacturers and brands have all recommitted to a joint reduction of food and drink waste by 1.1 million metric tons by 2015.
Sustainability: Understand, Adapt, Then Signal
9 years ago - Engagement with sustainability offers many perks to a company: It improves brand reputation, it helps raise prices, it maintains one’s position in the market long term and it can open doors to better investment packages. Signals are one way that companies communicate that sustainability is vital to their corporate strategy and brand development.
H&M, M&S, Benetton, Zara Commit to Fire and Building Safety Agreement in Bangladesh
9 years ago - H&M announced Monday it has publicly committed to supporting the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which was initiated by IndustryALL Global Union and UNI Global Union in response to last month’s deadly building collapse that has claimed some 1100 lives.
M&S, B&Q, Eden Project and More Helping UK Consumers 'Be the Start' of More Resourceful Living
9 years ago - Researchers tell us that by 2030 we will need 30% more water, 50% more energy and 50% more food to be fit for our growing population. Statistics from WWF echo this — if we continue our current rate of consumption in the United Kingdom, we will need three planets' worth of natural resources to continue this lifestyle, and five planets to continue the consumption lifestyle in the USA.
The Next Big Leap: Keys to a More Proactive, Creative and Brand-Branding Sustainability Strategy
9 years ago - No matter how often it happens, when a new idea or insight opens up entirely new pathways and possibilities in our minds, there’s always a sense of exhilaration.
Research: Choosing the Right Strategy for Sustainability Communications
9 years ago - A new report by UK-based analyst firm Verdantix says most companies have inadequate budgets for sustainability communications and are running risks by failing to integrate sustainability themes into their brand identities. The report, “Rethinking Sustainability: Brand Risks and Opportunities,” identifies five archetypes of how companies communicate about sustainability.
U.S. Brands Slow To Embrace Textile Recycling Are Missing Opportunities
9 years ago - Textile and clothing recycling has always lagged behind the sustainable disposal of other household products such as glass, aluminum and even plastic. The numbers, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, are disturbing.
Rainforest Foundation Promotes Sustainable Palm Oil with UK Easter Chocolate Rankings
10 years ago - With Easter just around the corner, The Rainforest Foundation has teamed up with Ethical Consumer magazine to release a ranking of more than 70 UK chocolate brands to encourage companies to use more sustainably sourced palm oil.
Brands More Trusted Than Millionaires When Espousing Sustainable Consumption
10 years ago - The old cliche “money doesn’t buy happiness” still rings true; yet in this economy, apparently it can buy sustainable consumption.
Levi’s, BBVA, eBay Top Index of Brands Communicating Sustainability Via Social Media
10 years ago - Levi Strauss, BBVA, eBay, Danone and General Electric made the top five of the SMI-Wizness Social Media Sustainability Index 2012, an annual review examining how major firms use social media to communicate sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation Aims To Create $10B of Value by 2015 With New Global Business Alliance
10 years ago - The Ellen MacArthur Foundation today launched the Circular Economy 100 (CE100), a three-year program aimed at bringing together a network of 100 leading companies globally to facilitate development and commitment to new circular economy projects. The CE100 will provide executive education on key themes and emerging trends, share knowledge and new learnings, and identify and develop solutions to common challenges. The objective is that by 2015 participating companies will have triggered circular initiatives that will result in an aggregated economic benefit of $10bn for the businesses involved.