PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Ford Motor Company’s 2015-16 Sustainability Report highlights key environmental benchmarks and the ongoing work of the automaker, including its expanded focus beyond vehicle production to developing mobility solutions for the future.
The future of mobility
Earlier this year, the automaker created Ford Smart Mobility LLC, a new subsidiary to design, build, grow and invest in emerging mobility services using existing Ford innovations, products and technologies.
PRESS RELEASE -
To further expand how Bank of America is creating long-term value across Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors, today the company shares progress made to deliver on its purpose of helping make financial lives better for customers, clients and communities around the world. The Business Standards Report, first published earlier this year, plus the ESG Addendum, together detail how the company is delivering responsible, sustainable growth – making the business more efficient, helping employees realize their potential and helping local communities around the world address their biggest challenges.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) issued its latest Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report – titled “Shared Goodness” – on June 9, showcasing progress made in 2015 against a variety of priority issues. Building on 2014, Hershey made continued progress through a range of efforts supporting the company’s commitment to responsible sourcing, ingredient transparency, simple ingredients and environmental sustainability. Additionally, 2015 marked the launch of Hershey’s Nourishing Minds program, the company’s global shared social purpose. The innovative program provides children in need with the basic nutrition they need to learn and allows Hershey to help address this critical issue with its deep expertise in food production.
COLLABORATION -
Day three of SB’16 San Diego got underway with Mark Lee, Executive Director of SustainAbility, mapping the past decade since the start of Sustainable Brands — from Hurricane Katrina and General Electric’s launch of ecomagination in 2005, to Unilever’s launch of its Sustainable Living Plan in 2010 and the United Nations’ Rio+20 Conference in 2012.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
When it comes to developing sustainability programs, most brands begin by adding: by introducing “green” practices to their workplace or a recycling component to their manufacturing process. But to truly have impact, sustainability practitioners should create purpose that is built-in, not bolted-on, across both business and brand strategy.
How do we shift from bolting on sustainability to building it into the business? And what inspires this shift in the first place? To truly build in sustainability, we must look at the back-end of product creation: the supply chain.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
As brands start to realize that considering sustainability is no longer optional, many will be tempted to employ a traditional control-and-command approach to communications around their practices and issues.
The experts on this panel Tuesday morning explained why it's a good idea to do just the opposite, and involve consumers (and other stakeholders) in the strategic conversation.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Nick Aster, founder and publisher of TriplePundit, moderated a panel discussion Tuesday morning about activism and purchasing power, featuring Aria Finger, CEO of DoSomething.org; Shayna Englin, Managing Director of Change.org North America; Briana Quindazzi of BBMG; and Marlin Miller, COO of Care2.
PRESS RELEASE -
Integrating purpose through a common brand promise and aligning sustainability strategy with internal culture and values are key drivers of corporate leadership according to the findings of the just-released 2016 Sustainability Leaders Survey by GlobeScan and SustainAbility in partnership with Sustainable Brands.
The Sustainability Leaders Survey tracks expert opinions on the evolution of the sustainability agenda for two decades, along with views on the leaders and institutions most responsible for driving it forward. This is the first edition of the survey since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change in late 2015.
PRESS RELEASE -
Keep America Beautiful, the national nonprofit that envisions a country in which every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live, and The UPS Foundation, which leads the global citizenship programs at UPS (NYSE: UPS), today announced the distribution of 30 grants totaling $160,000 for its 2016 Keep America Beautiful/UPS Community Tree and Recovery Tree Planting Grants program. The grant recipients’ projects will result in more than 10,500 trees being planted in support of locally-relevant initiatives.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
It’s no secret that the audience at any Sustainable Brands conference lives and breathes social impact. From CSR strategists to climate change experts to sustainability technicians, our careers are devoted to integrating business and social purpose to make the world a better place.
Ricardo Caceres, Global Marketing Director of Sustainability at The Coca-Cola Company, knows he is preaching to the choir. When he says, “We must shift sustainability from a technical to a humanizing conversation to unlock marketing value,” heads around the room nod in agreement. He’s speaking our language – the challenge of connecting the dots between sustainability imperatives, and marketing and business goals.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
“Our goal is to make the intangible tangible, which is what we have to do with culture,” said Pamela Wilhelms, founder of Wilhelms Consulting Group, during a Monday workshop at SB'16 San Diego.
The workshop, “Understanding and Measuring Cultural and Systems-Change Dimensions within Companies,” focused on how forward-thinking companies can initiate cultural shifts toward sustainability — and how to measure success.
As the world moves toward a more sustainable economy, leading brands will be those capable of identifying and measuring healthy cultural dynamics. But culture often is too subjective and intangible to measure.
PRESS RELEASE -
Toyota is Ready to Catch Some Rays in Plano
Toyota’s New Plano Campus Will Get 25 Percent of Power from the Sun
Plano, Texas and San Diego, Calif. (June 6, 2016) – It might not be the sunshine state, but Texas gets its fair share of sun. And when Toyota moves into its new North American headquarters next year, the automaker plans to “catch a ray.”
PRESS RELEASE -
PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is proud to announce it ranked No. 1 on Newsweek’s 2016 Green Rankings, released today. The ranking assesses the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the United States on overall environmental performance.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
From investors to growers, producers, blenders and consumers, the below50 initiative, launched today, expects to attract every industry sector involved in the pipeline of sustainable fuels. Any company who produces, uses and/or invests in fuels that are at least 50 percent less carbon intensive than conventional fossil fuels can join below50.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Get ‘em while they’re young.
It’s a strategy long embraced by the world of media, advertising and marketing, whether it be product placement in kids’ literature, TV shows or movies; cartoon characters created to make a brand more cuddly; or movies and games that come with a readymade collection of toys attached.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Unilever’s Sustainable Living brands continue to show superior performance, as the company reports on the fifth year of progress of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. Consumers expect more of brands and businesses now — and they reward those that deliver a wider social benefit in addition to the traditional product performance at an affordable price.
In 2015, Sustainable Living brands — which have integrated sustainability into both their purpose and products:
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Purpose-driven brands know that the key to successful engagement is connecting consumers to their brand purpose and mission. The most effective ways to do that is to listen, communicate, and build trust. Here we offer five inventive new ways to actively connect with the growing segment of conscious consumers.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) has demonstrated the power of harnessing brand affinity and the growing awareness of ethical choice. Three recent and inspiring examples in Spain, Italy and Germany illustrate their success in fostering both individual and collective action in each of these markets.
PRESS RELEASE -
Triple Pundit came out with a case study on Green Experience Meetings at Radisson Blu Hotels around the world:Radisson Blu® is one of the world’s leading hotel brands under the Carlson Rezidor umbrella, a hotel group that includes 1,400 hotels in 115 countries. As a global leader, Carlson Rezidor has achieved a great deal of progress when it comes to designing and operating sustainable hotels. This article will focus on the sustainable achievements made by Radisson Blu Hotels in Sweden, USA, and India. It is a huge turning point in events right now with more and more venues implementing sustainability, and Carlson Rezidor have teamed up with both Positive Impact and Triple Pundit to tell their story and inspire others across the globe with best practice examples.
NEW METRICS -
Materiality is murky – especially when it comes to sustainability. Reporting on material issues in the financial context has been legally required for decades and is widely understood. It is less widely understood – and not yet well applied – in non-financial contexts.
This clearly has to change – and quickly. Various stakeholders, including shareholders, are increasingly demanding greater identification and disclosure of material sustainability issues. They have become ever more aware of the opportunities, as well as the risks, of these matters.