PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
To mark its 40th anniversary, The Body Shop has unveiled a pioneering global CSR strategy that will underpin all aspects of company operation. The new commitment will reaffirm the global cosmetics brand’s positioning as a leader in ethical business and will define its next stage of development.
The commitment, entitled Enrich Not Exploit™ - which will support The Body Shop in its aim to be the world’s most ethical and sustainable global business - is an extensive program of global activity and measurable 2020 targets that touches all areas of the business.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Through Monday, February 15, McDonald’s stores in the U.S. will be swapping toys for books in its Happy Meals. Four children’s books have been specially printed to fit in small Happy Meal boxes, and some stores will have Spanish versions available. By the end of this year, the company expects to have distributed more than 50 million books to children – enough to provide a book to every child in America under the age of 12.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
On Friday, Mars, Incorporated announced that it will remove all artificial colors from its human food products. Over the next 5 years, artificial colors will be phased out of the company's chocolate, gum, confection, food and drink businesses. The company asserts that artificial colors pose no risks to human health or safety, but that the change comes in response to consumer demand for the increased use of natural ingredients.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
The popularity of team sports in the U.S. — and the idolatry surrounding star players — makes them a perfect platform for reaching fans and encouraging behavior change on a massive scale. With 190 million fans expected to tune in on Sunday, the Super Bowl represents a unique opportunity to engage a large and somewhat unruly portion of the population to live and act more consciously.
COLLABORATION -
This week, John West Australia, WWF-Australia (WWF) and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), announced that they have come together to make the single biggest brand commitment to help end unsustainable fishing methods within the canned tuna industry in Australia.The alliance with WWF and MSC is the result of years of the entities working together to find a way to overhaul John West's supply standards within Australia, moving towards a more sustainable future for the world's oceans.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
“It’s kind of cool to have people look different,” a young girl says, with two dolls in her hands. One is blonde and blue-eyed, the other has darker tones – and both are Barbie.In a bold move from Mattel, Barbie will now be available in 7 different skin tones and 22 eye colors. The most startling change, though, is that she will also have 4 body types: original, petite, tall, and curvy.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Sustainable Brands recently referenced a study from Ohio State University that shows that “not only do many consumers not want to put much effort toward finding out whether our purchases were produced ethically (which is not exactly news), they have a way of looking down on those who do.”I can relate: My in-laws feel that way about me! They see organic food, for example, as expensive nonsense for fools/snobs/hippies who believe in that “green stuff.”
WASTE NOT -
Carpet tile manufacturer and sustainability leader Interface is expanding its ReEntry recycling program by “creating a new network of regional recycling allies,” beginning with Oakland, Calif.-based Rethink Green. The company is seeking additional strategic partner recyclers in order to increase carpet recycling across North America each year.
PRESS RELEASE -
Sealed Air Corporation today announced its partnership with Charlotte-based veterans’ organization Patriots Path. As a partner company, Sealed Air is sponsoring classes, donating classroom space for the five-week job skills courses and providing recruitment team members as job coaches.
“The purpose of Patriots Path is to transition veterans from the military into corporate culture through a series of training programs beyond resume building,” said John Tuomala, Executive Director of Talent Acquisition for Sealed Air. “The best compliment we can give Patriots Path is to hire veterans. By sponsoring and donating time as job coaches it allows us to get to know the veterans in the program with the ultimate goal to turn them into employees.”
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Purpose brands that are authentic in creating a positive contribution to society while focusing on the delivery of great products and services are outgrowing other competitors. A clear purpose drives consumer preference and motivates employees, accelerating business results and positive change.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
While so much of our lives have veered toward the digital, many organizations’ operations still rely to some degree on paper. Innovative solutions to help minimize the impact of continued paper use include print-optimization technologies and even more “sustainable” fonts.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been big news in the sustainability community since their launch in September.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
In the past few weeks we talked about what purpose is, how it’s affected the economy, and why it’s so important from a psychological perspective. We ended the last post by beginning to understand the differences between Humans and Econs [Humans being real people in the real world, and Econs being our theoretical version that economics is based upon] and the unfortunate truth that most companies are, unlike us, Econs.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
One the final sessions at SB ’15 London saw Mandar Apte, chemical engineer and program manager of Shell's GameChanger program on social innovation, facilitate an interactive workshop about how to drive social innovation from inside large organisations and how this could empower the employees and create shared value - for business and society.Apte started by demonstrating the power of the relationship economy. He drove home the idea that in this world of open innovation, it is important to build relationships.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The final morning plenary at SB ’15 London brought together a handful of popular household brands with some established and up-and-coming industry innovators, all of which pulled back the curtain on key success factors for bringing sustainability into their business strategy.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
SB ‘15 London’s third and final afternoon kicked off with a colourful session with Matthew Yeomans, founder of Sustainly, a knowledge consultancy and advisory platform based around bringing together the worlds of sustainability and communications.Yeomans discussed the results of Sustainly’s The Big Brand Report: How 175 Major Brands Do and Don’t Talk about Sustainability, which looks at if and how brands are talking to their customers about sustainability. The workshop revealed what is and isn’t working for brand-level social media communications.
COLLABORATION -
In a Tuesday afternoon breakout that brought together a unique and diverse group, Steve Jennings from Better Ventures created a high-energy atmosphere where participants had frank discussions about their experiences and challenges in supporting entrepreneurial communities.Recognising the power of linking entrepreneurs and startups to large corporate companies and the benefits derived from supporting entrepreneurial communities, Jennings guided the panel to speak about their own journeys with this.What are some really good examples of startups or groups that we can learn from?
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
In his SB ’15 London workshop on Monday afternoon, Pulse Brands founder Simon Milton and Adele Blakebrough, Chief Executive at Social Business Trust, highlighted 12 practical tools to create a purpose-led organisation.“Sit back on your chair. Place your feet on the ground. Breathe deeply and ask yourself ‘Why am I here?’”
COLLABORATION -
It was the job of Zöe Arden, director of think-tank SustainAbility, to kick-start the workshop sessions on Monday morning at SB ’15 London with a focus on how to drive business model transformation from inside a company. This workshop was a developed as a hotly requested follow-up to SustainAbility’s workshop last year at SB’14 London, focused on Business Model Innovations for Sustainability.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
The opening plenary session at SB ’15 London introduced attendees to this year’s theme, HOW NOW?