Stories About Storytelling
Found 465 stories. Page 22 of 24.
Conscious Leadership Reminds Us: We Are All the Same
LEADERSHIP - Last year, aspiring artist Jonathan Harris visited Bhutan to learn about why this country is so imbued with happiness. Bhutan is noted for measuring its Gross Happiness Product, rather than what we do in western cultures, which is to measure our Gross National Product. This model cares more about social and spiritual well-being than financial well-being. Jonathan's project, Balloons for Bhutan, documents his effort to capture “a portrait of happiness in the last Himalayan kingdom.”
Paying It Forward: How DMV.org Is Taking Sustainability to the Streets
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE - In the afterglow of the Sustainable Brands 2013 conference, many companies found themselves inspired to bring positive change back to their business and local communities. At DMV.org, we recognized a huge opportunity to reach a vast network of people and drive actionable change both through our online services and our local community.As first-time attendees to the conference, the entire team walked away inspired, hopeful and committed to becoming change-makers within our company, community and planet. But what can a company that simplifies DMV information online bring to the sustainability table?As it turns out, quite a bit.What We’re Doing
Branding for Sustainability: A Manifesto!
MARKETING AND COMMS - I wrote recently about branding for sustainability, rather than the branding of sustainability. The main point is that branding is no longer merely about communication techniques that get tacked on to a business. Instead, branding shapes the entire landscape of engagement, experience and affinity between a company or other entity and its customers and other stakeholders or audiences. So it’s time for a manifesto.
Stop Speaking Martian: How to Effectively Translate the Language of Sustainability
MARKETING AND COMMS - As the sustainability profession grapples with how it can invite and entice a new internal conversation with a broader, ‘beyond-sustainability-silo’ brand and business audience, we are struggling with many fundamental challenges. Language is one of these. But why so?
Paper Company Rejects FSC to Dodge Inquiry About Indonesian Deforestation Practices
SUPPLY CHAIN - Paper giant Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) has withdrawn from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which Greenpeace, the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and WWF claim is an attempt to dodge an independent inquiry into the paper company’s deforestation practices in Indonesia.Prior to APRIL’s withdrawal, the three environmental organizations lodged a complaint that the company was in violation of FSC’s Policy for Association through its continued large-scale conversion of natural forests in Indonesia to plantations, including the destruction of high conservation value (HCV) forests. The organizations also claim the company has persistent social conflicts in its operations.
New Documentary 'Sparks' Collaboration That Could Benefit People in Need Locally and Globally
MARKETING AND COMMS - At the dawn of the 21st century, America’s spiraling energy consumption hijacks our democracy and gambles our planet’s future. Meanwhile, 50 million Americans live in poverty, while our government stalls behind party lines. Next spring a new documentary, The Spark, will reveal a blueprint for realistic, immediate solutions.
Sword & Plough Giving Military Veterans and Fabrics New Life and Purpose
WASTE NOT - The ancient phrase “to turn swords into plough shares” may not be common today, but Emily and Betsy Nunez are doing their best to keep it relevant. The phrase means to take military technologies and materials (the swords) and apply them to peaceful civilian activities (the plough shares). Their new company, appropriately called Sword & Plough, is repurposing surplus military material into fashionable bags and accessories.
Scope 5 Helping Businesses Find New Insights Into Their Sustainability Data
MARKETING AND COMMS - With the continued, rampant growth of our community come countless opportunities to engage with new, innovative companies and the brains behind them. Today, meet Scope 5 founder Yoram Bernet.
Learning How to Share Again [Video]
![Learning How to Share Again [Video]](https://sustainablebrands.com/eddy/mag/story/keyart/5915/conversions/primaryimage-thumb.jpg)
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - As toddlers, most of us had to learn how to share against our more basic instincts.
Study: "Meaningful Brands" Outperform Stock Market by 120%
MARKETING AND COMMS - During last week’s SB’13 conference in San Diego, Havas Media unveiled new research that could provide further insight into the minds of consumers. Results released this week from Havas’ latest Meaningful Brands study statistically demonstrate that “meaningful brands” outperform the stock market by 120%. The Meaningful Brands Index (MBI) — Havas’ new metric of brand strength — is considered the first of its kind to connect human well-being with brands at a business level. It demonstrates the relationship correlation between people and brands, and how this can affect the volume of measuring, communicating and delivering increased well-being — on a personal and community level.
Storytelling the Overriding Theme on Final Day of SB '13
MARKETING AND COMMS - There was hardly an empty seat in the house for Jonah Sachs’ “crash course in masterful storytelling.” Attendees learned the history of oral tradition and why humans have used stories to take in and share information for thousands of years. Sachs shared a five-part strategy to telling stories that get shared and let everyone in the room practice telling their own stories using characters and morals that illustrated underlying core values. The session concluded with examples of successful story-based marketing campaigns, brand gifts and an overview on brand archetypes.
New McDonough-Waste Management Collaborative Focuses on Product and Packaging Innovation [Video]
![New McDonough-Waste Management Collaborative Focuses on Product and Packaging Innovation [Video]](https://sustainablebrands.com/eddy/mag/story/keyart/5891/conversions/primaryimage-thumb.jpg)
WASTE NOT - During his plenary presentation last night at the SB '13 conference, designer, author and sustainability thought leader William McDonough announced a new partnership between McDonough Innovation and Waste Management, Inc — North America's largest environmental solutions provider and residential recycler.
Report: Companies Increasingly Viewing Sustainability Reporting as Core Business Practice
BEHAVIOR CHANGE - Firms around the world are increasingly treating sustainability reporting as a core business practice because it can provide advantages over competitors, according to a recent joint report by Ernst & Young and Boston College. Other motivations include transparency, risk management and stakeholder pressure, the report says.Value of Sustainability Reporting offers insights on the benefits of sustainability reporting, assuring sustainability reports and the risks of not reporting. The study claims there is strong evidence that transparency offers a number of financial and social advantages that make sustainability reporting more than worth its costs.
The Two Deficits, Part Three: The Root of the Conflict
MARKETING AND COMMS - This is the third in a series of posts that comprise Future 500 founder Bill Shireman's insightful essay, The Two Deficits, from the book Towards a New Agenda for America:
How Might We Re:Imagine Consumption? Conditions for Success and a Call for Collaboration
BEHAVIOR CHANGE - Consumption (noun); the action of using a resource. We know consumption is a primary driver of the inherent unsustainability of modern living. For those yet to be convinced that our way of life is not sustainable (adjective — able to be maintained at a certain level), reflect on the fact that last Friday, May 10th, levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere peaked at 400 ppm. Also reflect on the fact that the desire for a $1 T-shirt has driven the most appalling standards in many apparel supply chains and the recent deaths of over 1000 garment workers in Bangladesh.
The Long View
LEADERSHIP - I have been reading a ton about all of human history in anticipation of a new book I’m working on. It has provided me with a fresh perspective on life that has been an unexpected and welcome surprise. I notice that in so much of my life I see patterns that appear to be quite clear and meaningful.
Run Up to SB '13: Neal Gorenflo on the Cultural Shift Around Innovation and the Sharing Economy
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Neal Gorenflo is the co-founder of the non-profit Shareable, whose mission is to empower everyone to share for a more joyous, resilient and equitable world. Shareable is best known for its online magazine covering the sharing economy.At Sustainable Brands ’13 (June 3-6), Gorenflo will be moderating and participating in panel discussions focused on entrepreneurial trends and the importance of connecting innovation with purpose. I asked him a few questions about how sharing fits into the picture.
Refrigerant Revolution: EOS Climate Turning GHGs from Liabilities to Assets
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Each week leading up to the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) finals on June 5th, where the runner-up will be decided via live online public vote, we will feature articles introducing our semi-finalists. This week, meet EOS Climate.Joe Madden, Todd English and Jeff Cohen met at graduate school in 2009, and created their company EOS Climate with the objective of tackling climate change by managing greenhouse gases with market-based approaches.
Producing Steel Without GHGs? And That's Not Even the Cool Part
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - In easily my favorite sustainability story of the week, researchers at MIT have developed a process to manufacture steel without any greenhouse gas (GHG) byproducts.
#BetheStart Campaign – Week 3: More Vibrant Communities
MARKETING AND COMMS - Imagine a world where everyone could truthfully say they lived in a vibrant, trusting local community and global society — where our communities were places where residents felt engaged, supported, appreciated and valued; where the local economy was thriving, and participants feel proud to be part of their community and take an active role in helping to support this.
