MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Effie Worldwide and the World Economic Forum (WEF) have announced the inaugural call for entries for The Positive Change Effie Award, which recognizes and celebrates the most effective marketing programs that have measurably shifted consumer behavior toward more sustainable choices, and/or grown demand for more sustainable products and services by incorporating sustainability as a part of their marketing communications.The call for entries opened in September, and the deadline period runs from December 4, 2014 to January 12, 2015.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
This week, LiquiGlide Inc. — creator of a coating for the insides of food containers that helps coax out every last drop — released survey results that clearly illustrate consumers' intense dislike of product waste.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Age is less of a factor than widely thought when it comes to workplace preferences in the U.S., according to a new workplace strategy report by CBRE Group.The study found that, while current assumptions about millennials are driving the design of many workplaces today, there is actually little difference in workplace preferences between millennials, Generation Xers and baby boomers. The study is based on aggregated CBRE Workplace Strategy surveys from more than 5,500 office workers across numerous industries,
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
SB ‘14 London got underway Monday morning and appropriately, one of the day’s first workshops presented some of the key market insights that will help to guide brands in the continued development of sustainable business models.Early in the session Forum for the Future’s James Goodman pressed home the need for brands to adapt to a changing consumer environment. He highlighted Greenpeace’s recent viral campaign against toy manufacturer Lego as a stark warning of the dangers of ignoring your customers’ concerns about sustainability.
BLOG -
Corporate sustainability professionals are an interesting breed, aren’t they? Not always the most relatable or immediately exciting crowd, one might say. And not exactly the easiest to listen to, or understand — for most people, anyway.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
A growing number of companies are committed to policies to ensure environmental, social and governance sustainability — but some remain skeptical about their benefits, according to a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit.New Business Models: Shared value in the 21st century, commissioned by Enel Foundation, finds that 66 percent of companies believe there is a direct link between sustainability and long-term financial performance. More managers also understand the wider importance of sustainability and increasing efforts to embed it into their strategies.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Nearly nine in ten (86%) current CEOs and future business leaders believe businesses should have a social purpose, but just a fifth of the younger generation agrees they are doing so, according to a new study by Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) in partnership with Cranfield’s Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility and The Financial Times’ FT Remark (FT).
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Anheuser-Busch InBev today released the results of its first international survey on consumer attitudes toward the responsible serving and selling of alcoholic beverages — adults of legal drinking age in eight countries were asked about the impact that bartenders, waiters and store clerks have on encouraging responsible drinking. The survey provides new data to highlight the importance of ongoing training and the opportunity to expand these efforts.
NEW METRICS -
Recent significant advances in both sustainability assessment and societal awareness have resulted in businesses placing growing importance on full product value chain transparency. This relates to the need to investigate social impacts throughout products’ values chains and make them visible. Understanding and addressing social impacts has become an increasingly important value driver for frontrunner companies in the sustainability arena.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Datacoup, “The World’s First Personal Data Marketplace,” launched Thursday, providing a platform for individuals to aggregate, analyze and sell their own personal data. After a successful beta period with over 1,200 active users testing new site features and receiving money for their data, the service is primed to welcome 10,000+ individuals on its waiting list, as well as the general public, to its platform.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Of the 50 certified wineries, surprisingly, only three have opted to display the Napa Green logo on their labels — despite the time and cost involved in obtaining those certifications — so, I dug a little deeper.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
McDonald’s Canada’s experience is evidence that social media is pushing transparency mainstream, and that for them the risks have been worth the rewards of increased customer trust.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
When an irreverent spoof video can increase web traffic to the Affordable Care Act website by 40% in less than a day, understanding why can help your brand better communicate with young consumers.
PRESS RELEASE -
ARLINGTON, Va. (April 9, 2014) – The Nature Conservancy released the results of the first global survey to capture not only how much time kids spend outside, but also parents’ perspectives on the importance and benefits of time spent in nature.
The survey, funded by Disney, included parents of children between the ages of three and 18 in the U.S., Brazil, China, France and Hong Kong and revealed the following:
Sixty-five percent (65%) of U.S. parents see it as a “very serious” problem that kids are not spending more time outdoors. According to the survey, this is equal to their concerns about bullying, the quality of education and obesity. Of the other places surveyed, only parents in Brazil and Hong Kong share this concern.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Memes, as defined by Culture2 (formerly DarwinSF) founders Joe Brewer and Lazlo Karafiath, are “the units of culture that reproduce themselves through people’s thoughts and behaviors.” The word meme has recently been appropriated by Internet culture to have a quick image with some funny text overlaid on it, but a meme can be any idea or concept that gets passed around and takes hold.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Once considered strange bedfellows, sustainability and human resource management are being increasingly recognized as an ideal match. Andrew Savitz’s book Talent, Transformation, and the Triple Bottom Line: How Companies Can Leverage Human Resources to Achieve Sustainable Growth compellingly demonstrates why HR leaders are uniquely well-positioned to aid in sustainability efforts and why they need to be included in any brand’s successful transition to embedded sustainability. Here are a few of Savitz’s reasons why:
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Experts in public health have struggled with enabling behaviour change for years. The sustainability sector should learn what it can from their experiences. Consumer behaviour change is the challenge of our time. As governments and brands are beginning to realise, upstream improvements are relatively easy to make compared with the herculean task of shifting consumer behaviours downstream. While the sustainability community is just beginning to get to grips with the gravity of this challenge, our colleagues in public health have been wrestling with it for decades. Great progress has been made, but hard lessons have been learned — costly, time-consuming lessons that we can all learn from.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
In the context of the huge market for fast, disposable fashion, H&M’s brand promise to offer quality fashion at the best price might seem like an oxymoron. But the brand is determined to make good on its goal to “provide fashion for conscious consumers” by making quality clothing more widely accessible."We want to make sustainable fashion more democratic," Helena Helmersson, H&M's head of sustainability, told Reuters last week. "We don't aim for sustainability to be a luxury thing.”But are consumers buying it (so to speak)? Not according to several reports that rank brands according to customer perceptions of their ethical practices.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
It has the potential to benefit 173 million workers in global supply chains and provide livelihood benefits or savings of US $30 billion annually, according to Vodafone and Accenture.What is the ‘it’? It’s a series of six disruptive opportunities for mobile to enhance the lives of workers in global supply chains. Details are laid out in their report, Connected Worker: How mobile technology can improve working life in emerging economies, with corresponding reach, benefits and business case for each of the six:
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Last year, I posted a blog on 2degrees about the Think Big program, and how we have helped people from across our business (Telefonica UK, O2 and partners) to get involved with Think Big, directly delivering sustainability benefits.