MARKETING AND COMMS -
In the words of John Ehrenfeld: “Sustainability is the possibility of human and other life flourishing on the earth forever.” But how many conversations actually lead to flourishing? A workshop on Monday afternoon, day one of SB ’15 San Diego, addressed the ever-present problem of “preaching to the (sustainability) choir.”
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Jerry Michalski, Founder of San Francisco-based REX (the Relationship Economy Expedition), helped to kick off Day 1 of Sustainable Brands 2015 San Diego with a workshop entitled, ‘Leveraging the Relationship and Sharing Economies: Innovation Potential and Strategies for Entry.’ The session provided context and comparison between the Circular, Sharing, and
NEW METRICS -
Geoff Kendall, co-founder and CEO of the Future-Fit Foundation, set the stage by calling into question most of the existing sustainability performance metrics, which he believes are sending business leaders and investors the wrong signals; “if someone with the illustrious name of Dow Jones can tell the CEO and investors of an oil company that it is 85 percent sustainable, something is wrong.” Kendall explained why existing approaches to performance metrics are limited: 1) some metrics measure progress relative to a baseline year but this does not tell us where a company should be; 2) other metrics evaluate companies relative to best practice or peers but that encourages compan
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
This year, Sustainable Brands San Diego is all about the ‘How.’ Companies want to know how to act on sustainability imperatives in the most effective way, but navigating the jungle of buzzwords and complex strategic frameworks is no walk in the park, or so it seems. What I have found through extensive research is that when it comes to creating shared value, building the circular economy and measuring impact, the in-between is everything, and great business model design is remarkably easy once you have a few key principles down and understand how to fill in the gaps in evolving stakeholder relationships, i.e. your in-between. Allow me to take a step back and explain.
PRESS RELEASE -
SAN FRANCISCO, June 1, 2015 – Sustainable Brands® largest community gathering kicks off today with Sustainable Brands ’15 San Diego at Paradise Point Resort & Spa. Nearly 2,500 community members from 30 countries around the globe are participating in the conference, Activation Hub and live stream. This year’s theme, How Now, focuses on how brands are translating environmental and social purpose into business and brand value for business success.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
In its 2014 Living Progress Report last week, HP outlined the human, economic and environmental impacts it has made in its pursuit of Living Progress — the company’s framework for integrating sustainability into its business strategy. I spoke with Chris Librie, Senior Director of HP’s Living Progress, about how the company’s holistic approach has informed the impacts made to date.
PRESS RELEASE -
This week, Sustainable Brands’ third annual Istanbul conference brought together global and local brands, thought leaders and NGOs to explore how to make the shift to a sustainable future. Through this year’s theme, ‘How Now,’ the over 500 attendees witnessed over 90 speakers explore and illustrate How brands are tapping into emerging innovation to successfully scale sustainability to the next level Now. Over 500 attendees came together to discuss how now strategies in the face of changing times and changing consumer behaviors, learn from over 90 speakers and participate in 30 breakouts and 3 workshops throughout two days of the event.
LEADERSHIP -
Globescan and SustainAbility released their 2015 Sustainability Leaders survey today, asking experts to assess the progress that various institutions have made in advancing sustainable development since the historic Earth Summit in 1992.Results drawn from 816 sustainability experts across 82 countries indicate a positive perception of non-state actors and lack of confidence in the leadership of national governments. NGOs’ sustainability contribution is ranked highest among those polled, followed by social entrepreneurs, independent academic organizations, social change movements, and multi-sector collaborations.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
HP is redoubling its efforts towards improved governance and stakeholder engagement, according to the company’s 2014 Living Progress Report, released Wednesday. The report describes HP’s global citizenship policies, programs and performance through the company’s fiscal year 2014.“Living Progress” is how HP refers to its efforts to integrate sustainability into its business strategy. It’s the framework the company uses as it develops its products, services and solutions, manages its operations and drives interactions with its customers, partners and communities.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
The roadmap series details the Hagen-Wilhelm change matrix, a tool to accelerate adoption and maximize the benefits of sustainable business thinking. This model builds on the work of many thinkers, leaders and researchers who have identified five stages that companies pass through on the way from today’s conventional thinking (Phase I) to a more sustainable future where business thrives by solving some of the world’s biggest problems.
BLOG -
If the global business community is to thrive in the long term — and carry us to that flourishing future we are trying to imagine and help build — it needs to continue to scale up the ambition and influence of its efforts. That’s much easier said than done, of course, though we are seeing a number of encouraging trends within the Sustainable Brands community that, while still nascent, are promising to deliver a lot of value for years to come. Here is a list of 10 such trends that are top of mind for our team at the moment:
BLOG -
Boy, do they know how to get excited about innovation in Barcelona.Many of our corporate members, international partners, and sustainability thought leaders are still recovering from what was an amazing Sustainable Brands global conference launch last week in Spain.In partnership with Quiero Salvar El Mundo Haciendo Marketing, Sustainable Brands ’15 Barcelona — now our third European conference — launched with over 300 attendees and an overwhelming energy, enthusiasm and effort.
PRESS RELEASE -
Atlanta, May 01, 2015Steve Leffin to Retire After More Than 30 Years at UPS UPS® (NYSE: UPS) today announced that Edward Rogers will become the company's new Global Director of Sustainability, effective immediately. Rogers succeeds Steve Leffin who helped create UPS's sustainability strategy and led a number of successful initiatives during his seven years guiding UPS's Sustainability group globally. During this period, the company became one of the first U.S. companies to meet the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 framework at the comprehensive level, exemplifying its leadership in reporting transparency and credibility.
PRESS RELEASE -
Atlanta, April 29, 2015Company Working with Partner Organizations to Provide Critical Relief Supplies, Assess Ongoing Recovery Needs The UPS Foundation, the philanthropic arm of UPS (NYSE: UPS), today announced an initial commitment of $500,000 (US) to aid in response and recovery efforts following the devastating earthquake on April 25 in Nepal. The UPS Foundation will contribute a combination of cash and in-kind support to enable the provision of urgent relief supplies as well as potential on-the-ground logistics support for long-term recovery needs.
PRESS RELEASE -
SAN FRANCISCO, April 27, 2015 – Sustainable Brands® recently announced 11 semi-finalists to compete at the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) startup competition presented by Target. The competition, culminating at SB’15 San Diego, June 1-4th, attracts world-changing entrepreneurial teams with unique ideas to solving some of the world’s pressing environmental and social concerns.The 2015 SBIO semi-finalists include:
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
This is the latest in a series of posts in which we will poll our global community of business leaders and practitioners — the “SB Vanguard” — on a variety of issues pertinent to the evolving sustainable business landscape.
Despite the continued growing pains of the “sharing economy” - unintended consequences (ex: Airbnb disrupting local home rental/sales markets), ambiguity around naming (sharing economy? peer-to-peer economy? collaborative economy?), regulatory snafus (hello, Uber!), etc - the proliferation of such business models points to a paradigm shift comparable to sustainability. What do you see as the future/potential of this trend, and of the opportunity for established brands within it?
COLLABORATION -
Effectively communicating sustainability must go beyond a dire series of predictions — it's about sharing real-world evidence of the economic, social and environmental challenges faced daily on our planet and the solutions for those challenges.In honor of Earth Day and the remarkable progress being made toward a myriad sustainability solutions, the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives at Arizona State University has launched a "Solution A Day" social media campaign, in the spirit of the Initiatives’ mission to engage a broad audience to celebrate those solutions.
PRESS RELEASE -
by Kathleen RogersEarth Day Network (EDN) is the largest recruiter to the environmental movement in the world. Over one billion people across 192 countries will participate in Earth Day 2015, making it the largest civic observance in the world.With over 50,000 partners, EDN supports and promotes environmental laws and civic participation to build environmental democracy since the first Earth Day in 1970. This year marks Earth Day’s 45th anniversary.
PRESS RELEASE -
STRATHAM, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Timberland, a global leader in the design, engineering and marketing of premium-quality footwear, apparel and accessories, today released its 2014 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) performance data. The report aptly comes out on Earth Day, and shares the brand’s continued commitment to sustainability against four key pillars: service, product, factories and climate.“Timberland has a longstanding commitment to sustainability, which goes well beyond environmental stewardship”