MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
SB ’15 San Diego’s final day plenaries centered on what many would describe as the Holy Grail of sustainability engagement: reaching people’s hearts and minds to drive sustainable change. MC’d by Annie Longsworth, founder and CEO of The Siren Agency, the day’s speakers explored topics as varied and interconnected as employee and consumer engagement, stakeholder partnerships and activist visual art.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Raphael Bemporad, Founding Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at BBMG, kicked off Wednesday’s SB ‘15 San Diego plenaries by anchoring the day’s conversation in the human story. As the day’s moderator, he asked attendees to wonder what it would mean to design brands for humans — not merely consumers — through a lens of “abundance without waste” and set the stage for plenary discussions focused on design, innovation and leadership.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
On Tuesday, the week of learning at SB ’15 San Diego continued as Nina Goodrich, director of GreenBlue, moderated a discussion on innovative partnerships around recycling and reuse initiatives.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Tuesday, day two of SB ‘15 San Diego, marked a transition from workshops to breakout sessions and this morning’s session on practical tips and case studies for employee engagement featured a star-studded lineup of experts from Kiva, Google, HP and HIP Investor.We kicked things off with a welcome from WeSpire, host sponsor of the “Workplace of the Future” track, who asked the question: How do we give employees the opportunity to bring their best selves to work?
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
For those of us in the sustainability field, stakeholder engagement that leads to action is the Holy Grail for creating the change needed for a healthy world and future.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
At the World Travel & Tourism Council 2015 Global Summit in Madrid today, Sustainable Travel International (STI) unveiled an industry-wide campaign, entitled “10 Million Better,” to monitor and scale up social and environmental benefits from travel and tourism.The 10-year initiative convenes leading tourism corporations, organizations and destinations around the globe with the goal of tracking and demonstrating improvements in the lives of at least 10 million people and their families by 2025. Improvements to be monitored include growth of income and opportunity, and better protection of destinations’ natural, cultural and heritage sites.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Clif Bar has released the second installment in its Farmers Speak series. Where the first centered on organic oats; the second installment “gives voice” to organic almonds — a key ingredient in 17 products across the company’s CLIF®, CLIF® Organic Trail Mix, LUNA® and CLIF® Kit’s Organic Fruit + Nut Bar brand bars.The video tells the story of Burroughs Family Farm — which grows nearly 1,000 acres of organic almonds in Merced County, in California’s Central Valley — and the family’s decision to make the bold transition from conventional to organic farming practices.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
In his recent book, Making Sustainability Stick, Kevin Wilhelm offers a wealth of insight, experience and tools to help individuals and organizations deliver more business value by adding environmental and social parameters to their business strategy. By taking a look from the inside at the work of pioneering companies such as Starbucks and REI, the book shares some of the key things that have contributed to
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
In the lead-up to this year’s Sustainable Brands Innovation Open — our competition for startups poised to make scalable, sustainable impacts — we’re catching up with some of our favorite game-changing solutions from past years. This week, we have an update from SBIO 2013 finalist Blue Box.
COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
World leaders, activists and celebrities have descended on Davos, Switzerland this week to discuss everything from Ebola to climate change and the future shape of the world economy at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2015.
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 -
Greenpeace continued its campaign against LEGO on Tuesday with the release of a dramatic video, called “Everything Is NOT Awesome,” aimed at further illustrating the reasons the toy company should sever its ties with Shell, which Greenpeace contends is putting the delicate Arctic marine environment at risk through its oil drilling.
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.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
In 2013, West Elm committed to invest $35M in artisan partnerships around the world through 2015. These partnerships create a number of benefits for both West Elm and the artisans they collaborate with.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
What if 100 percent of your employees were engaged in your business? According to Gallup, that would translate to an increase of anywhere from $450-550B in increased revenue for US companies alone. Those are daunting numbers in the macro. But what matters is how it translates to your business. Even if it were only 1 percent of your revenue, wouldn’t you want to know?
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Consistently creating valuable content through a variety of channels is a great way for companies to establish thought leadership and gain customer trust; Airbnb’s content-marketing initiatives are a best-practice model.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Less than a year ago at Sustainable Brands ‘13, leading brand innovators from around the world came together in San Diego for the seventh year to address some of their biggest sustainability challenges. These innovators realize that no brand is an island and many challenges they face are shared by their peers, competitors, suppliers and customers. In order to support shared learning and collaboration beyond the conference itself, members of the SB advisory board designed a new structure — the SB Collaboratory — to provide a forum for these professionals to come together to share experiences, ask questions, learn from each other and brainstorm a path forward.
NEW METRICS -
One of the key messages in the upcoming book The Big Pivot: Radically Practical Strategies for a Hotter, Scarcer, More Open World is the “need to set goals in companies based on science, not on what we think we can do, not bottom-up,” says author Andrew Winston.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Numerous marketing campaigns have sprung out of the Black Friday movement that encourage a more conscious approach to consumption — whether through consuming less; producing less waste; supporting local, grassroots or small businesses; or contributing to those in need.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
One organization taking the initiative to improve gender representation in its industry is Cognizant Technology Solutions — whose employee-led Women Empowered initiative attracts and retains female associates through active recruitment, talent development, communication and networking.