PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
British boyband One Direction are using their powers for good with a new campaign calling on their millions of fans around the world to push governments to address extreme quality, inequality and climate change at the upcoming climate talks later this year.
WASTE NOT -
Arizona State University (ASU) athletics and ESPN recently continued bold efforts to reduce waste and carbon emissions at their high-profile sporting events.ASU’s Sun Devil Athletics was recognized for its participation in the 2014 Game Day Zero Waste Challenge as part of the Pac-12 Conference. The team scored first in the Challenge’s recycling and organics-reduction categories, recycling an average of 1 pound of waste per person. It also placed second in the conference diversion rate category and third in GHG reduction.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
On Wednesday, over an intimate, invite-only lunch at SB ’15 San Diego, Timberland and the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) screened the trailer for their documentary, KOMBIT: The Cooperative, scheduled for release in October 2015.KOMBIT means “pulling together” in Haitian Creole. Timberland says this is the perfect description of the partnership among local Haitians, as well as its work with them and SFA to rebuild the island nation’s environmental and economic landscape through small-scale farming.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Over the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing a range of startup fashion brands doing inspiring work on developing sustainable and socially responsible business models. However, it’s hard to escape the fact that the textile industry’s notoriously poor reputation means that these innovators are currently the exception and not the rule.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
I like singing, dancing and snapping like everyone else when it comes to ‘Single Ladies.’ And I totally agree - if you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it. But it still doesn't mean I like Beyoncé.Why don't I like Beyoncé? Very simple, I have no clue who she is. I've never met her and know anything about her life. How I can I like her? What's there to like? I just don't like her. Not even a bit.Make no mistake, I don't dislike Beyoncé either. I am completely ambivalent when it comes to Beyoncé the person. Beyoncé the person is a complete unknown to me and everyone who isn't close family or friends. How can you like or dislike something or someone you simply don't know and have no clue who or what they are?
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Those of you in the English-speaking world may not realise just how massively famous Brazilian soap-opera stars have become around the world. For example Avenida Brasil broke records in 2012 after being sold by Rede Globo (Globo Network) to 130 countries and reaching 50 million viewers.While Brazilian soaps often glamourise ostentatious consumerism, in 2013 the soap opera Joia Rara (Rare Jewel) launched; set in 1940s Rio de Janeiro, its plot centred around Buddhism, compassion, forgiveness and redemption — an incredible foundation for a genre not commonly associated with ethics, spirituality or more philosophical issues.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Woolworths CEO Ian Moir announced a partnership with Grammy Award-winning musician, record producer and philanthropist Pharrell Williams last week. The collaboration is the first of its kind for a South African retailer.Williams will become the new Style Director in a groundbreaking collaboration across a series of sustainability-focused projects. The strategic partnership is grounded in the shared values of Williams and Woolworths.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Today, Sony Pictures Entertainment — which itself has led the charge in sustainable filmmaking with its carbon-neutral production of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) — is celebrating a decade of environmental innovation at its Screen Gems film label. The media giant says Screen Gems’ dedication to and implementation of creative, low-impact moviemaking practices has helped drive industry awareness of environmentally friendly technologies and new approaches to production.
LEADERSHIP -
March is here, and that means one thing to me — March Madness! For all its warts and shortcomings, the NCAA knows how to host a basketball championship. This tournament is so good that the first few days are now an unofficial national holiday, all leading up to the final game where one champion is crowned.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
2015 marks the ninth year of Earth Hour, the WWF-led global event at which people and businesses turn off the lights to illuminate climate change awareness. Businesses, communities and individuals in nearly 170 countries will flip their switches for an hour this Saturday, March 28th at 8:30 pm local time.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
As part of a continued effort to address public concerns over its treatment of captive dolphins and whales, SeaWorld Entertainment has launched a new ad campaign highlighting its 50-year commitment to continuous evolution, new killer whale habitats and answer criticism from activists.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The Washington Post’s Rajiv Chandrasekaran is reportedly leaving his longtime post at the Post to form a new venture — a media company that will produce longform “social-impact" documentaries, with an initial focus on veterans’ issues, in partnership with Starbucks.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
For third-sector organisations, the fundraising environment has rarely seemed so tough. One aspect of this is the prevalent belief that digital media and technology is creating a culture of 'slackivism’ — people replacing direct involvement and engagement with causes and campaigns, with clicks and Facebook likes.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The Next Black, a documentary that explores how out-of-the-box thinking and more conscious design are shaping the future of our clothes, had its first screening in Brooklyn earlier this week. The event kicked off a weeklong exhibit at the BF+DA about the growing intimacy between technology and fashion.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
As Super Bowl XLIX shapes up to kick off on Sunday, NBC is selling 30-second spots for $4.4-4.5 million, and 95 percent of in-game ad inventory is already sold on what has become digital advertising’s biggest day.By leveraging a massive event such as the Super Bowl, which last year set a record as the most-watched American television program in history with an average audience of 111.5 million viewers, more marketers are betting millions on shifting those viewers’ perception and understanding of sustainability with their carefully crafted ads.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Sport England, previously known as the English Sports Council, has launched an ad campaign called “This Girl Can,” which uses real women to promote exercise among females.The campaign’s first 90-second film, aiming to inspire women of all shapes and sizes to get off the couch, has generated more than 2.9 million views on YouTube in its first week and trended at number two on Twitter. FCB Inferno, the London agency behind the film, described it as "a celebration of active women designed to make the attainable aspirational."
MARKETING AND COMMS -
On a balmy Sydney night in November 2003, a squad of 31 English rugby players fulfilled their dreams. They won England's first rugby World Cup, led by a brilliant coach, ex IT-leasing company founder, Clive Woodward. Their journey under his leadership can teach us a lot about where we've gone wrong marketing sustainability.
NEW METRICS -
Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise company, has reduced its carbon emissions from shipboard operations by 20 percent one year ahead of schedule, according to the company’s new sustainability report.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
For the NFL to rebuild trust with women in the wake of the ongoing domestic violence debacle, and repair its bruised brand image, Commissioner Roger Goodell will need to do more than apologize, beef up education programs and promise to do better. To truly overcome the damage that’s been done to the reputation of the NFL and its sponsors, Goodell will need to change the way the League thinks about marketing to women, take a zero tolerance stand regarding domestic violence, and ultimately redefine the brand’s purpose toward developing players who are real heroes and role models for kids and families. Here’s a game plan for the NFL and its sponsors:1. Think of women as more than a marketing opportunity