MARKETING AND COMMS -
As of the writing of this article, the year 2020 is a mere 450 days away. Can you believe that? 450 days!
For the sustainability community, 2020 is a particularly important date: 2020 Sustainability Goals have become highly fashionable; unless you have been living under a rock, you are familiar with phrases such as “20 percent reduction [insert carbon, energy, waste, water, etc] by 2020.”
MARKETING AND COMMS -
McDonald’s USA has announced that its seven classic burgers are now free from artificial preservatives, artificial flavors and added colors from artificial sources. The ingredient changes affect all 14,000 U.S. restaurants, marking this the next major milestone in McDonald’s food journey and another way the fast food giant aims to help customers feel good about its food.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Last year, the Sustainable Brands community gathered around the world throughout the year to share insights on how they – and their customers – were “redefining the good life.” This year, the conversation has progressed from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’ of designing the sustainable future in which we all want to live.
WALKING THE TALK -
Today’s consumers are increasingly concerned about the impact their purchasing decisions have on the planet. People want to know how products they buy affect social and environmental ecosystems, and are paying more money for and attention to healthy foods and consumer goods.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
In the early days of my career, more years ago than I care to admit, I spent a good part of my time explaining to people what e-waste was, that it was hazardous and that it shouldn’t be landfilled. I’m pleased to report that those days are over. Most of us today are well aware of the tide of electronics washing up in China, Africa and elsewhere. The vast majority of us want to ensure our discarded electronic paperweights are properly recycled. We are moving in the right direction.
PRESS RELEASE -
In the world of marketing, less than seven percent of directors are women.* Gillette Venus wants to help close that gap with the launch of the Her Shot campaign, a social experiment in storytelling and celebration of all the ways a female perspective can disrupt and improve the world.
Gillette Venus is partnering with 10 up-and-coming female directors to create video content spotlighting the importance of a woman’s point of view and sharing unique perspectives on the positive impact this can have on the world. The brand is also partnering with actress/director Regina King to serve as a voice of inspiration to the directors, providing tips and advice on success so they can elevate their voices in the industry.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Nike’s 30th anniversary edition of its iconic “Just Do It” campaign, released this week, features embattled football star Colin Kaepernick, in a move practically designed to stir up controversy — but which ultimately aligns perfectly with Nike’s ethos of living courageously.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Founded in 2008, Atlanta-based Rubicon Global has become a worldwide leader in providing cloud-based waste and recycling solutions for customers in business, government and the nonprofit sectors.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Earth is a wonderful place. But burning rainforests, melting glaciers and dying corals could wipe out nearly half of all plant and animal species in some of the world’s most naturally rich areas. We need to act now to protect animals and habitats from the effects of climate change.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Understanding who your business affects and how they affect your business is key to long-term success. If you only focus on customers, you are falling way short. To truly take your business from local to national and on to global levels, you have to consider all the ways your company interacts with the world around it and, most importantly, what stories you are telling.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
I have been an executive for large fashion companies most of my career. I held senior management positions in buying and production in Footwear and Accessories for multi-chain retailers. It was not clear to me at the time, but truth be told, I played a part in the explosion of fast fashion and mass consumerism, as we know it today.
PRESS RELEASE -
The 79th annual Wyndham Championship just got a lot greener, thanks to a new partnership with Greensboro-based Unifi, Inc. (NYSE: UFI). The global textile manufacturer, which makes its REPREVE® performance fiber from recycled materials, including plastic bottles, is excited to announce it has signed a multi-year agreement to become an official recycling partner of the PGA TOUR event contested annually at Greensboro's Sedgefield Country Club. It is estimated that tens of thousands of plastic bottles will be recycled through this partnership.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Grocery stores, restaurants and coffee shops have wholeheartedly embraced the slow food movement, with phrases such as "certified organic," "fair-trade" and "all-natural" plastered across product packaging and menus. While each of these designations means something specific, in the eyes of many along the supply chain including the end user, they all can deliver a similar message of high quality.
PRESS RELEASE -
3,890. That’s the number of wild tigers left in the world today. Compared to 100,000 wild tigers that roamed the earth just a century ago, the massive 96% decline is beyond startling. With illegal tiger trade, poaching and habitat loss threatening the majestic species’ extinction, Tiger Beer knew they had to step in. The tiger is more than a logo for Asia’s leading premium lager, it’s a symbol of strength, courage and beauty. Last year, Tiger Beer embarked on a 6-year partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to bring global awareness to the plight of the wild tiger and to support the organization’s ambitious tiger conservation efforts.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
A new film, WATERSCHOOL, takes viewers on a journey with several young female students who live along six of the world’s major rivers — the Amazon, Mississippi, Danube, Nile, Ganges and Yangtze — to shine a light on the importance of safeguarding the continued supply of fresh water and the work of the Swarovski Waterschool education and community investment progra
PRESS RELEASE -
The life cycle of recycled paper from recycling bin to final product
WALKING THE TALK -
The “brand purpose” bandwagon has become awfully crowded. And as more and more brands seek to capitalize on the opportunity to cast themselves in a more authentic, meaningful light, the language of “brand purpose” has become weak, watered down and increasingly meaningless.
Marketing purpose is easy; embedding purpose is hard work. And while a number of pioneers and purists remain committed to embedding purpose at the organizational level, the temptation to cut corners and to exploit purpose for marketing “quick wins” — rather than to embed it in more meaningful, transformative ways — has become too great to resist. The phenomenon of “purpose-washing” is real.
LEADERSHIP -
On Thursday, June 14th, I will be with my closest family at Buckingham Palace, proudly receiving my OBE. For those outside the UK, this may not mean much (unless you’ve been watching “The Crown”), but the award is a public recognition of doing something useful — in my case, for services to sustainability.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Last week, over 2,000 representatives from our global community of sustainability practitioners, brand strategists, product and service innovators, thought leaders and other change-makers converged at SB’18 Vancouver to share their latest insights on a multitude of themes pertinent to all of those committed to improving business around the world. Here, we dig into brand and organizational efforts to get consumers to deliver their part of the equation, through responsible consumption.
P&G: The road to responsible consumption
By Marissa Rosen
MARKETING AND COMMS -
The idea of the Deep Time Walk is simple but incredibly powerful: When dealing with the vast dimensions of time and space, we are often unable to grasp the magnitude quantitatively, just through studying the numbers. A Deep Time Walk allows us to walk the timeline of the history of the Earth and also universe, and thus for example, on a walk of 4.6km, if we start with the birth of Earth, each one-metre step represents one million years.