Marketing and Comms
How brands are evolving in the area of sustainability marketing and communications — and how their stakeholders are asserting their own needs and preferences.
Sustainability: Understand, Adapt, Then Signal
Engagement with sustainability offers many perks to a company: It improves brand reputation, it helps raise prices, it maintains one’s position in the market long term and it can open doors to better investment packages. Signals are one way that companies communicate that sustainability is vital to their corporate strategy and brand development.
#BetheStart Campaign – Week 3: More Vibrant Communities
Imagine a world where everyone could truthfully say they lived in a vibrant, trusting local community and global society — where our communities were places where residents felt engaged, supported, appreciated and valued; where the local economy was thriving, and participants feel proud to be part of their community and take an active role in helping to support this.
13 Hot Research Reports on Corporate Sustainability Issues, Tools and Trends
As the fourth and final piece in our 4-part series of ‘hot lists’ (check out our other picks for hot products, books and business model innovations), this week we introduce 13 hot research reports tracking the state of various aspects of corporate sustainability, as well as respective consumer attitudes and behaviors.
The Two Deficits: Why Conservatives and Progressives Are Both Right, Part One
This is the first in a multi-part series of posts that comprise Future 500 founder Bill Shireman's insightful essay, The Two Deficits, from the book Towards a New Agenda for America: Ideas To Bridge the Left and Right and Move the Natio
Hyundai's Controversial Ad: Communicating Sustainability the Wrong Way?
Suicide may be painless in the song but it's a theme that's causing all sorts of grief for automaker Hyundai.
The Amplification Project: Translating Policy Research Into Action
Each week leading up to the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) finals on June 5th, where the runner-up will be decided via live online public vote, we will feature articles introducing our semi-finalists. This week, meet The Amplification Project.“Advocacy is about persuasion, and connecting with the people that you’re trying to persuade,” says Richard Greenberg, founder of The Amplification Project, a socially and environmentally conscious company whose mission is to “translate policy research into action.”
Coca-Cola Announces Global Commitments To Help Fight Obesity
Coca-Cola today announced four global business commitments it claims will contribute to healthier, happier and more active communities in the more than 200 countries where it does business.
M&S, B&Q, Eden Project and More Helping UK Consumers 'Be the Start' of More Resourceful Living
Researchers tell us that by 2030 we will need 30% more water, 50% more energy and 50% more food to be fit for our growing population. Statistics from WWF echo this — if we continue our current rate of consumption in the United Kingdom, we will need three planets' worth of natural resources to continue this lifestyle, and five planets to continue the consumption lifestyle in the USA.
Sustainable Restaurant Association Launches Global Restaurant Rating System
The UK-based Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) this week debuted a global sustainability rating system to encourage more sustainable practices across the industry. More than 500 UK restaurants have already completed the rating system, a new international standard for the professional food community.
Report: Major Global Companies Failing To Report on GHG
The level of public disclosure of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions among the world's 800 largest companies is “unacceptably poor,” according to research published this week by the Environmental Investment Organization (EIO).
Consumers Rank Ingredient Transparency Among Most Important Issues for Brands
Horsemeat found in five percent of beef tested in the European Union. One in three fish commonly mislabeled in the United States. Up to 30 states now considering GMO labeling laws. Ingredient transparency is trending for brands looking to restore consumer trust. But how much do consumers care about what they put in, on and around their bodies?
Speaking AND Listening: The Key to Effective Stakeholder Communications
Fostering a two-way, inclusive dialogue with stakeholders is key to the success of corporate sustainability programs. But developing a communications strategy that delivers the transparency stakeholders demand, in an engaging, enriching way, is challenging.
Spotlight on Five Tales of Sustainability Storytelling Success
Businesses worldwide are exploring the growing potential of storytelling to engage their audiences with complex social and environmental issues, inspire behaviour change and enhance brand reputation.
Be a Part of Business in the Community's 'Be the Start' Month
This month, Business in the Community's Start campaign is running Be the Start — a month-long celebration and demonstration of how living sustainably is rewarding and meaningful.Over 31 days, 40+ businesses and organisations — including Marks and Spencer, Waitrose, IBM, Eurostar, Virgin Money and B&Q —will join in with the campaign to support and inspire people in their journey towards a sustainable lifestyle.
Communicating Sustainability at Maersk Line: Striking a Balance Between Silence and Greenwashing
Maersk Line has traditionally not been known for its sustainability efforts. Why? Well, because the company used to have a habit of hardly communicating anything externally. Previously, there had been little perceived need for communicating — and this combined with a strong value around humbleness kept the company quiet.
The Next Big Leap: Keys to a More Proactive, Creative and Brand-Branding Sustainability Strategy
No matter how often it happens, when a new idea or insight opens up entirely new pathways and possibilities in our minds, there’s always a sense of exhilaration.
What Chief Sustainability Officers Can Learn from Screenwriting
If all the world’s a stage, according to Bill Shakespeare, then one needs to look no further than the c-suite for some of its highest drama. A new, fairly misunderstood protagonist has entered this mercurial world where survival typically goes to the fittest Machiavellian mind.
Global Reporting Initiative Releasing Updated Guidelines
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) last week announced that the next generation of its Sustainability Reporting Guidelines will be unveiled at its 2013 Global Conference on Sustainability Reporting in Amsterdam on May 22.
Hershey Says It Will Meet or Exceed All 2015 Sustainability Targets
Hershey on Monday released its most recent CSR Scorecard, which reflects substantial progress on a range of sustainability programs and new initiatives over the past year.The company says it is on track to meet or exceed all of its 2015 sustainability targets set forth in its last full CSR Report. The latest scorecard is organized around programs and initiatives in four key areas of social responsibility: Marketplace, Environment, Workplace and Community.Some notable achievements Hershey has highlighted include:
The Future of Sustainability Is Design, Not Communication
When it comes to building brands and driving change, effective communication is a prerequisite. Unsurprisingly then, communications are often the first port of call when it comes to the unique challenges and opportunities that sustainability represents for today’s brands.However, emerging cultural, economic and technological trends related to sustainability are forcing brands to think differently about the role of communications in their wider brand ecosystem. As is so often the case, when the game is changing this quickly, a more effective solution requires a redefinition of the problem.
