How brands are successfully communicating their sustainability efforts — and how their stakeholders are asserting their own needs and preferences
April is Earth Month, and brands are announcing programs to inspire participation in environmental activities and funding campaigns.
This week, two scorecards revealed how major brands are stacking up when it comes to living up to their commitments to improve their social and environmental stewardship, with Nestlé and Unilever apparently neck and neck for the lead in several areas.
The Canadian Fair Trade Network (CFTN), a non-profit organization that works with civil society and industry stakeholders to advance awareness and support for fair trade in Canada, has teamed up with Rethink Canada on a series of clothing labels highlighting the devastating conditions that persist for many workers in garment factories around the world.The powerful ad campaign, “The Label Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story,” depicts clothing tags on a suit jacket, sweater and hoodie that reveal much more than the size and fabric mix of the garments (click to enlarge images).
Everyday conversations about food are shifting from questions about whether to eat gluten or saturated fat to a new era in consumer food choices: sustainable diets. Some of this focus stems from recent findings reported by the federal government linking dietary choices to environmental impact and is bolstered by consumers’ awareness that their choices affect both their health and the environment. Consumers have long been seeking healthy food options and now the majority of consumers state that they intend to make changes in their diet for environmental reasons.
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.
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.
Have you already failed your New Year’s resolution to live a healthier and happier life? We are own biggest enemy and the sooner we realize this, the sooner we can begin making real change. Everybody who’s been put in charge of creating change - whether it’s changing a country, business, organization, system, product, service or minds - knows that what most evidently stands in the way of change is not funds or ingenuity, it’s ourselves. We break New Year’s pledges almost as they’re outspoken, forget to switch off the lights, although risk-aware drive without a seatbelt, keep smoking although we know its deadly, repeat history’s atrocities again and again - raising the question if we at all are capable of taking care of ourselves?
More Than Scientists, launched this week, brings together climate scientists, advocacy organizations and the public in a campaign that offers a glimpse into the stories, views and feelings of various experts on climate change. The campaign shares their personal perspectives — not on the science itself, but why it matters for future generations.
This month, shareholder advocacy organization As You Sow released its 10th annual Proxy Preview report, detailing the record-breaking 433 social and environmental shareholder resolutions filed so far this proxy season, with political spending and climate change driving most of the activity.
The controversial Free Trade Agreement (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) being negotiated by the EU and the US gives the green light for the sale of over a thousand American cosmetics in Europe, the marketing of which is actually banned in the EU.If nothing else, this should remind us of the importance of knowing what we’re buying: Ingredients such as parabens, mineral oils and other petroleum derivatives, silicones, SLS, SLES, ethanolamines, PEGs, perfumes and synthetic dyes are, in fact, toxic components used in cosmetics and industrial hygiene products.
As much as climate change is now in regular rotation in the daily news, we’re still a long way from knowing exactly how it will change life as we know it. But as changes become evident, new business opportunities have already presented themselves – take, for example, extinction tourism: The concept surfaced in marketing campaigns in 2008 as companies began offering packages tied to global warming, “using climate change as a marketing pitch, a ‘see it now before it’s gone’ kind of thing,” said Ayako Ezaki, communications director for the International Ecotourism Society at the time.
“Big Data” and “Social Good” may be the yin and yang of tomorrow’s most successful brands. Both are recognized as important components of contemporary marketing strategy, yet they are not typically thought of as bedmates. That is changing.The growing expectation that brands should make meaningful contributions to the world has put pressure on marketers to find profitable ways to do so. They must carefully select causes that align with the brand’s ethos and can be seamlessly woven into their business models. But how to find such rare pearls? The answer lies, in part, with data.
Unilever UK and Greenredeem, which rewards people for everyday conscious actions (similar to the UK equivalent of Recyclebank), have announced a partnership aimed at increasing recycling rates and other small, positive actions in our everyday lives to live more sustainably.
It’s now carnival in Brazil, a week when the population puts away its troubles and heads to the beaches and streets in a glorious celebration of dancing, music and life.So a few weeks ago some bright spark at Skol, one of the best-selling lagers here, drunk by millions — owned by Brazilian brewer Ambev — decided to throw away the rule book on advertising alcohol. They must have thought that all that stuff about ‘drink in moderation’ and ‘don’t drink and drive’ such a bore … They must have thought, ‘Stuff it, let’s have an outdoor advertising campaign that tells people to just go mental, abandon all moral codes and ethics, and go totally wild and say yes to everything.’
It has been almost five years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico claimed 11 lives and became the largest oil spill in world history. The crisis unleashed a torrent of criticism against BP, which operated the offshore oil rig. Countless pundits, journalists and political leaders lambasted the company for what the company did — or did not do. Accused of reckless conduct and gross negligence, the company settled with the U.S. Justice Department in 2012, but other litigation is ongoing. A U.S.
True to their snarky form, our friends at Grist have created a series of Valentine’s Day greetings designed to show your loved ones how much you care — both about them and the damage we’ve done to the planet.As Amelia Bates and Katie Herzog explain:
Code REDD announced the launch today of Stand For Trees, the first consumer campaign that uses the power of social media and crowdfunding to enable users to take action to reduce deforestation and curb climate change.Individuals are asked to purchase $10 Stand for Trees certificates, which each prevent one metric tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) from being released into the atmosphere while protecting threatened ecosystems that sustain forest communities and numerous endangered species.
GE Water & Process Technologies recently launched UsedtoUseful, a new platform that explores the impact of water reuse on industrial and municipal sectors. The site shares industry insight and discusses interesting concepts surrounding the impact of water reuse on industrial and municipal sectors.UsedtoUseful focuses on water reuse, tough-to-treat water, energy efficiency, and monitoring through interesting articles, original content, and water stories from around the globe in a non-commercial way.
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.
When Sandy flooded New York and New Jersey, it destroyed key infrastructure for two lifeline sectors: fuel and transportation. What happened next reveals just how essential it is to share supply chain information in times of crisis.