Marketing & Communications
How brands are successfully communicating their sustainability efforts — and how their stakeholders are asserting their own needs and preferences
Disney Scores the Only 'A' on Cruise Industry Environmental Report Card
Cruise ships dumped more than a billion gallons of sewage in the ocean last year, much of it raw or poorly treated, according to federal data analyzed by Friends of the Earth, which is calling for stronger rules to protect oceans, coasts, sea life an... View More
Unilever, KT, Nestlé Top Tomorrow’s Value Rating 2013
Unilever, KT and Nestlé lead the Tomorrow’s Value Rating 2013 (TVR), which recognizes companies that increasingly demonstrate “clarity of vision and innovation in their pursuit of a sustainable business model.”Sprint, Vodafone, Iberdrola, E.ON... View More
Effective Sustainability Strategies - Case Study #1: Pret a Manger
Bar none, the most persistent challenge that the sustainability movement faces is how to prove the business bottom line benefits of sustainability activities. This is particularly acute for small and medium-sized companies, for whom survival is the n... View More
Dell Pledges 80% Reduction in Product Portfolio Energy Intensity by 2020
Earlier this week, Dell announced a commitment to reduce the energy intensity of its product portfolio by 80 percent, as part of a comprehensive long-term corporate responsibility framework to achieve by 2020.The information technology company’s 20... View More
How to Design Eco-Labels to Influence Consumers
How can consumers choose sustainable products? Eco-labels or sustainability ratings can be an important guide. These systems compare products or services in terms of their social and environmental performance, identifying those that are best in class... View More
Disney, Yahoo!, Google Top List of 100 Companies 'Most Loved' by Consumers
Global opinion research consultancy APCO Insight last week revealed its list of the 100 Most Loved Companies, based on findings generated by its Emotional LinkingSM model, which measures consumers’ emotional attachment to brands. The Walt Disney Co... View More
McDonald's to Offer Educational Books in Lieu of Happy Meal Toys for National Family Literacy Day
Last week, McDonald’s USA announced the launch of a new Happy Meal Books promotion, coinciding with National Family Literacy Day on Nov. 1. From Nov. 1–14, Happy Meals will be accompanied by one of a series of four original books designed to enco... View More
Diageo, GSK and Anglo American Top 2013 FTSE 350 Climate Change Report
Diageo, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Anglo American were recently ranked highest among the companies reporting on indirect emissions and supply chain impacts on the CDP's FTSE 350 Climate Change Report.Launched this week, the report provides an annual u... View More
Investors Call For Food Companies That Oppose Labeling to Stay Out of Washington State GMO Battle
Companies that donated funds to oppose ballot initiatives to require the labeling of products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are facing new pressure from shareholders to stay out of future elections. ... View More
CVS and Humana Partner to Educate Customers About Health Coverage Options Under the ACA
CVS recently announced a partnership with health and well-being company Humana to help customers make sense of their healthcare coverage options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).Starting this month, Humana representatives will be present at CVS’... View More
Brands Embracing Transparency to Feed Consumers Hungry for Responsible Food Choices
While it might not win any Academy Awards, certainly the best title for a movie this year has to be the food industry critique, GMO OMG. On the surface, it is an attack on genetically modified seeds and what they are doing to our health. Underneath, ... View More
Don't Just Sell Green, Sell Great
Heading into this year’s Sustainable Brands conference, I was looking forward to driving BMW’s electric prototype that was on display. In hindsight, however, the technical highlight of the show for me was the Tesla Model S. You know, the ones tha... View More
Microsoft Achieves Carbon Neutrality, Increases Green Energy Use By 70%
Microsoft says it achieved carbon neutrality after introducing an internal carbon fee for renewable energy and carbon offsets, which led the company to increase the purchase of green energy in the U.S. by 70 percent, from 1.1 billion kilowatt hours (... View More
Failure to Communicate: Dry Sustainability Reports a Missed Opportunity
Does your heart sink at the thought of reading yet another sustainability report?Over the last three years I’ve been documenting the ways companies are communicating sustainability online and using social media in particular. Time and time again, e... View More
Defining Sustainability: A Process and Strategy Focus
Currently, sustainability is a lot like beauty — its definition lies in the eyes of the beholder. This author’s preference is for actionable definitions that can be integrated into daily operational processes. The following is an attempt to defin... View More
Consumers Give Microsoft, Disney, BMW, Google Highest Marks for CSR Performance
For the second year in a row, consumers named Sustainable Brands® corporate member Microsoft the company with the best CSR reputation, according to a new study by corporate reputation management consultancy Reputation Institute. This year, the IT co... View More
Dr. Bronner's Backing GMO Labeling Legislation with a Label of Its Own
Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, family-owned maker of the top-selling natural brand of soap in North America and advocate for sustainable agriculture, has created a special agitprop label for its quart-size liquid soaps in support of GMO labeling and th... View More
M&S, BT, Unilever, Sainsbury's Top FTSE 100 Carbon Ranking
For the second year in a row, retailer Marks & Spencer has topped Carbon Clear’s ranking of the carbon performance of the FTSE 100. This is the third year that Carbon Clear has undertaken the research, examining the extent and depth of FTSE (Lo... View More
New NRDC Report Finds Progress on Promises Made at Rio+20, But Calls for More Accountability
There has been significant progress on many of the key globally negotiated and voluntary commitments made at Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in June 2012, according to a new study by the Natural Resources Defense... View More
The North Face Receives EPA Green Power Leadership Award
The North Face recently became one of eight organizations awarded a 2013 Green Power Leadership Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its commitment and contribution to helping advance the development of the nation’s volunta... View More
