Marketing & Communications

How brands are successfully communicating their sustainability efforts — and how their stakeholders are asserting their own needs and preferences

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
Branding for Sustainability: A Manifesto!
Branding for Sustainability: A Manifesto!
Published on July 11, 2013
About a 1 minute read

I wrote recently about branding for sustainability, rather than the branding of sustainability. The main point is that branding is no longer merely about communication techniques that get tacked on to a business. Instead, branding shapes the entire l... View More

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Consumer Behavior ChangeMarketing & Communications
Big, Bold, Creative ... and Normal: How Brands Can Shift Sustainability Into the Mainstream
Big, Bold, Creative ... and Normal: How Brands Can Shift Sustainability Into the Mainstream
Published on July 11, 2013
About a 8 minute read

Bob Dylan understood the sustainability challenge long ago when he sang, “People seldom do what they believe in / They do what is convenient, then repent” in “Brownsville Girl.”For sustainability to become mainstream, we need to reframe the d... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
New 'I Want to Be Recycled' Campaign Targeting 62% of Americans Who Are Not Avid Recyclers
New 'I Want to Be Recycled' Campaign Targeting 62% of Americans Who Are Not Avid Recyclers
Published on July 11, 2013
About a 4 minute read

The average American produces 4.4 pounds of trash a day, and on the whole the United States produces over 250 million tons of trash a year. However, only about 35 percent is currently recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
Stop Speaking Martian: How to Effectively Translate the Language of Sustainability
Stop Speaking Martian: How to Effectively Translate the Language of Sustainability
Published on July 11, 2013
About a 4 minute read

As the sustainability profession grapples with how it can invite and entice a new internal conversation with a broader, ‘beyond-sustainability-silo’ brand and business audience, we are struggling with many fundamental challenges. Language is one ... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
Volkswagen Wants Brands, Plants to 'Think Blue' for Sustainability Leadership
Volkswagen Wants Brands, Plants to 'Think Blue' for Sustainability Leadership
Published on July 10, 2013
About a 2 minute read

Volkswagen finished last of the global automakers that occupied five of the top seven spots in Interbrand's recently released Best Global Green Brands 2013 report. That was a pretty good showing, but the German giant seems determined to hoist itself ... View More

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Collaboration & Co-CreationCollaboration & Co-CreationMarketing & Communications
Coca-Cola and WWF Expand Global Partnership, Announce New Environmental Goals
Coca-Cola and WWF Expand Global Partnership, Announce New Environmental Goals
Published on July 10, 2013
About a 3 minute read

Coca-Cola has announced a new set of environmental goals, including returning 100 percent of the water from its manufacturing facilities back to the environment at a level that supports aquatic life by 2020.Coca-Cola says it is extending its nearly d... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
New Documentary 'Sparks' Collaboration That Could Benefit People in Need Locally and Globally
New Documentary 'Sparks' Collaboration That Could Benefit People in Need Locally and Globally
Published on July 9, 2013
About a 3 minute read

At the dawn of the 21st century, America’s spiraling energy consumption hijacks our democracy and gambles our planet’s future. Meanwhile, 50 million Americans live in poverty, while our government stalls behind party lines. Next spring a new docu... View More

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Collaboration & Co-CreationCollaboration & Co-CreationMarketing & Communications
Global Sustainable Tourism Council Initiative Promotes Careers in Sustainable Tourism
Global Sustainable Tourism Council Initiative Promotes Careers in Sustainable Tourism
Published on July 9, 2013
About a 2 minute read

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has announced a partnership with the Global Travel & Tourism Partnership (GTTP) to launch an industry philanthropic initiative aimed at promoting sustainable tourism development and educating secondar... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
Retailers, Manufacturers Launching Consumer Water Efficiency Label for Bathroom Products
Retailers, Manufacturers Launching Consumer Water Efficiency Label for Bathroom Products
Published on July 9, 2013
About a 2 minute read

A group of leading DIY retailers, builders’ merchants and manufacturers in the UK – including Argos, B&Q, Chandlers’ Building Supplies, Homebase, Travis Perkins, Saint Gobain, Wolseley UK and Southern Water — are joining forces to launch ... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
The Top 8 Things We Learned from Marks & Spencer's 2013 Plan A Report
The Top 8 Things We Learned from Marks & Spencer's 2013 Plan A Report
Published on July 3, 2013
About a 5 minute read

Year after year, Marks & Spencer sets a high standard for environmental sustainability in the UK retail world. Its large scale and high level of social consciousness give it the unique position to promote change throughout the industry. As a part... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
Playing the Big Game: Are We Branding for Sustainability?
Playing the Big Game: Are We Branding for Sustainability?
Published on July 3, 2013
About a 6 minute read

When it comes to sustainable brands, we can play the big game or the small game. What I call “Branding of Sustainability” is the small game. It simply means applying old-school brand action, such as advertising and other marketing communications,... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
Listen Up: How One Brand Learned That Greenwashing Is Never an 'Ethical Choice'
Listen Up: How One Brand Learned That Greenwashing Is Never an 'Ethical Choice'
Published on July 3, 2013
About a 4 minute read

Dole has both made a U-turn and reached out to critics in an apparent desire to understand where they went wrong in this market and how they might set things right. ... View More

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Marketing & Communications
Three Tips for Successful Rebranding
Three Tips for Successful Rebranding
Published on June 29, 2013
About a 3 minute read

In the early 2000s, revered British clothing brand Burberry was experiencing some hiccups. For decades, the Burberry name had been synonymous with English culture, but as the 20th century moved into the 21st, the company began to overextend itself. E... View More

Article
Consumer Behavior ChangeMarketing & Communications
The Power of Peer Influence on Consumer Habits
The Power of Peer Influence on Consumer Habits
Published on June 26, 2013
About a 5 minute read

When it comes to motivating behavior change, there’s nothing more powerful than the recommendations of your peers. This applies to everything from musical tastes of teenagers to brand selections among consumers to farmers in India.This power of pee... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
Mars Named Best Private Company in 2013 Responsible Business Awards
Mars Named Best Private Company in 2013 Responsible Business Awards
Published on June 26, 2013
About a 2 minute read

Mars, Incorporated has been named “Best Private Company” by the 2013 Ethical Corporation Responsible Business Awards. Ethical Corporation is a UK-based global business publication focused on global ethical business and exploring how large compani... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
WindMade Introduces Product Label and Calls on Consumers to 'Show You Care'
WindMade Introduces Product Label and Calls on Consumers to 'Show You Care'
Published on June 25, 2013
About a 2 minute read

The WindMade organization has launched the first global consumer label for products made with wind energy, according to a recent announcement.The WindMade Product Label can be applied to all products using a minimum share of 75 percent of renewable e... View More

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Marketing & Communications
Scope 5 Helping Businesses Find New Insights Into Their Sustainability Data
Scope 5 Helping Businesses Find New Insights Into Their Sustainability Data
Published on June 21, 2013
About a 4 minute read

With the continued, rampant growth of our community come countless opportunities to engage with new, innovative companies and the brains behind them. Today, meet Scope 5 founder Yoram Bernet. ... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
Nickelodeon Refuses to Ban Junk-Food Ads
Nickelodeon Refuses to Ban Junk-Food Ads
Published on June 21, 2013
About a 1 minute read

Children's entertainment network Nickelodeon says it will not give in to public pressure to ban advertisements for junk food despite childhood obesity concerns.The Viacom-owned network has no plans to follow in Walt Disney Co.’s footsteps, which la... View More

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Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
Browbeating Is Bad and Charming Isn’t Enough: Sustainability Stories Should Be All About Stakeholders
Browbeating Is Bad and Charming Isn’t Enough: Sustainability Stories Should Be All About Stakeholders
Published on June 20, 2013
About a 5 minute read

These days, many conversations about the status of sustainability in business and society seem to fall into two categories. These can be summarized as 1. It’s mainstreaming, and 2. It’s not mainstreaming, or it’s not mainstreaming enough, or as... View More

Article
Consumer Behavior ChangeMarketing & Communications
Mooncup: How to Market the Unmentionable
Mooncup: How to Market the Unmentionable
Published on June 20, 2013
About a 7 minute read

In his book The Green Marketing Manifesto, environmental advertising guru John Grant admits that there is one product that he had no idea how to sell. The problem is not product performance. The little disruptive innovation in question is not just gr... View More

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