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16 Insights Into Successfully Activating Purpose AND Profit

As one of the focal points of the global Sustainable Brands conference network, Sustainable Brands ’16 Copenhagen will explore how brands can succeed by Activating Purpose with next-level sustainability-led innovation and stakeholder engagement. More than 100 influential thought leaders, brand strategists and cutting-edge practitioners of environmental and social innovation will contribute to the program by leading interactive discussions, deep-dive workshops, plenary presentations and networking activities designed to cultivate forward-looking win-win conversations. Here are 16 categories of program highlights organized under 4 event tracks:

By Dimitar Vlahov | Published 8 years ago | About a 5 minute read

As one of the focal points of the global Sustainable Brands conference network, Sustainable Brands ’16 Copenhagen will explore how brands can succeed by Activating Purpose with next-level sustainability-led innovation and stakeholder engagement.

More than 100 influential thought leaders, brand strategists and cutting-edge practitioners of environmental and social innovation will contribute to the program by leading interactive discussions, deep-dive workshops, plenary presentations and networking activities designed to cultivate forward-looking win-win conversations.

Here are 16 categories of program highlights organized under 4 event tracks:

Macro Trends & Drivers

Future Fit author Giles Hutchins will explain how the systems within which brands operate are changing, and why brands need to go beyond reactive surface-level action and step into truly transformational change if they are to survive and thrive in the coming decades.
Reinvention expert Nadya Zhexembayeva will synthesize lessons from her comprehensive research and experience with reinvention and share compelling reasons for why brands should seriously consider reinventing themselves from scratch every few years.
Globescan, SustainAbility and Sustainable Brands will present results of new joint research projects surveying the ‘landscape of purpose’ in terms of both consumer preferences and business leaders’ perceptions of achievement and gaps in sustainability actions by the private sector, NGOs and governments.
The Post Growth Institute will unpack a fascinating and refreshing viable vision for a world in which brands place purpose over profit as a role, supporting a thriving economy and humanity mainly on a new breed of business models based on not-for-profit principles.

Leadership & Employee Engagement

Marks & Spencer, IKEA, DONG Energy, Stora Enso, Marimekko and others will share how they have gone about pivoting their business models and innovation pipelines in the direction of future-proof products and services aligned with sustainability-inspired brand positioning.
John Elkington (Volans), The Future-Fit Foundation, BASF and Novozymes are just a few of a number of forward-thinking players in the ecosystem who will bring up-to-the-minute insights on aligning the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with brand strategy, product and service innovation, employee engagement, and corporate sustainability goal-setting. John Elkington will lead the European launch of the new Breakthrough Innovation Platform, while The Future-Fit Foundation will present the latest version of the Future-Fit Business Benchmark, a gold standard of science-based goal-setting.
Harvard University, Jenny Andersson, Sandja Brügmann and Collectively will lead practical sessions on a number of different types of conscious leadership and maturity it takes to thrive in the next economy, exploring transformative and integrative leadership styles, “teal” organizations, culture change and the future of work through the lens of the Millennial generation.

Mr. Goodvertising, Innate Motion, Context Partners, Given London and CPH Change will each lead hands-on practical guides to understanding the evolution of purpose in corporate branding, overcoming barriers to formulating and executing successful campaigns, as well as engaging consumers with cutting-edge tactics such as radical authenticity, movement-making and collaborations with artists to deliver purposeful stories.
Heineken, L’Oréal, Sprout and Arla Foods will be among the brands sharing how they conceived and implemented successful advertising campaigns aligned with a higher-order purpose inspired by social and environmental priorities.
Dr. Sirikul Laukaikul will unpack the concepts of a sufficiency economy and karma marketing, powerful ideas that put moderation and balance at the center of development strategy, emphasizing the Buddhist concept of ‘the middle path’ as a leading principle for appropriate conduct of people, businesses and government at all levels.
Sille Krukow will tackle a thorny challenge many brands are facing – how to inspire necessary changes in consumer behavior at scale in order to reach their sustainability commitments. By combining the power of ‘nudging’ strategies, behavioral economics and cognitive psychology, this session will offer fresh insights and tools to help brands encourage new cultural norms around shopping and the consumption of material goods.
Sustainly and Radley Yeldar will present insights and recommendations based on comprehensive research of existing purpose-driven brand communication, looking at what’s working and what isn’t among thousands of brands’ efforts to communicate sustainability and purpose-inspired messages across media types.

Inside the Value Chain

LEGO, Carlsberg and LAUNCH Nordic partners will outline their journeys in pursuit of sustainable materials and discuss both wins and challenges they have encountered along the way.
adidas, Novozymes, PVH and multiple others will dive deep into the value chain of textiles with the goal of having a co-creative series of discussions that highlight best-practice breakthrough innovation and consumer engagement along the entire value chain, point out a number of successful case studies along the way.
BASF, thinkstep and WBCSD will lead a workshop on steering a product portfolio towards sustainability. Over the past few years BASF has tested and perfected a best-in-class methodology for product portfolio assessment, and then used the results to tweak its business strategy and yield new business and brand value for its global business.
Possible, the Sustainable Agriculture Network and Fair Trade/FLOCERT will participate in a wide discussion on the evolution and future of sustainability-driven certification schemes and labels.

Are you looking to accelerate business success through purpose-driven, sustainability-led innovation? Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from and connect with today’s leading brands and professionals while exploring detail-rich case studies, practical know-how, and specific implementation tips to help you successfully drive purpose AND profit in 2016 and beyond.

Dimitar Vlahov

Advisor and Co-Lead, Global Content Strategy & Thought Leadership, Sustainable Brands

Dimitar is a senior sustainability and regeneration strategist, educator, executive advisor and mentor. He currently holds the following active roles: Advisor and Co-Lead, Global Content Strategy & Thought Leadership at Sustainable Brands; Senior Strategist, Content Development & Product Innovation at Sustainability Hub Norway; Executive Advisor at rePurpose Global; and Senior Content Advisor at Integrate2033. He co-led the creation of the SB Brand Transformation Roadmap, a comprehensive navigation tool mapping the whole journey from business-as-usual to a sustainable brand, and co-designed an accompanying assessment process that measures progress in five dimensions: purpose, brand influence, operations and supply chain, products and services, and governance.

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Dimitar Vlahov