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Top 13 Data Nuggets from SB'13

As we warm up for this year’s New Metrics conference (#NewMetrics) in September, we thought we’d take the opportunity to highlight the data quotes that received the most attention at SB’13 last month. With over 32 million impressions during the week of the conference alone, the #sb13con hashtag was a strong indicator of what is catching immediate fire. Without further ado, here are the 13 data points that created the most noise:

1. Correlation Between Sustainability and Brand Strength

Cynthia Figge, co-founder of CSRHub, announced the results of a new study showing a sharp increase in the amount of brand strength explained by sustainability performance. Data from CSRHub shows that the correlation in question doubled in 2012 compared to 2011, after being relatively flat the previous four years. 2. Most Brands Wouldn’t Be Missed

Widely cited Meaningful Brands research by Havas Media Group shows that global consumers would not care if 73% of brands disappeared. For cynical Europeans, the figure is 93%. Following up on theme #1 above, it’s clear companies can boost sustainability efforts to make their brands more relevant and valuable to consumers. 3. S&P 500 Market Value and Intangible Assets

Plain, simple and quite striking: 80% of the total market value of S&P 500 companies reflects intangible assets. Bob Willard, author of The New Sustainability Advantage, summed up the situation with this equally clear message: “The time is right to figure out how to measure what matters and get on with it.” 4. Consumer Attraction to Purpose and Honesty

These numbers were just a few from Cone Communications’ 2013 Echo Global CSR Study that were referenced and tweeted throughout the conference. The report also finds that 85% of respondents can tolerate imperfect CSR performance, as long as the company is honest about its efforts. 5. Authenticity, Transparency and Sustainability Media

Chip Giller, president and founder of Grist, spoke passionately in a discussion on "Media and the Sustainability Renaissance." He was joined by Joel Babbit, CEO of Mother Nature Network; Aman Singh, Editorial Director at CSRWire; and Jo Confino, Executive Editor of The Guardian Sustainable Business. The message was clear: better to pitch imperfect but authentic stories than polished but incomplete tales of progress on sustainability. 6. “Questioning the Ritual Is the Ritual”

During Bill McDonough’s highly quotable talk, he mentioned this statistic about measuring sustainability, and included that some professionals may need to change the tone of discussion around the topic. He finds that companies need to “translate the language of values into metrics, not the other way around.” McDonough then quoted Confucius: “Questioning the ritual is the ritual.” 7. Millennials in the Job Market

Self-explanatory, really. Net Impact’s 2012 Talent Report: What Workers Want in 2012 shows that recent graduates strongly prefer working for a company whose values they share. 8. Counting the Aspirationals

As the largest consumer segment globally — rising particularly rapidly in China, India and Brazil — these style-conscious and social status-seeking people love to shop, yet environmental and societal concerns greatly inform their purchasing decisions. 9. BMW i

Just a couple of the multiple impressive figures that Uwe Dreher, BMW i’s Head of Brand Communication, shared in his plenary talk, entitled “A Future Without Tradeoffs: BMWi’s Path to a Sustainably Beautiful Future 10. Sprint

Jennifer Walter, Manager of Product Communications and Packaging at Sprint, presented highlights from her company’s recent packaging innovation driven by applied life cycle assessment. LCA for the win! 11. Philips Lighting

Another company initiative that generated a sizable Twitter following was Philips’ commitment to creating community light centers in previously off-grid areas across Africa. 12. The Gender Diversity Question

We had a wonderful fishbowl-style breakout discussion on “Gender Diversity and Sustainable Business Value: The Role of Women in Driving the Sustainable Brands Renaissance,” featuring Kellie McElhaney, Whitehead Faculty of Corporate Sustainability at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley; Annie Longsworth, CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi S North America; Jen Boynton, Editor in Chief of TriplePundit; and Aman Singh, Editorial Director of CSRWire. McElhaney noted that “only 17% of Fortune 500 companies have women on their boards,” and a lively discussion followed about the barriers that prevent more women from entering the C-Suite. 13. The Value of Individual Action

As can be expected, the theme of individual consumer/customer/user action was an important undertone to the entire conference. Please don’t take the equivalent of 117 showers a day going forward!