SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 7, 2012 – Sustainable Brands today announced the expansion of its signature Sustainable Brands Conference to London, UK later this year. Hosted at the Mermaid Conference & Events Centre on November 27-28, 2012, this flagship event for the UK and Europe marks a new chapter in the history of Sustainable Brands, begun when the first conference debuted in the United States back in 2007.
Unilever, one of the world's leading suppliers of fast-moving consumer goods, will be the Host Sponsor for the London event, showcasing its long-standing commitment to sustainability and responsible business practices. Dragon Rouge and Summit Energy are also pre-launch sponsors, with many others soon to be announced. In addition to Unilever and Dragon Rouge, sustainable business and thought leaders already confirmed to the Advisory Board for SB London include senior executives from Adidas, Business in the Community, Coca-Cola, Forum for the Future, Kingfisher/B&Q, Mars, Philips and SustainAbility.
SB London will link brand strategists and executives from organisations across continents, creating a powerful network of change makers and corporates who are working to leverage sustainability as a driver of business and brand value. Over 50,000 global business leaders represent the Sustainable Brands community and SB London is set to facilitate and create connections face-to-face for the first time outside of the United States.
Brand leaders and sustainability innovators make up the vanguard of real change throughout the UK and Europe,” said KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, Founder/Chief Catalyst of Sustainable Brands. “Mainstreaming sustainability is already impacting the marketplace today and we at SB are committed to supporting and facilitating the conversations and collaborations necessary among our global members to ensure the type of rapid and effective transformation sought across the globe.”
Well-placed and positioned as lead London partner, Unilever has a long history in sustainability and the use of marketing and market research to promote behaviour change. Such an approach does more than just provide the bedrock for sustainable business as usual, it is fast becoming the engine of influence, as Unilever Global SVP Marc Mathieu, explains:
“Companies are increasingly being expected to take responsibility for the impacts of their products when consumers use them, not just when they are made, so the role of brands in driving sustainable behaviour-change is moving centre stage. Brands have a critical role in making sustainable living mainstream because they have the ability to inspire people to make the small everyday changes to their behaviour that can add up to make a big difference. The opportunity we as brand owners have to change the world cannot be overstated.
“That’s why I’m delighted that Unilever is extending our support for Sustainable Brands in the US by helping to bring this important forum for sustainability, brands and innovation to London as Host Sponsor for this landmark event in Europe.”
With the conference theme for SB London 2012 being “The Power of And”, fostering and furthering such connections between global markets and players is the aspiration driving the Sustainable Brands agenda to build bridges from continent to continent.
About Sustainable Brands
Sustainable Brands is the global learning, collaboration, and commerce community committed to replenishing the world through better brands. Sustainable Brands offers news and views from thought and practice leaders, online and live events, a robust resource library, peer-to-peer learning groups, E-learning, and a set of solutions providers for corporate brand and sustainability professionals, social entrepreneurs and the ecosystem of supporting value partners. Sustainable Brands inspires, engages and equips today's business and brand leaders to grow revenues and enhance brand value, reputation and loyalty, while helping create a healthy and sustainable future for all. Sustainable Brands and SB London is a production of Sustainable Life Media, located in San Francisco CA.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Aug 27, 2012 3pm EDT / 12pm PDT / 8pm BST / 9pm CEST