Press Release

New Research Unveiled at Sustainable Brands London on Global Business and Consumer Behaviour

Published 12 years ago | About a 4 minute read

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., November 20, 2012– The Sustainable Brands London Conference will be host to new research unveiled and commissioned by some of the world’s biggest global brands and leaders in sustainability. Over 400 senior-level global brand and sustainability leaders from over 25 countries will convene at the inaugural pan-European conference to collaborate and explore how environmental and social innovation is becoming an engine for business growth and brand value.

Research and insights will be revealed, including:

The gaping disparity between consumers’ sustainable intentions and action, and new insights for closing the ‘green gap’
Savings attributable to the sharing economy
The roles of brand in influencing attitude and behaviour change

Some discussion topics and high-profile contributors include:

The Brand Leaders of the Future Will be Sustainable Brands – Making the business case for brand innovation for sustainability

Paul Gilding, Global Sustainability Thought Leader speaking on the New Economics of Happiness and unpacking the opportunity for radical business innovation and renewed brand success
Marc Mathieu, Global SVP of Marketing, Unilever on how to authentically embed sustainability into brand promise – and build share in the process. Further insight from sustainable brand leader Unilever will also be presented by Sarah McDonald, Global Director, Sustainability and Lori Zoppel, Global Director of Marketing, Unilever Brand
Benita Matofska, Chief Sharer, The People Who Share on the advent of the sharing economy and what it means for today’s brands
Kim Slicklein, President of OgilvyEarth presenting quantitative evidence of the business case for sustainability with input from leaders from the frontlines of sustainable business
Alex Cole, Director of Corporate Affairs, Sainsbury’s on how a new commitment to the belief that “Our values makes us different” can lead to a dramatic turn-around and new leadership for a century old company

On Mainstreaming Sustainability – How brands can move mainstream consumers along the continuum, from creating initial interest to adopting more sustainable behaviours.

UK launch of OgilvyEarth’s Mainstream Green research into consumer intention/action gaps in the US, China, Spain, Germany and UK data and the implications for marketing
Launch of BBMG ‘Regeneration Consumer Study’, as part of plenary Research Panel: Untangling the Consumer Attitude/Behaviour Gap. Results based on survey evaluating the roles of certain brands in attitude and behaviour change
Phil Cumming from LOCOG on insights and learning to be shared in the Post Games Sustainability Report and Learning Legacy Programme which will launch 12 December

How Collaboration can Fast-track Innovation

Thomas Kolster, Founder and Creative Director of Goodvertising Agency, will unveil to the public his latest and very innovative project, the WhereGoodGrows (WGG), a web platform for free sharing of advertising and communications campaigns to fast-track innovation. Thomas and his team have invented a SharedGood license system, through which advertisers, non-profits, governmental agencies and others can "give away" their most successful campaigns and in that way hopefully do more good
Forum for the Future will lead a panel with BSkyB, Café Direct, eBay, Ella’s Kitchen, Kingfisher, O2, Tesco plus others to share how pre-competitive collaboration can drive whole systems shift toward sustainability
Alexis Olans, Senior Global Program Manager from adidas, Tobias Fischer, CSR Project & Relations Manager from H&M and Kate Heiny, Sustainability Senior Group Manager from Target will share how their collaborative efforts with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition has led to innovation

“The sustainable business and brand landscape is shifting rapidly,” states KoAnn Skrzynairz, Founder of Sustainable Brands. “In order for companies to make smart decisions and determine where to invest in sustainable brand transformation, they need to be armed with the latest insight and implications affecting their decision making processes. Sustainable Brands London will relay up to the minute research, case studies, and methodologies to support a company’s progression toward profitable sustainable brand innovation.”

Over 80 of the world’s leading thinkers and practitioners of environmental and social innovation will lead interactive discussions, breakout sessions, plenary presentations, brand innovation labs and networking activities. The conference in London will bring multiple stakeholders together, each with a unique perspective, to collaborate and recognise the role that brand plays in focusing corporate energy and influencing culture.

Hosted at the Mermaid Conference & Events Centre in London, UK, this conference is made possible due to support from presenting sponsor Unilever, as well as from BASF, Dragon Rouge, OgilvyEarth and other sponsoring companies. Registration is still available. For further information on the conference programme or a complete list of confirmed speakers, please visit the conference website at www.SustainableBrandsLondon.com.