Good Marketing

Salesforce reinforces sustainability commitments at UNGA and Climate Week NYC
with stakeholder engagement, STEM investments, and a new carbon accounting
product.

The work to clean up our plastic mess continues with new initiatives from more major brands.

​Ethical consumer apps help shoppers make informed decisions about which brands to support​​














Marketers have known that consum

In the business world, while your values may remain constant, your purpose must evolve. If purpose is truly the intersection of your values with the world’s need, then the first step is to take a hard look at your current purpose and ask two questions: Is your purpose still relevant? And is your purpose still sufficient to the challenges of our time?

In the din of companies and brands shouting about the good they’re doing, ‘purposewash’ is overtaking ‘greenwash’ as the default accusation of corporate hypocrisy. Making a show of doing good, therefore, carries some risk for businesses. It can invite scrutiny of the totality of your impacts, making transparency critical. But there’s another approach businesses can take: focusing more on the ‘doing well’ than the ‘doing good’ side of the story. While the ethical side of the issue is still important, businesses can be more credible when talking in commercial terms — and focusing on ‘doing well’ can embed progressive practices more rapidly.

Climate and development standard and certification body Gold Standard and WWF have published a new report that seeks to help the private sector define and deliver ambitious strategies to achieve the goals outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The report highlights the advantages for business in catalyzing the SDG agenda, details the common challenges and pitfalls that companies face today, and offers a clear, actionable set of good practices for business leaders to inform their strategies moving forward.

"Home," a new interactive film from Ørsted, provides hope for the future of the planet and shows that it really is possible to power the world entirely with clean, renewable energy. The film transforms climate change from a global crisis to a personal experience by challenging preconceptions of what ‘home’ means to consumers. It provides users with an uplifting message: Today, we stand before a historical opportunity to shift from black to green energy, helping protect the planet from the effects of climate change.

Around a third of all food that is produced is lot at some point across the food supply chain. Globally, this equates to around 1.6 gigatons (GT) of food waste, of which 1.3 GT is still edible at the time of disposal. From the launch of groundbreaking technologies to the emergence of new research on behavior trends, the public and private sector are helping to push the needle forward on eliminating food waste.

More evidence has emerged linking a company's performance with its purpose beyond profit. Global customer agency C Space has released a new study detailing how companies can generate consumer-inspired growth. The study describes the behaviors that consumers actively seek from companies, translating them into five distinct customer imperatives matched against company behaviors, and providing a blueprint for how a company can act more human.

Inventive circular solutions to the world’s most pressing problems continue to stream in, with entrepreneurs and researchers across North America, uncovering creative new ways to transform food waste. Mexico’s Sombra Mezcal is making social and environmental progress in Oaxaca by modernizing mezcal supply chains, while researchers at Penn State’s College of Agriculture have uncovered a groundbreaking new coating that could help curb plastic food packaging pollution.

It's complicated: GM will use renewable energy from Texas wind farms to help power factories that manufacture gas-powered pickup trucks.

The household goods store proves their commitment to the environment yet again.

Seminal research shows that sustainability is driving market growth in CPGs; products marketed as sustainable grew 5.6x faster than conventionally marketed products, and 3.3x faster than the CPG market.

Five global brands sign joint 42.5-MW energy deal, creating a new blueprint for renewable energy aggregation

It’s official. Sustainability is mainstream. You probably already knew that. What you may not know is that Americans aren’t really changing their personal behaviors. They’re changing their buying behaviors. And that gives brands a new way to win in the marketplace. Here’s what we’re seeing in our ongoing polling of US consumers to understand their attitudes and behaviors related to the environment.

Business is increasingly aligning its activities with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A recent report shows that 43 percent of the world’s largest 250 companies are now linking their sustainability reporting to the SDGs. This is important: The SDGs cannot be achieved without actively engaging business. However, it is not always clear where business efforts on the SDGs are best directed.

A lot of pro-environmental messages suggest that people will feel guilty if they don’t make an effort to live more sustainably or takes steps to ameliorate climate change. But a recent study from Princeton University finds that highlighting the pride people will feel if they take such actions may be a better way to change environmental behaviors.

Over the years, Paul Polman has been one of the most vocal, determined and passionate advocates for Purpose in business. As he famously said at the launch of Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan: “We cannot choose between [economic] growth and sustainability – we must have both,” and his dedication saved the company hundreds of millions and generated a 290% total shareholder return. While Polman has certainly demonstrated a strong case for Purpose, he is thankfully not alone in the journey.

Thrive Farmers empowers farmers with direct relationships and no middlemen, ensuring coffee farmers have not only consistent and stable prices, but stable earnings that are greater than double those generated through the traditional coffee supply chain model. Now, its partnership with Lutheran World Relief is an excellent example of a market-based solution helping to changing the lives of coffee farmers and the industry as we know it all over the world.

More evidence has emerged linking a company's performance with its purpose beyond profit. Global customer agency C Space has released a new study detailing how companies can generate consumer-inspired growth. The study describes the behaviors that consumers actively seek from companies, translating them into five distinct customer imperatives matched against company behaviors, and providing a blueprint for how a company can act more human.

The renewable and electric vehicle markets may be growing at an unprecedented rate, but approximately 1.3 billion people around the world still live in communities where power generation is restricted and access to electricity is virtually non-existent. Auto giant Nissan is gearing up to change that, announcing three new sustainability pilot projects aimed at improving access to energy and mobility for communities most at risk or in need.

From Visa’s recent Hurricane Harvey spot to Boost Mobile’s “Boost Your Voice” and Whirlpool’s “Care Counts” campaigns, advertising is undergoing a paradigm shift, with brands across industries increasingly moving towards purpose-driven messages that speak to some of our biggest environmental and social challenges. Earlier this week, D&AD and Advertising Week announced the winners of its second annual D&AD Impact Awards, which recognizes creative ideas that have had a real impact and ultimately contribute towards a better, fairer and more sustainable future for all.

Last week, L’Oréal completed the sale of The Body Shop to Brazilian sustainable personal care group Natura Cosmeticos. Natura’s acquisition of the natural beauty brand is part of a broader strategy to become a global, purpose-driven multi-brand and multichannel cosmetics group. We spoke with Christopher Davis, International Director of Corporate Responsibility and Campaigns at The Body Shop, to learn more about what the sale could mean for the company’s sustainability efforts going forward.