context & trends
TRANSCRIPT
CONTEXT & TRENDS
Review of 2012 Market Context and a Look Ahead
12/12/2012
In 2012: Sustainability as a “Revolution
of Interconnectivity” Takes Hold
Ongoing financial meltdown erodes confidence in stability of global economic systems
Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, freak snowstorms -- and resulting impacts -- drives increased concern about eco-systems stability
Failure of government to provide solutions erodes confidence in government
Continued unemployment, increasing divide between haves, have nots, while businesses hoard cash, PLUS increasing consumer awareness of materiality issues erodes confidence in business as a trusted partner/provider
“Consumer as Citizen” Gathers Steam,
and the Shift Picks Up Speed.
From NGO to Citizen Activism: Greenpeace, to
change.org, to Arab Spring, to #occupywallstreet, to
moveyourmoney.org
Local/alternative economy experiments percolate:
From farm to table, to TransitionTowns, LET‟s Movement,
barter support tools, and micropayment for micro jobs
businesses start up
Sustainable (Creative, Collaborative) Consumption
Takes Off: AirBnB, RelayRides, Backyard Gardens ++
Mark Zuckerberg’s Law of Sharing: Sharing/Caring will
double each year and what starts on line, doesn‟t stay
online: http://www.economist.com/node/21537000
We Asserted that The Future Will be Lead by
Brands That…
Establish Themselves as Platforms for Purpose
Move Beyond Incremental to Revolutionary
Innovation
Collaborate to Drive a Sustainable Economy
With citizens, with Civil Society, with the value
network, including each other
We Aligned Around 3 Point Shared Agenda
1. How might we develop and demonstrate new
forms of ROI for sustainable innovation?
2. How might we support and encourage more to
“revolutionary” innovation?
3. How might we collaborate to shift consumer
demand/behavior
2012 at Sustainable Brands
Global community continued to grow:
Added new corporate members (Caesars, Sprint, Clarke, E-Bay)
SustainableBrands.com unique visitors up 60% to c. 280k – time on sight, page views, return visits all up
Email/Social Media Engagement up 100%+ across all channels
SB‟12 attendance up 60% from 800-1300
New Metrics expanded to 2 days, doubled attendance
SB London – 468 attendees from 25 countries for 1st
offshore event; 50 including live stream audience
Announced partnerships for SB Rio/SB Istanbul
Added key team members/broke even again (?!)
From Revolution to Renaissance
1. “Awareness” of personal and collective sustainability issues nearly universal on some level, though engagement varies wildly for various reasons
2. Global shift in values is well underway, narrowing the window for brands to demonstrate leadership, capture new market positions by offering new forms of value
3. Michael Porter‟s focus on competitive advantage DOA? -- Attention turns forward, toward continuous innovation, value creation
Our Theme in 2013
In 2013 We Explore the Next Frontier
We believe the case has been made, the “Revolution” if you will is over, and already countless unencumbered innovators have moved on, generating hundreds of millions of dollars of new economic activity through entirely disruptive business models that support this thesis.
For brands to maintain their leadership, they will need to work double time on continuous learning and innovation, becoming much braver about being self-disruptive, or be caught unaware by outside disruption.
From Mainstream Green to
Meaningful Brands
Ogilvy, GFK, National Geo research claims widespread interest in green, but declining engagement
Havas points out only 20% feel brands are making a noticeable improvement in our individual or collective well-being or quality of life, and claim most would not care if 70% of brands they use disappeared
BBMG identifies “Aspirational” paradox, Rene Lertzmen writes about the green “tangle”.
Digging Deeper Into New Forms of
Value Creation for Brands
Havas defines „Meaningful Brands‟ based on:
50% on brand impact on personal well-being: Physical, economic, emotional, intellectual, social (sense of connectedness) and “natural” (or „spiritual‟ – values, sustainability, sense of purpose or meaning)
50% on brand contribution to „collective sustainable futures‟ on: environment, community, workplace, economy, governance, ethics
Ci – Continues Shift Trend Study, Ties Happiness to Sustainable Brands…
Key Observation
On Trend: The Happiness Quest
Collaborative Consumption Explodes
On Trend: The “Quantified Self”
New Tools to Help Me Be More Me
Nike +
Fitbit
MoodJournal
The Eatery
HealthVault
Luminosity
WattzOn
Mint
On Trend: The Internet of Things
On Trend: New Metrics of Sustainability
In addition to the Happiness Index…
SAC Higg‟s Index
EP&L
Human Capital on the Balance Sheet
Sustainability Performance KPI‟s
Sustainable Innovation turned spin-off
Business is uniquely equipped to efficiently
create value, but BRAND helps shape what
business and society defines as valuable.
Reaffirming the 21st Century Role of Brand
For Business, Brand is the Reason for Being
“Our brand story tells us who we are, what we do, how we do it. It is a tool for creating stakeholder alignment and for prioritizing the use of resources.” KoAnn Skrzyiarz, Sustainable Brands
To fully leverage the potential value of a focus on environmental and social impact we must move to embed meaning/sustainable value creation into the core of our brands, turning our brands into “platforms for purpose” (Nike, SB‟10) http://www.sustainablebrands.com/digital_learning/event-video/nike-better-world
Reaffirming the 21st Century Role of Brand
For Society, Brands Drive Our Aspirations/Ideals
“In a connected world, familiarity is not enough to
differentiate, create preference, build loyalty. In 2012 a
brand must respond to our growing need for connection,
purpose, meaning, and must authentically respond to the
fact that we live in world of finite resources ”
We must return to being thought and culture leaders
that lead the way to a flourishing future.
Reaffirming the 21st Century Role of Brand
For Society, Brands Drive Our Aspirations/Ideals
“In a connected world, familiarity is not enough to
differentiate, create preference, build loyalty. In 2012 a
brand must respond to our growing need for connection,
purpose, meaning, and must authentically respond to the
fact that we live in world of finite resources ”
Brands must return to being thought and culture
leaders that lead the way to a flourishing future.
Reaffirming the 21st Century Role of Brand
In 2013: Can We Affirm…?
Brand‟s role in business and society
The need to establish our brands as “Platforms for Purpose” by embedding sustainable value into their DNA through „systemic authenticity‟
The need to move beyond incremental to continuous, breakthrough, purpose driven innovation designed to connect with customers on a more meaningful level
Our commitment to collaborate with consumers, civil society, our value network and each other to drive a global sustainable economy
Define a set of concrete initiatives to work on together toward this end
To Speak to our Team Further About These
Trends, please contact Patrick McCartan at
A Collaboration Brainstorm