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Address Sustainability or Risk Not Being Sustained
In an age where sustainability has begun to assert itself across the consumer and business-to-business product spectrums, those managers who fail to respond to social and "green" initiatives will find their brands swiftly barred from consumers' hearts and pockets.
Films like Supersize Me and An Inconvenient Truth are radically altering the marketing landscape. In response, McDonald's has launched a bevy of healthy alternatives, and the market for hybrid and alternative fuel (ethanol/bio-diesel) automobiles is booming.
To keep one's brand on the cutting edge of sustainability, in additional to tending to the traditional tasks of "product, place, price, and promotion," today's successful product managers must now monitor advances in technology, shifts in consumer attitudes, and even projected depletions of certain natural resources that might someday represent a real brand threat. Consider Hewlett-Packard's computer and printer cartridge recycling program, which expects to eclipse 1 billion pounds recycled by the end of this year. In forming programs like this one, HP has engendered the strongest reputation for corporate responsibility among its peers as well as insurance in a renewable resource of recycled electronics.
We are now in an age of deeper deliberation in consumer choice, where brands led by socially and environmentally conscious managers will edge out their less-considerate competition. Word to the wisest brand managers now in place (and students aspiring for their jobs): If your planning is not addressing sustainability, your brands simply will not be sustained!
~Jacquelyn A. Ottman, President, J.Ottman Consulting and SLM Advisor
Featured Article
Leading the Sustainability Charge: Seetha Coleman-Kammula on Organizational Change
She holds a Ph.D. in chemistry, but lately Seetha Coleman-Kammula has been applying her expertise to the unique chemistry of organizations in transition. As co-founder of Simply Sustain, Seetha now helps companies change the way they do business, operating both for financial gain and for environmental and social benefit. We asked Seetha how sustainability leaders overcome organizational inertia — and what's holding some companies back. Read more...
Hear Seetha discuss "Leading Organizational Change for Sustainable Brands" at Sustainable Brands '07!
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Participation Grows for Sustainable Brands '07 -
Join us!
- Up-to-the minute research on the value of CSR/Green Branding
- Strategy/best practices from BP, GE, Wal-Mart, Aveda and more!
- Case studies demonstrating successful growth in sales & brand equity
- Tangible tactics in design/communications for sustainable brands
Early Registration Deadline - September 7th! Register Today!
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This Week's Top Branding Stories
New Marketing Tool Assesses Companies' Eco-Friendliness
Green Team Advertising, a New York-based ad agency, has come up with a program called the Awakening Audit; the process entails sending an environmental engineer and media strategists to a corporation to see if it's indeed walking the green walk by maintaining a supply chain that's truly sustainable. (Next) Read more...
Click here for Green Team's "10 Rules of Effective Green Marketing."
Wells Fargo Bankers Sport "Windmill" Pins
Wells Fargo has launched a green marketing campaign in Washington State that offers rebates on Energy Star-rated appliances, reward points redeemable in renewable energy certificates, $10 for switching to online statements and bill pay, and shopping totes for customers who meet with a Wells Fargo banker for a financial review. (Environmental Leader) Read more...
Consumer Products Maker Trumpets Green Virtues of Dishwashers
A new ad campaign for automatic dishwasher detergents claims that consumers could save a whole lot of water and energy by using a dishwasher rather than doing the work by hand. (New York Times) Read more...
What do you think? Weigh in!
Online Buzz on Environmental Issues Up 169% from Last Year, Nielsen Says
Prolonged online buzz about the environmental terms "green" and "sustainability" suggest that heightened awareness of environmental issues is much more than a passing fad, according to Nielsen BuzzMetrics, which measures consumer-generated media. (Press Release) Read more...
We want to hear from you! Email us your comments or questions regarding sustainability issues of the day, and we'll feature the best of them here.
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Learn from the Leaders!
We're pleased to introduce the latest confirmed speakers for Sustainable Brands '07...
* Rob Kerr, Vice President, GlobeScan Incorporated
* Gwynne Rogers, Strategic Marketing Consultant, Natural Marketing Institute
* Terry Swack, Founder and CEO, Clean Culture
(View the full list of speakers, including pictures and bios, here.)
Join us for the conference and network with senior executives from Intuit, Ketchum, Clear Channel...and dozens more!
Did You Know?
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Solution Providers
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Sustainable Life Media is home for business professionals looking to build new value and competitive advantage by innovating more sustainable processes, practices and products. We bring you top stories related to the what, who and how of environmental and social innovation, and help you connect with thought leaders, peers, partners and solutions providers that can help you quickly reach your goals.
This work is licensed under a CreativeCommons License. Copyright Sustainable Life Media Inc. 2007
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