MARKETING AND COMMS -
The WindMade organization has launched the first global consumer label for products made with wind energy, according to a recent announcement.The WindMade Product Label can be applied to all products using a minimum share of 75 percent of renewable energy in their total electricity consumption, with wind power representing the largest share. The announcement says a cradle-to-gate approach was adopted, which means the label will cover the entire power consumption for all product components, from the extraction of the raw materials all the way to the product leaving the factory gate.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Key to futureproofing is creating a brand that fulfills your customers' higher order needs — things such as meaning, authenticity, self-fulfillment and all those other wonderful aspirations at the top of Maslow’s pyramid.But what if your consumer finds him- or herself in flux, discovering a purchase that felt meaningful a short time ago suddenly seems, well, less so today? How can you keep up with this sort of rapidly evolving ‘higher order’ demand?With Lego thinking.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Since its launch in 2010, the Eco Rating scheme that Forum for the Future created with Telefónica UK/O2 has been helping consumers make more sustainable handset choices, whether they like it or not.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
For many years of Pulse studies, when asked who they most blame for rising energy costs, respondents have said they most blame either 1) oil companies or 2) the U.S. government — with utilities much farther down the list.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
At Futerra we banned using behaviour change tactics in the office. ‘Symbolic self completion’ was being wielded to defend sandwiches left in the fridge, and ‘discounting effect’ insidiously applied to making tea. So the following article comes with a health warning: The psychology and neuroscience of behaviour change is powerful stuff.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Consumers now expect companies to be an active participant — if not a driving force — in solving the most pressing social and environmental issues, according to the 2013 Cone Communications/Echo Global CSR Study.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
What does it take to grow and profit in the immensely competitive household and personal products industry dominated by giants Unilever and Procter & Gamble? And how can sustainability be the lever that provides revenue growth and product differentiation?
PRESS RELEASE -
SAN FRANCISCO, California, May 8, 2013 – Sustainable Brands® announced today that the Emerging Economies Consumer Behavior Change Project will launch at the Sustainable Brands Rio conference in Brazil.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Research on sustainable consumption has boomed since the mid 2000s. The rise of social media as a tool for interaction with, and scrutiny of, brands has increased consumer interest in sustainability, alternative products and lifestyle.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
As consumers become increasingly demanding of more social and environmental sustainability efforts from their favorite brands, Nestlé is one multinational that is responding in kind. The challenges for the world’s largest food company, however, are as complicated as the company’s long and tangled supply chain.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
This is an edited excerpt from Pablo Barros' upcoming book, Behaviour change, consumption and sustainability: how companies can influence individuals in a world in transition, due for publication in September 2013.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Two out of three mid-sized companies are looking either to enhance or establish corporate social responsibility programs, according to a recent report by non-profit Business4Better (B4B).
WASTE NOT -
Last week marked the official launch of an innovative initiative supported by Ecover, maker of non-toxic cleaning products, and Closed Loop Recycling (CLR), a UK operation that takes discarded soda and water bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and milk bottles made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and recycles them back into food-grade plastic for use in new packaging (rHDPE). The collaboration will use waste plastic collected from the seas around the UK by EU fishermen and recycled at Closed Loop’s Dagenham facility for reuse in new packaging.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
A record number of investors have filed shareholder resolutions on environmental and social issues as part of the Proxy Preview 2013 report released today.
WASTE NOT -
Ask a room full of consumers, “Who here hates to see things go to waste?” and every hand will go up energetically. But if everyone hates to waste, then how come we generate so much of it? And what can we do to prevent waste from being created in the first place? Answering these questions can be profitable and fun.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Since the dawn of time, human beings have organized into groups in order to fulfill basic human needs. We join together to gain stability, feel a sense of belonging, build our self-esteem and experience self-actualization. Traditionally, the ideal workplace has combined these elements, the upper ladders of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, into a fulfilling, well-functioning organization.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Companies reporting a profit from their sustainability efforts rose 23 percent last year, to 37 percent of the total, according to a new global study called The Innovation Bottom Line, released yesterday by the MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Is there such a thing as sustainable consumption? A new study by BBMG, GlobeScan and SustainAbility finds that a majority of consumers across six international markets are seeking to reconcile their desire for shopping and style with responsibility to the environment and society through their purchases.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Consumers remain willing to pay a premium for ethical goods and services despite lingering economic troubles, according to a new study.