MARKETING AND COMMS -
The heat is on — from Greenpeace protesting Cannes to concerned citizens and legislative pressure — for advertisers to make their work count for more than selling more products to the Western world. Here are six key takeaways from this year’s Cannes Lions, and how your campaigns can be and do better.
WALKING THE TALK -
Two years after George Floyd’s murder galvanized the nation to address systemic racism, corporate progress on advancing racial equity in the workplace and community remains a mixed picture. Smoketown’s Ryan Pintado-Vertner lays out three approaches brands can take to show they’re walking their anti-racism talk.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
As ever, it is the most vulnerable people around the world who suffer greatest from slow growth, rising inflation, and the energy and food system disruptions stemming from the war in Ukraine. Bridging the finance
divide, while ensuring that resources catalyze the necessary transformations, will be key for putting the SDGs back within reach.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
Apple, Netflix, Xylem and others are putting corporate cash to work in financially underserved communities by moving money to CDFIs, LID credit unions and MDIs throughout the US.
WALKING THE TALK -
JUST Capital’s 2022 Corporate Racial Equity Tracker reveals progress in key areas; but companies have a long way to go toward implementing meaningful
actions that help fundamentally advance racial equity.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The company — committed to sustainable agriculture and a truly inclusive approach for creating economic opportunity for the people of Boone County, West Virginia — has been growing lavender and raising bees on reclaimed coal mine soil since 2019.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The leading ski and snowboard maker is a case study in outdoor economy resilience amid several unknowns — including climate change. CEO Vincent Wauters is committed to working with competitors for the greater good.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Founder Pauline Idogho and her diverse team of BIPOC women have created a line of globally inspired, ready-to-drink, organic, non-alcoholic cocktails that support environmental sustainability and social health and inclusion around the world.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Purpose and ESG are often conflated. Here, three experts explain what makes them different, why you need both, and how to prioritize the gamut of ESG- and
Purpose-related activities.
LEADERSHIP -
To truly help individuals and ourselves, we need to bust up the system, swim upstream and avoid the herd mentality. We need to take a step back and truly
understand our own roles in society — and by doing so, to let go of outdated notions.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The GAF Cool Community Project will assess and mitigate the impacts of the urban heat island effect in landlocked and underserved cities — beginning with the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacoima.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
The first national Black farmer co-op since the Reconstruction era is on a mission to revive and support Black farmers — which have dwindled to a mere 1.4% of farmers in the US — and cultivate a national network of growers of regeneratively farmed hemp.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
The United Way Social Purpose Institute offers a free tool to help companies assess and rate the degree to which their purpose is fully embedded across the company and in its relationships. These are the new techniques that purpose players are expected to demonstrate to stay in the ring …
WALKING THE TALK -
Corporate Knights has developed the world’s first rating system to assess companies’ implementation of their social purpose commitments. Its research finds that the gap between ‘say’ and ‘do’ varies from one company to the next.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it seems only fitting to focus on the women working to feed our country. From raising dairy and beef cows to vegetables and other crops — women are slowly becoming the face of the next generation of US farmers.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
PMI recently released its 2021 Sustainability Materiality Report, which describes how the company identifies the ESG topics that inform its strategies, goals, and reporting. It’s conducted with full transparency — for stakeholders, and for society.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
MDIs are trusted providers for communities of color and include some of the oldest minority-owned US banks; they play a unique role in increasing access to
financial services for underserved populations.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
The rise of company-specific materiality assessments will require companies to undertake substantial organizational and behavioral adjustments, reduce their reliance on standardized metrics, and incent investors to dig more deeply into the inner workings of individual portfolio companies.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Here, Shaw Industries’ VP of Global Sustainability, Kellie Ballew; and Rachel Hodgdon, CEO of the International WELL Building Institute, discuss game-changing trends in building design — all centered around a new focus on human health and wellbeing.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Except for a clutch of ads for EVs, it seems the climate crisis is not yet a force driving brand messaging at the Super Bowl. But a few brands seized the opportunity to drive adoption of sustainable behaviors at scale.