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From the Nokia Conversations blog, comes this great piece of creative that tells the company’s sustainability story in Beijing. The film style has a journalistic feel to it; for some reason to me, reminiscent of the BBC. If Nokia were to make similar videos throughout its global operations, it could have a nice library of stories that communicate the values of its brand.

This type of storytelling is what we call in German “die Oberfläche”, and is meant as a gentle snapshot of a company’s operations without much detail. For reporting purposes, it serves as an excellent tool when looking closer at specific markets (in this case). For an extreme example of video reporting done well on a budget, see this HKBN CSR Report.

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From French automaker Renault comes this great piece of creative that goes through what cars have provided us over time, asks some social critical questions, then elaborates on the values of the company before gently introducing its upcoming range of electric vehicles.

What I love is how they (or rather the agency responsible), has been able to combine these different topics together into a flowing narrative that, while promoting its upcoming electric vehicles, isn’t pushing a green or eco theme. It’s focused on people and values, things which the mainstream public can relate to.

Now if only Ford can also weave together a similar concise message.

via Futerra

I found this chart by Ethical Corporation to be an interesting segmentation of disciplines in sustainability and CSR

Now although individuals obviously specialize in specific areas, there’s two job types that need an exposure to and basic knowledge of all: chief officers and communications professionals.

via Perrine Bouhana

Normally I stay away from stories about politics and business. It’s just not my thing to delve into speculation about collusion and conspiracy. So when I  had picked up John Perkins book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, it was under my impression that I’d delve into some wild ride on corporate espionage, theft, bribery, and the like. What I left though with was a unique historical perspective of American modern imperialism and subjugation through international finance and economic development.

John explains his history of becoming an economic hit man - officially he was an economic adviser - working for a private firm in the 70s, that saw him travel to Indonesia, Panama, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other countries where he made inflated economic growth predictions and drew up loan proposals to international development banks, upon approval whereby American engineering and construction firms would receive contracts. However, the underlying strategy was to get these countries so far into debt that when they defaulted, concessions were given such as natural resource mining/drilling rights.

What I ended up with was an expanded and critical view of how international development can maliciously be favored toward one country’s political and business interests. There is no conspiracy, it’s a systemic problem at a macroeconomic, social, and environmental scale (triple bottom line). In reading the book, one can see parallels in understanding how and why China for example, is now operating in a very similar fashion in Africa.

Sustainability operates on a macro scale as well, which for most of us is quite difficult to comprehend since we work in the limited business and geographic spheres we do. The difference that we can make is continuing to live lighter, consume less, volunteer, and spread the word to others on the benefits of doing so. I’m an optimist that people and business can be positive change agents abiding by principles of equity and justice.

If you’re interested in a two part video interview with John (in lieu of reading the book), see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTbdnNgqfs8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29GhXsx7-Rs

Here’s some recent stories I wrote in the field that you may enjoy:

• Toyota’s Prius Goes Tweeting in Hybrid Cause Campaign
• Hellmann’s Mayo Canada Takes Up Eating Local Campaign
• Dawn Saves Wildlife with Cause Campaign
• GAP Releases Video Stories on Social Responsibility

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Adam Werbach, Chief Leader at Saatchi S, describes the thinking and ideas behind his latest book, “Strategy for Sustainability: A Business Manifesto”. In many ways, this primarily involves thinking about the long term.

via McKinsey Quarterly

As quoted from their Vimeo page, “Lift is a series of events built around a community of pioneers who get together in Europe and Asia to explore the social implications of new technologies. Each conference is a chance to turn changes into opportunities by anticipating the major shifts ahead, and meeting the people who drive them.”
More info on liftconference.com/about-lift

Thanks to @vanderbeeken for the following text (originally posted on his blog), and @designthinkers for the heads up

Timo Arnall: “Making Things Visible” [22:13]
Timo Arnall bio
A designer and researcher at Oslo School of Architecture, Timo Arnall offers here his perspective about networked objects and ubiquitous computing. His presentation, and the intriguing design examples he takes, highlights two phenomena. On the one hand, he describes how sensors and RFIDs can enable to “make things visible” as the title of his presentation expresses. On the other hand, he shows the importance of going beyond screen-based interactions.
[Timo spoke during the “Changing Things (1) – The Internet of Things is not what you think it is!” session, together with Bruce Sterling and Usman Haque]

Dennis Pamlin: Changing the Planet [23:50]
Dennis Pamlin bio
Dennis Pamlin, who is Global Policy Advisor for the WWF, introduces the ecological challenges we face and contrast them with most of the technological progresses. His talk delineates a set of filters to understand how to judge innovation on conjunction with the long-term consequences they might have on the planet.
[Dennis spoke during the “Changing the Planet (1)- Sustainable development, the Way of Desire” session, together with John Thackara and Elizabeth Goodman]

John Thackara: Changing the Planet [23:14]
John Thackara bio
John Thackara, who is director of Doors of Perception, gives a provocative talk about the role of design in finding solutions to the ecological crisis. After inviting us to avoid terms such as “future” or “sustainable” as they maintain a certain distance to the problem we face, he shows a rich set of projects he participated in. He makes the important point that the resources to be put in place already exist and that they might not necessitates complex technological developments.
[John spoke during the “Changing the Planet (1)- Sustainable development, the Way of Desire” session, together with Dennis Pamlin and Elizabeth Goodman]

Gunter Pauli: Changing the Planet [55:14]
Gunter Pauli bio
Gunter Pauli, who founded and directs ZERI, the “Zero Emissions Research Initiative” of the United Nations University in Tokyo, spoke about redesigning manufacturing processes into non-polluting clusters of industries.
[Gunter spoke during the “Changing the Planet (2) – Co-producing and sharing environmental consciousness” session, together with Frank Kresin and François Jegou]

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet’s takeaways (FR) [43:52]
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, 35, is Minister of State to the Prime Minister, with responsibility for Forward Planning and Development of the Digital Economy. Known as an activist for sustainable development, she was minister in charge of Ecology between 2007 and 2009.

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From an event titled Business Fights Poverty, comes this speech by David Croft, Cadbury’s Sustainability Director. The title of the presentation is: “Putting Market Access Into Practice: Reaching the Bottom Billion Through Corporate Supply and Distribution Chains”. While unfortunately there’s no slides, David does give us some great insight into the evolving approach global companies are taking toward corporate social responsibility. But more importantly, he’s telling us stories from around the world - not necessarily all about their brand, but about how working with cocoa farmers is like, the larger social issues at hand, and how business strategy is melded with CSR . If you just look at his posture, you’ll see why I stuck around for the full 16 minutes. Enjoyez!

via Shared Interest Blog

So after recently reading about the expanded Amazon program as part of its Frustration-Free packaging initiative, I decided to check it out myself and give you a visual of how it looks:

This is not just an environmental initiative, but a great example of continuous product/service improvement through online customer feedback.

via GreenBiz

From Sustainable Brands International in December, comes this interesting presentation from Santiago Gowland - VP Brand & Global Corporate Responsibility, Unilever. He speaks about the company’s Brand Imprint program, statistics, and considerations on the social role of business in the 21st century. Here’s the breakdown of his presentation:

• Embracing Reality: Average income of $2/day in emerging countries, coming water scarcity, oil production declines, soil degradation, international trade barriers, overpopulation, deforestation, poor land use, and environmental problems
• Shift in Balance of Power: Building Trust (war is over & consumers have won it; a good reputation is a valuable brand asset)
• Influences on consumer behavior come from every quarter (celebrities, internet, NGOs, advertising, opinion leaders, entertainment)
• Design Solutions: Energy saving light bulbs…
• Ethical Brands are proliferating

Brand Imprint Program

Synopsis

Internal process used for analyzing and integrating social, economic and environmental (SEE) impacts into brand development and portfolio management in order to reduce negative and maximize positive impacts through innovation and brand communications.

History

Unilever used to have a variety of corporate sustainability initiatives operating independently and disconnected from brand development and marketing. Launched in 2005 by lead developer Santiago Gowland and a multi-disciplinary group of experts, the program began with Lipton Tea and Dove. First they turned to their best practices in life cycle analysis, consumer marketing, and trend spotting. Then they joined these capabilities with a value-chain and livelihood analysis completed together with Oxfam.

Exceeding their initial expectations, Unilever proceeded to conduct “Brand Imprint” assessments with their additional brands.

Process

Holistic inquiry into the “Impacts by” and “Influences on” a brand. Participants include the corporate responsibility team, brand management leaders (supply chain, internal operations, marketing, support functions), consultants, and advisers acting on behalf of outside stakeholders. Together they conduct an up-front analysis, discuss and review the findings, generate alternative strategies, and establish an integrated brand strategy.

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Impacts

“Inside-Out” analysis of social, economic, and environmental impacts of the brand’s activities, using two analytical methods:

1. Life cycle analysis of products and brand activities.
2. Value chain analysis (building on the methodology of Oxfam’s study of Unilever Indonesia, and INSEAD’s analysis of Unilever South Africa).

Influences

“Outside-In” effects analysis:

1. Consumers (drivers of consumption patterns, trends in consumer behavior, and expressions of the focal brand and other brands as those trends unfold)
2. Market Forces driving the brand’s success (e.g. Porter’s five forces)
3. Key Opinion Formers and their brand interpretation (media, NGO’s, regulators)

Core competencies

• Making products that improve people’s health, hygiene, and nutrition
• Global purchasing of agricultural raw materials
• Global logistics network
• Scientific knowledge in food technology & nutrition
• One of world’s largest communicators with people
• Experts in influencing public behavioral change, worldwide
• Ability to work in multi-sectoral partnerships
• Ability to train and develop people and project managers

Global Social Challenges

• Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development

Next Steps

Which of the global challenges is Unilever best able to respond to? Which ones can they go beyond mere compliance? Of these, which are ones that will drive growth, fuel innovation, win in key markets, and build trust?

Thrust Development

3 step approach:

1. Aggregate: Add together impacts to tell a bigger and more powerful story.
2. Integrate: Leverage synergies to minimize duplication and maximize business efficiencies.
3. Escalate: Scale up activities and fast track roll out of brands.

Vitality Framework

In 2008, Unilever finalized a Vitality Framework to help them deliver their mission in a systematic and measurable way.

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It allows brand managers to explore opportunities to innovate and improve their brands in three ways:

1. Boosting people’s personal vitality and well-being
2. Addressing social issues
3. Reducing environmental impacts

Progress Measurement

Four ‘Vitality Metrics’ measure the framework’s performance:

• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Water
• Waste
• Sustainable sourcing

The first three provide an estimate of each element per consumer use, such as grams of greenhouse gas per single usage occasion of shampoo. The greenhouse gas metric takes into account impacts across a product’s lifecycle, including:

• Direct manufacturing impacts
• Indirect impacts such as sourcing of raw materials and the quantity of energy and water required for consumer use.

In 2008, they piloted these metrics in selected geographic regions and with certain products. During 2009 they’ll be refining these metrics and reviewing how far they can be used to shape future brand development and to set a baseline to track progress across the brand portfolio.

Summary

The Brand Imprint process provides a structured process for brand teams to understand and assess how sustainability issues impact and are impacted by their products. The Vitality Framework and metrics help integrate sustainability considerations into the everyday business processes of the categories and brands. This holistic architecture help them integrate social and environmental sustainability into the corporate business strategy.

Insights

According to this SustainAbility article,

“The key to Gowland’s success was the ability to wrap a common, business-friendly marketing language around this initiative—‘gaining insights.’ As Gowland commented, “We were going way beyond consumer-product insights. We were intent on examining the relationship between a brand and society, not just the psychological aspirations of consumers. This was a departure for us, but it was also something we could talk about in a familiar language.”

“One outcome of Unilever’s Brand Imprint was that it catalyzed the company’s commitment to managing water resources. Many of Unilever’s products are heavily dependent on agriculture, the biggest overall user of freshwater. Following brand impact assessments, Unilever engaged with its local producers to manage agricultural practices—switching from furrow to drip irrigation. As a result, in Australia alone 80% of the land has switched to drip irrigation and water consumption has halved. This innovative irrigation method also improved crop yields by 100%.”

Related Articles

• Certifying Lipton Tea: Unilever and The Rainforest Alliance
• Clorox: Leveraging Sustainability for Growth

Sources

• SustainAbility - Unilever Brand Imprint
• Sustainable Food Lab - Brand Imprint
• Unilever - Our Brands in Society
• Unilever - Strategy

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Check out the Sustainable Brands 09 Conference for a great lineup of speakers and topics