Food For Thought
Blogs.
This is where we capture our thoughts and commentary on news, views and events from around the globe to provoke discussion and inspire transformation through social innovation, corporate responsibility, brand purpose and social impact.
Making Sustainability REAL for Consumers
The energy level was high in San Diego last week. After 18 months of Zoom meetings and virtual happy hours, it was time to ditch the sweatpants and head to Sustainable Brands 2021 (#SB21.) This was my 3rd time at the flagship event, and I was excited to reconnect...
Re-Generation vs Sustainability
I recently attended the Sustainable Brands Conference in San Diego. It was an eye-opening experience. The keynote speeches, given by industry-leading visionaries were highly engaging and thought-provoking. Of particular note was the theme of Re-generation vs...
Farm to Fork Transparency
Emerging from almost 2 years of hibernation to attend a conference of any kind is surreal. Extra Kafkaesque to be attending Sustainable Brands San Diego. A gathering of environmental champions, casually discussing their work, like 3D printing residential communities...
What Social Justice Means: Definition & Examples
What is Social Justice? Social justice is the concept of fairness for all. Furthermore, it is the belief that everyone should have equal rights and equal access to economic growth. The term social justice dates back to as early as the 19th century. There were large...
How to Activate Omnichannel Brand Purpose and Sustainability Year-Round
Back in April during Earth Month, we saw plenty of inspiring marketing creative and programs launched by recognized brands. Each touted their efforts to improve our relationship with our planet. Rather than thinking of brand purpose and sustainability marketing as a...
The Connection Between Brand Activism and Brand Purpose
Brand Activism isn’t really meant to be this impulsive, reactionary or a convenient play for PR — unless it’s driven by fear. It stems from a commitment to a core purpose over time and if it to have commercial clout it should lie at the intersection of what the brand uniquely offers, the world needs and what people want.
How Adidas Activated Brand Purpose
How Adidas Will Make $1 Billion Helping Solve The Problem Of Ocean Plastic. The story begins with a limited edition sneaker drop of 7,000 pairs of shoes – each containing the equivalent of 11 plastic bottles worth of waste. Selling out instantly, the shoes represented...
Céline Cousteau on Indigenous Rights and Rainforest Protection
Discussing Indigenous Rights in the Amazon and Rainforest Preservation Since time immemorial, Indigenous Peoples have been caretakers of the world’s rainforests. They make up 4% of the global population and yet they nurture 80% of the world’s biodiversity on their...
Why Brands Should Care About Global Access to Clean Water
Half of the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity at least one month a year and 785m people still remain without clean drinking water, while another 2.6 billion lack proper sanitation. With a planet that’s mainly comprised of water, how on earth can...
Be Better with B-Corps
Purpose is the pin-up of 2019, for better or for worse. First, the re-statement by 181 US CEOs (under the auspices of the business roundtable) that the paramount duty of business is not just to maximize shareholder value but is instead to maximize broader...
Cannes Shows That Brand Purpose Can’t Be Half-Hearted
Purpose can unleash potential to benefit people, planet and profit —but only when its aligned with a company's proposition and beliefs. Brian P Kelly | Strategist All at once, the advertising industry seems to be aghast about purpose as if it’s emergence out of...
LGBTQ+ Pride and Brand Purpose
This weekend NYC will host World Pride as it recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots - a series of violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid that began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall...
How Brands Can Contribute on World Oceans Day
Artist Credit: Adam Zyglis Our oceans like never before are full of plastic with an estimated 8 million tons of it entering the seas every year. Plastic is one of the most agile and pervasive...
The Value of Brand Authenticity
Balancing purpose with profit is a challenge that the more linear and profit driven entities of yesteryear never really had to reconcile. Enterprises today either tend towards more lofty and ambitious environmental or socially driven ‘manifestos’ and then lose their...
What is Corporate Social Responsibility & Why It’s Time to Jump on Board
Currently corporations dominate our everyday lives whether through the products we buy, our methods of travel, and the food we eat. They employ many of us, dominate the world’s economy, and their strategies have become the textbook method for economic growth in the...
Brand Purpose & Performance Art
THE IMPACT OF ART Often overlooked, art can have a pivotal impact on social and political change. Art encourages new concepts and ideas and can motivate society to consider a new point of view - so when it comes to social impact - it can have tremendous influence and...
Why Brand Purpose Matters
Photo by Danica Tanjutco on Unsplash This article recently hit our in-box and does a great job of underscoring why we are hearing more about “purpose” from today’s brands and businesses. According to this study by Benevity, there are 6 key moments that have...
Brands: Big Problems, Big Opportunities
I’m just 1/3rd of a way through a great book by Adam Morgan called the Beautiful Constraint. The central premise is that in order to be transformational and unlock real impact, the constraints that may at first appear to hold you back can, in-fact, be the very...
A New Model for Brand Purpose
In an increasingly interconnected world, the old idea of a brand and its ‘positioning’ just isn’t working anymore. What gives brands focus and flexibility (and the ability to engage and deliver impact both internally and externally) is not a single-minded idea or...
