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Marketing and Comms

How brands are evolving in the area of sustainability marketing and communications — and how their stakeholders are asserting their own needs and preferences.

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Unreal Helps Unjunk Sweets with Easter Bunny Apology Tour

Candy company Unreal is sponsoring the 2013 Easter Bunny Apology Tour, a social media and publicity campaign aimed at “unjunking” popular candy products, according to a recent announcement.

Brands More Trusted Than Millionaires When Espousing Sustainable Consumption

The old cliche “money doesn’t buy happiness” still rings true; yet in this economy, apparently it can buy sustainable consumption.

Tom’s of Maine Shares Sustainability Goals, Progress in New ‘Goodness Report’

Tom’s of Maine has launched a new website that makes it easier for people to learn about the way it does business, its goals and its progress against those goals.The Tom’s of Maine Goodness Report breaks the company’s efforts into six categories — energy, ingredients, waste, water, packaging and community. The Report features 2011 benchmarks, updates on recent projects and a goals tracker for 2015 and beyond. Highlighted goals include:

Coca-Cola, Hershey Top CoreBrand 2012 BrandPower Rankings

Consumer-facing companies made up more than half of the Top 100 BrandPower Rankings Report released this month by CoreBrand.

New Research Suggests Marketers Underestimate Consumer Interest in CSR

New research released last week by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and Edelman shows global marketers overwhelmingly agree that "purpose" will be increasingly important to building brands in the future.

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First FTC “Green Guides” Settlement Reinforces Need for Transparency, Truth in Marketing

On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved a final order settling charges that The Sherwin-Williams Co. and PPG Architectural Finishes, LLC made false and unsubstantiated claims that some of their paints contained zero volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”) after tinting.

Whole Foods Aims For Full GMO Transparency by 2018

Within the next five years, all products sold in Whole Foods stores in the U.S. and Canada will be labeled to indicate if they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), according to a recent announcement.

Visa, Sherwin-Williams Join Most Ethical Companies List

A total of 138 companies have made the World’s Most Ethical (WME) Companies List, an annual designation recognizing companies that consistently translate business ethics rhetoric into action.

Unilever Promotes Sustainable Ingredients on Knorr Soup Packs

Unilever has launched a new soup in France that is the first to publicize a key ingredient as sustainably sourced, according to a recent announcement.

Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project Launches Interactive Tool for Rebutting Climate-Change Deniers

The Climate Reality Project and communications agency Arnold Worldwide announced on Thursday the global launch of Reality Drop, an innovative social media tool that educates users about the reality of climate change and uses modern gaming techniques to combat climate-change deniers.

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“Eco-Business” Explores Big Business's Motivation Behind Green

The lingo of sustainability didn’t offer a descriptive enough term for modern brands that integrate energy savings, waste reduction and innovative sourcing goals into the framework of the way they do business. So professors Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister coined one: Eco-Business.

Levi’s, BBVA, eBay Top Index of Brands Communicating Sustainability Via Social Media

Levi Strauss, BBVA, eBay, Danone and General Electric made the top five of the SMI-Wizness Social Media Sustainability Index 2012, an annual review examining how major firms use social media to communicate sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

Marketing “Sustainability”: Don't Forget the Green Guides

In October 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its revised “Green Guides,” which are designed to help marketers ensure that the claims they make about environmental attributes of their products are truthful.

Communicating Sustainability: How Do We Go From Talking to the Wall to Preaching to the Choir?

Calling all innovators and creatives! During April 2013, Sustainable Brands will be publishing a new “Issues in Focus” editorial package highlighting the most effective and engaging examples of sustainability communications.

P&G “Everyday Acts” Campaign: Just Another Recycled Branding Blitz?

The new Proctor & Gamble (P&G) “Everyday Acts” campaign appears to resonate with the $84 billion company’s customers.

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Bamboozled: Four Key Takeaways from the FTC's Recent Crackdown

January 3 was a big news day: The Federal Trade Commission’s announcement on Google’s competitive practices completely drowned out news of its $1.26M false-labeling settlements with Amazon, Macy’s, Max Studio and Sears/Kmart. That’s unfortunate because there are four important takeaways from these cases:1: Take FTC warnings seriously

Survey Finds Big Four Firms Dominate Sustainability Consulting, Assurance

The Big Four accounting firms — Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC — have the strongest brand preference in both the sustainability consulting and sustainability assurance markets, according to a global survey of 250 heads of sustainability. Independent analyst firm Verdantix found that in sustainability consulting, Ernst & Young leads with a brand preference score of 39%, relative to 37% for KPMG, 33% for Deloitte and 30% for PwC. Among the management consulting firms, Accenture achieved a score of 22% beating McKinsey on 21% and Bain on 15%.

Proliferation of Food Industry Ecolabels Expected To Continue in 2013

Growing consumer awareness of food production methods and sustainability issues has led to the rise in recent years of ecolabels in the food industry; over 200 seals and logos currently represent some ecological, ethical, ingredient or sustainability attributes in the global food industry.

Marketing & Communications

From our perspective, "brand" is who you are, what you do, how you do it, and only then, how you communicate it. This channel examines how today's leading brands are evolving in the area of sustainability marketing and communications through thought-provoking ads, creative mission marketing, social media campaigns and other successful stakeholder engagement.