1. CONTEXT & TRENDS
Review of 2012 Market Context and a
12/12/2012
Look Ahead

2. In 2012: Sustainability as a “Revolution
of Interconnectivity” Takes Hold
 Ongoing financial meltdown erodes confidence in stability
of global economic systems
 Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, freak snowstorms -- and
resulting impacts -- drives increased concern about eco-
systems stability
 Failure of government to provide solutions erodes
confidence in government
 Continued unemployment, increasing divide between
haves, have nots, while businesses hoard cash, PLUS
increasing consumer awareness of materiality issues
erodes confidence in business as a trusted
partner/provider

3. “Consumer as Citizen” Gathers Steam,
and the Shift Picks Up Speed.
 From NGO to Citizen Activism: Greenpeace, to
change.org, to Arab Spring, to #occupywallstreet, to
moveyourmoney.org
 Local/alternative economy experiments percolate:
From farm to table, to TransitionTowns, LET‟s Movement,
barter support tools, and micropayment for micro jobs
businesses start up
 Sustainable (Creative, Collaborative) Consumption
Takes Off: AirBnB, RelayRides, Backyard Gardens ++
 Mark Zuckerberg’s Law of Sharing: Sharing/Caring will
double each year and what starts on line, doesn‟t stay
online: http://www.economist.com/node/21537000

4. We Asserted that The Future Will be Lead by
Brands That…
 Establish Themselves as Platforms for Purpose
 Move Beyond Incremental to Revolutionary
Innovation
 Collaborate to Drive a Sustainable Economy
 With citizens, with Civil Society, with the value
network, including each other

5. We Aligned Around 3 Point Shared Agenda
1. How might we develop and demonstrate new
forms of ROI for sustainable innovation?
2. How might we support and encourage more to
“revolutionary” innovation?
3. How might we collaborate to shift consumer
demand/behavior

6. 2012 at Sustainable Brands
Global community continued to grow:
 Added new corporate members (Caesars, Sprint,
Clarke, E-Bay)
 SustainableBrands.com unique visitors up 60% to c.
280k – time on sight, page views, return visits all up
 Email/Social Media Engagement up 100%+ across all
channels
 SB‟12 attendance up 60% from 800-1300
 New Metrics expanded to 2 days, doubled attendance
 SB London – 468 attendees from 25 countries for 1st
offshore event; 50 including live stream audience
 Announced partnerships for SB Rio/SB Istanbul
 Added key team members/broke even again (?!)

7. From Revolution to Renaissance
1. “Awareness” of personal and collective
sustainability issues nearly universal on some
level, though engagement varies wildly for
various reasons
2. Global shift in values is well underway, narrowing
the window for brands to demonstrate
leadership, capture new market positions by
offering new forms of value
3. Michael Porter‟s focus on competitive advantage
DOA? -- Attention turns forward, toward
continuous innovation, value creation

8. Our Theme in 2013

9. In 2013 We Explore the Next Frontier
 We believe the case has been made, the
“Revolution” if you will is over, and already
countless unencumbered innovators have moved
on, generating hundreds of millions of dollars of
new economic activity through entirely disruptive
business models that support this thesis.
 For brands to maintain their leadership, they will
need to work double time on continuous learning
and innovation, becoming much braver about
being self-disruptive, or be caught unaware by
outside disruption.

10. From Mainstream Green to
Meaningful Brands
 Ogilvy, GFK, National Geo research claims
widespread interest in green, but declining
engagement
 Havas points out only 20% feel brands are
making a noticeable improvement in our
individual or collective well-being or quality of
life, and claim most would not care if 70% of
brands they use disappeared
 BBMG identifies “Aspirational” paradox, Rene
Lertzmen writes about the green “tangle”.

11. Digging Deeper Into New Forms of
Value Creation for Brands
 Havas defines „Meaningful Brands‟ based on:
 50% on brand impact on personal well-being:
Physical, economic, emotional, intellectual, social
(sense of connectedness) and “natural” (or
„spiritual‟ – values, sustainability, sense of
purpose or meaning)
 50% on brand contribution to „collective
sustainable futures‟ on: environment, community,
workplace, economy, governance, ethics
 Ci – Continues Shift Trend Study, Ties Happiness
to Sustainable Brands…

12. Key Observation

15. On Trend: The Happiness Quest

16. Collaborative Consumption Explodes

17. On Trend: The “Quantified Self”
New Tools to Help Me Be More Me
Nike +
Fitbit
MoodJournal
The Eatery
HealthVault
Luminosity
WattzOn
Mint

18. On Trend: The Internet of Things

19. On Trend: New Metrics of Sustainability
In addition to the Happiness Index…
 SAC Higg‟s Index
 EP&L
 Human Capital on the Balance Sheet
 Sustainability Performance KPI‟s
 Sustainable Innovation turned spin-off

20. Reaffirming the 21st Century Role of Brand
Business is uniquely equipped to efficiently
create value, but BRAND helps shape what
business and society defines as valuable.

21. Reaffirming the 21st Century Role of Brand
For Business, Brand is the Reason for Being
“Our brand story tells us who we are, what we do, how we do
it. It is a tool for creating stakeholder alignment and for
prioritizing the use of resources.”
KoAnn Skrzyiarz, Sustainable Brands
To fully leverage the potential value of a focus on
environmental and social impact we must move to
embed meaning/sustainable value creation into the core
of our brands, turning our brands into “platforms for
purpose” (Nike, SB‟10)
http://www.sustainablebrands.com/digital_learning/event
-video/nike-better-world

22. Reaffirming the 21st Century Role of Brand
For Society, Brands Drive Our Aspirations/Ideals
“In a connected world, familiarity is not enough to
differentiate, create preference, build loyalty. In 2012 a
brand must respond to our growing need for connection,
purpose, meaning, and must authentically respond to the
fact that we live in world of finite resources ”
We must return to being thought and culture leaders
that lead the way to a flourishing future.

23. Reaffirming the 21st Century Role of Brand
For Society, Brands Drive Our Aspirations/Ideals
“In a connected world, familiarity is not enough to
differentiate, create preference, build loyalty. In 2012 a
brand must respond to our growing need for connection,
purpose, meaning, and must authentically respond to the
fact that we live in world of finite resources ”
Brands must return to being thought and culture
leaders that lead the way to a flourishing future.

24. In 2013: Can We Affirm…?
 Brand‟s role in business and society
 The need to establish our brands as “Platforms for
Purpose” by embedding sustainable value into
their DNA through „systemic authenticity‟
 The need to move beyond incremental to
continuous, breakthrough, purpose driven
innovation designed to connect with customers on
a more meaningful level
 Our commitment to collaborate with consumers,
civil society, our value network and each other to
drive a global sustainable economy
 Define a set of concrete initiatives to work on
together toward this end

25.  To Speak to our Team Further About These
Trends, please contact Patrick McCartan at
patrick@sustainablelifemedia.com

26. A Collaboration Brainstorm