The big picture apocalyptic narrative packaged in the wrapper of human guilt is a negative framing that not only fails to resonate with most people but risks painting the problem as too large and intractable for individual action (such as buying a "green" brand) to have any meaningful impact.
Global warming, or climate change, is occurring and is primarily caused by human activity,” with 58 percent (compared to 48 percent in 2010) agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement.
ow products are made and about the content of the products they buy
Natural thought leaders foster their curiosity, are brave enough to challenge established points of view, and [are] willing to explore approaches that may appear controversial, at least at first,”
Here’s No. 2: “Always give it away. Thought leadership is not a revenue stream. . . . I even cringe at using it for lead generation because that context broadcasts a future sales call. Create your thought leadership with an eye toward accrual of brand value, not revenue. The dividends may be intangible, but when thought leadership flips from push to pull (writers are seeking out your opinion, conferences are inviting you to present), then you will know that you have a thought leadership hit.”
t rests on the recognition that attention to corporate social and environmental responsibilities is generally in the long-term economic interests of the firm.
Managers have a responsibility to consider those affected by company actions; equally, however, those stakeholders are often able to exert pressure on a company if it does not—even to the extent of shutting down the business, as Coca-Cola found in Kerala. This is particularly true for large companies subject to intense media scrutiny.
When companies implement “strategic CSR” they can find there are many benefits, including strengthened corporate and brand reputations and enhanced trust with key stakeholders (customers, employees, regulatory agencies, suppliers, and investors), improved risk management, increased revenues from innovation to identify new business opportunities, and reduced costs from efficiency improvements.
profound differences in commitment to corporate purpose.
This close involvement of owners and founders in SMEs means that commitment to purpose is much easier to engender than in a large, publicly-held corporation.
more personal.
SMEs increasingly find that they are part of a value chain where a large company downstream (for example, a major brand or a retailer) is demanding attention by suppliers to sustainability metrics and performance.
ikely to mean that less funds are available to invest in initiatives that might be socially or environmentally beneficial, especially if the economic pay-off is less obvious or longer term.
SMEs might also be less able to bring to scale the efficiency gains that can come from attention to CSR or exploit the business opportunities that might come through innovation in the form of new, more sustainable products.
In sum, while size matters, not least in what gets done, SMEs have many of the same reasons for engaging in CSR that large companies have, both in avoiding downside risk and in exploiting upside opportunities. In many cases, they may also be more intrinsically, if not better motivated, to give CSR attention.
VF Corporation — one of the world’s largest single purchasers of cotton, whose brands include Lee, Wrangler and The North Face — says much of the world’s cotton comes from areas that are expected to be impacted most by water scarcity and extreme weather such as the Western US, China, Pakistan and India. The IPCC report makes firms’ risks associated with climate change even more clear, says Letitia Webster, VF’s director of global corporate sustainability.
“Whether in mountains or the ocean, our brands and our consumers are feeling the impacts of climate change,” which means less ski-related business for The North Face. The company today signed Ceres’ Climate Declaration, calling on US policymakers to enact climate and clean energy policies that will benefit the economy.
i see this as a classic example of the evolution of the language of sustainability; and possibly reinforcing of our own need to move away from the word in our name and branding...though not in all messaging
we should have a rolling 'what we are reading' widget on our website with fascinating stuff like this. and ideally then write a blog post about it but in the meantime, just linking resources is awesome. this is sooooo interesting!
I like how the sidebar contains the 6 tags/categories for her blog posts. Home page does not have sidebar, rest of the pages do. have the email sign up in the sidebar.
Your choice: intentionally build and nurture your assets, or ignore them in the pursuit of the next thing...
Now that everyone has the ability to own a slice of the attention paid to media, now that everyone can build and nurture a network, assets are no longer off limits to people who work for a living.
In just three words, then, there's the huge chasm between the trusted, experienced freelancer, the one you're happy to hear from when she has a new idea, and the newbie or the short-term maximizer. Those guys have to start from scratch, each and every time.
New ideas come to me all the time. I always have a Google Doc up on the screen so that I can write whenever I’m inspired. I intend to get at least 500 words in a day to stay connected to the process.
I think Twitter is where it’s at! If you enjoy writing, use Twitter as a tool for expressing yourself in fun 140-character messages. Twitter is also a great way to engage with a larger audience and get feedback about your writing. If people are retweeting your posts, you can trust that the content is good. Follow other writers and people whose work you respect, interact with them, and get in the mix. You can learn a lot from Twitter if you want to!
In addition, having a strong Twitter following will greatly benefit your book launch, since you have a built-in network of supporters who can help spread the word fast.
Gen X and Y readers want clear messages. They are used to reading cut-to-the-chase tweets and concise, 400-word blogs. The key is to get to the point, fast!
Listen to Gabby LIVE every Wednesday (9 am Pacific/noon Eastern) on her call-in talk show on Hay House Radio.Meet Gabby in person and learn more tips on how to build your branding at Hay House’s Writer’s Workshop in New York this June.