Monthly Archives: April 2017

Starting with the why has worked really well for brands looking to connect with their customers at a deeper level. Inspired by our recent discussion in class about purpose as the 4th P in Sustainability, an interesting case study to look at is Adidas. Being the only textile, apparel or luxury good company to make the Corporate Knight’s Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations, Adidas must be doing something right, not only in how they conduct their operations but more importantly, how they communicate their sustainability agenda.

While cutting carbon emissions across the value chain to create the products at Adidas is something that is worthy of praises, I think it’s important to highlight how “purpose” remains an important piece of this multinational brand. One of the definitions we came up in class- “Purpose is something that’s greater than an individual”.

This is evident through Adidas’ open source partnership with Parley for the Oceans. Creating a shoe entirely made from reclaimed and recycled ocean waste is clearly making a statement and leading by example to show that creativity and innovation with the power of big brands can help the sustainability agenda. Companies often struggle to relate their customers to the bigger picture, a larger purpose. Adidas seems to have the answer:

“We can only engage with fans on topics they can relate to, and people relate to cleaning oceans… climate change is a big topic; we aren’t going to run away from it. We just need to connect with fans in a relatable ways when we do talk about and/or take action on climate change”. Starting with the why has now become central to all brands that’s looking to engage with their customers in a meaningful way.

Doing a quick brainstorm of the different companies we talked about in class and their greater purpose includes…

• Tesla – creating a sustainable, smart world through transportation and home technologies
• AirBnB – creating your belonging anywhere in the world
• IKEA – making everyday life better for all global citizens

What are some other brands you’ve seen successfully used “purpose” to engage their customers?

While certifications is one way for brands to communicate to consumers what they stand-for, partnerships with certain organizations also help communicate sustainability by association. The ideal is to create win-win situations where the organizations mutually benefit each other. An arguably successful example comes to mind- Coca Cola and WWF. While the partnership generates positive PR for Coca Cola, WWF also becomes more powerful as together they are able to influence local policy makers. More recently WWF has partnered with Bosch, a German multinational that produces automotive parts as well as different types of household appliances. I found this partnership very strange. I can see how Coca Cola’s water resource consumption makes sense to partner with WWF. But the partnership between Bosch and WWF is one that makes me scratch my head.

The two have created a #KnowYourSeafood campaign in hopes to promoting more sustainable consumption of seafood in Singapore, one of the biggest consumers of seafood in the world. The campaign includes a series of cooking videos featuring Bosch chef ambassadors to prepare popular dishes with sustainable seafood varieties. Within these videos, the chefs also share tips to help consumers make more responsible choices when cooking seafood dishes. I know that currently MSC, Marine Stewardship Council is the by far the more prominent label and partnership when it comes to sustainable seafood. I question whether MSC would’ve been a better choice of partnership. With Bosch’s extensive product offerings in machinery, they have already turned to remanufacturing as a means to close the loop. While partnerships with WWF sparks an important conversation in the seafood industry, I think as a brand sustainability marketing strategy, partnerships with an organization like Cradle to Cradle would make more sense.

What are you thoughts? Have you come across any interesting partnership choices?