BRAND, SUSTAINABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
Branding is about shifting perceptions, influencing people, changing behaviours.
Our society radically needs to change if it’s going to become sustainable.
Knowledge and technology are not the problem. We have everything we need to make the change right now.
But we're not doing it.
What needs to change is the culture: the collective decisions and behaviours exhibited by the individuals in a society. Living sustainably needs to become the norm.
So it makes sense that brand has a role to play on the journey towards a more sustainable future.
There are, of course, the poster boys of sustainability. The early movers, the visionaries, who've recognised that the world needs to change. Popular brands, like Patagonia and Tesla, made sustainable fashion and electric cars desirable and cool.
Whilst these companies are shining a light on the issues, championing their cause on a global scale, and showing us all the way forward, it is, in fact, down to all of us to make a difference.
If you are a business owner, you have a brand and no matter how big or small you are, no matter how far your reach, you have a voice.
It should be used. You have the opportunity to influence the behaviour of everyone you touch.
By making a statement about who you are, what you believe in and the behaviours that you will and won’t accept, you attract those who feel the same way.
Making a clear statement about the future you want to create, shifts the conversation, and over time, the culture moves. One customer, one business, one leader at a time.
Having a brand that says nothing, that means nothing, is hiding.
If we are part of the problem, we have a responsibility to fix it.