|
For immediate release JY&A
Consulting
International think-tank announces 2008 Brands with a Conscience
Stockholm, Seal Beach, Calif. and Wellington, January
7 (JY&A Media)
The Medinge Group, an international think-tank on branding and business,
today releases its fifth annual Brands with a Conscience list. In
the Group’s opinion, these eight diverse organizations show
that it is possible for brands to succeed as they contribute to
the betterment of the society by sustainable, socially responsible
and humanistic behaviour.
The international collective of brand practitioners
meets annually in August at a secluded location outside Stockholm,
Sweden, and collaborate on the list, judging nominees on principles
of humanity and ethics, rather than financial worth. The Brands
with a Conscience list is shaped around criteria including evidence
of the human implications of the brand and considering the question
of whether the brand takes risks in line with its beliefs. Evaluations
are made based on reputation, self-representation, history, direct
experience, contacts with individuals within the organizations,
media and analysts and an assessment of the expressed values of
sustainability.
Last year, the group added a unique category commendation,
the Colin Morley Award, recognizing exceptional achievement by an
NGO. Mr Morley, a member of the Medinge Group, died in the London
Underground bombings on July 7, 2005. The award commemorates his
visionary work in humanistic branding.
For 2008, the group has singled out the following
organizations:
Aveda
Chocolonely
Hennes & Mauritz
Happy Computers
International Watch Co.
Pret a Manger
Dame Anita Roddick
and the 2008 Colin Morley Award for a non-governmental organization
is given to Star School.
Announcing the 2008 Brands with a Conscience,
Stanley Moss, CEO of the Medinge Group and chairman of the initiative,
called them ‘solid indications of the trend towards humanistic
branding—this year’s list shows a renewed interest in
ethical conduct, accountability and outcome. The 2008 winners remind
us that at their essence, brands are for people.’
‘Branding has a huge role to play in creating
a better and more sustainable world,’ remarked Thomas Gad,
Chairman of the Medinge Group. ‘There already exist alternative
technologies and products with less damaging impact on the environment,
climate and people’s lives. But new green products and alternatives
need to become attractive in the minds of people, in spite of their
sometimes being more expensive and different. That is why the Medinge
Group’s annual Brands With a Conscience Award is more relevant
and important than ever. Branding can become a true-flag bearer
for a better world.’
‘For the last four years, the Medinge Group
has named Brands with a Conscience, forerunners to the social responsibility
curve, long before the mass media came to champion their causes.
This year’s mixture of companies again represents those leading
the way, including some who pushed the humanist agenda for years
without recognition.
‘In particular, we posthumously award a BWAC
to Dame Anita Roddick for her lifelong contribution to fighting
injustices. This is a recognition that Dame Anita had successfully
developed her name into a brand with a reputation, one which had
an immediate resonance to many. Star School’s recognition as
our Colin Morley Award winner for 2008 is fitting: this is the sort
of organization we think Colin himself would have endorsed for its
work in combating HIV and Aids in Zululand, by targeting 40,000
high school students,’ said Jack Yan, a founder and director
of the Medinge Group.
Ian Ryder, a founding member and director of the
Medinge Group, commented, ‘Each year since we began these awards,
the whole world has become increasingly concerned about planetary
sustainability. World leaders are meeting in Bali as we issue this
year’s winners list. Some of our featured brands have been
concerned for years about issues like these. They have actually
demonstrated their commitment and not just talked about it. The
standard just keeps getting better.’
Patrick Harris, a director of the Medinge Group,
added, ‘Medinge’s Brands with a Conscience winners are
not peripheral, fad-based organizations. They are thriving, successful,
humanity-centric entities. They are market-forming and world-changing.
Together, they are a glimpse of the future of brands. Today’s
Brands with a Conscience are embracing an era of generational thinking.
They perform the ultimate recycling effort, that of discarding the
current disposable, short-sighted generation of thought and replacing
it with one of longevity and humanity at its core.’
‘The continued shift away from “branding-as-persuasion-to-buy”
to “branding-as-how-we-improve-the-world”—with authentic,
human considerations at the core of the organization—really
gathers pace,’ observed Tony Quinlan, a Medinge member. ‘This
year's award winners effectively counter the ridiculousness of the
profit-above-all approach which too many organizations take. Congratulations
to such a diverse group, working in diverse sectors—all deserving
of our praise and gratitude.’
The winners in detail
Aveda
www.aveda.com
An impressive sustainability-committed body and hair care brand.
Its mission positions Aveda as a catalyst for awareness and change
at all levels. The company gave its original endorsement to the
Valdez Principles (later the CERES Principles) in 1989. Individual
responsibility is core to Aveda’s culture. The company regards
its employees as change agents with the power to change the course
of human civilization.
Chocolonely
www.chocolonely.com
Tony Chocolonely produces 100 per cent slave-free chocolate. Most
chocolate is harvested under slave conditions (often by children)
in west Africa. Dutch journalist Teun van der Keuken set out to
make chocolate products that are certified slave-free. As he has
shown in his TV programmes, that is not easy. He even went so far
as to start a court case against himself (which he lost), as a consumer
of slave chocolate, to shame chocolate producers.
Hennes & Mauritz
www.hm.com
Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has taken a leading position in crucial
issues and earned acclaim for it internationally. The company operates
in 28 countries and has more than 60,000 employees all working to
the same philosophy. Alongside commercial success, this company
demonstrates solid principles of entrepreneurship and a strong sustainability
credentials, all the more difficult in a business where unnecessary
over-consumption, cost-shaving, and issues of ethical production
will be the inevitable accusations. H&M has grown into one of
the most demanding fashion producers in the world, and today stands
as a benchmark of standards for the industry.
Happy Computers
www.happy.co.uk
Happy is a training company, that makes learning about IT an enjoyable
and helps companies create great workplaces. Ethics are at the core
of the business, with every new employee introduced to this through
the company’s Corporate Scruples game at their induction. Happy
has sent trainers to Uganda, Nigeria and Cambodia to, pro bono,
to support the creation of local sustainable training centres. In
London they provide support to a range of local charities, employ
a deaf trainer to deliver IT training in British Sign Language and
have been carbon-offsetting since 1991 (long before the term was
in use).
Although only employing 50 people, Happy has previously
been rated the best company in the UK for customer service (Management
Today, 2003), the best small business in terms of positive impact
on society (Business in the Community, 2006) and the second-best
place to work for (Financial Times, 2007).
International Watch Company
www.iwc.com
Since 1868, a brand of the utmost integrity, dedicated to the manufacture
of quality timepieces. A beacon for the watchmaking craft, which
offers three- to four-year apprenticeships in the discipline. Creates
limited quantities. Number of employees in 1869: 196; number of
employees in 2006: 390. Pursues a strong social and ecological policy
as part of its CSR initiatives, and in partnership with adventurer
and environmentalist David de Rothschild (Adventure Ecology). With
structural measures and alternative energies, IWC is cutting its
carbon dioxide emissions by at least 50 per cent. Certified as climate-neutral
business, at the same time a driving force behind the Laureus Sport
for Good Foundation, a global organization whose aim is to open
up new prospects in life for underprivileged children.
Pret a Manger
www.pret.com
Good food with organic (where possible), non-GM ingredients. Leftovers
to homeless. First coffee for free each day—in every shop—to
remind of the importance of the customer. Several charities supported,
also a foundation, a great working environment to all staff. The
company is not too bothered about profits. On its website, it states
that someday, it hopes to earn 9 per cent profit, but hasn’t
yet.
Dame Anita Roddick
www.anitaroddick.com
Dame Anita Roddick showed admirable leadership not only in the Body
Shop but as an advocate for Fair Trade, the environment, corporate
social responsibility, free speech and other causes through her
personal work. Much of this can be found at anitaroddick.com, which
was updated personally until her passing. All of this reflects a
personal brand that is consistent and honed, supported by causes,
many of which are compatible with the Medinge Group’s own aims.
Anita Roddick believed in living her own personal brand as much
as for her audiences, including the media, and had few detractors,
something which cannot be said for many other high-profile types.
The Colin Morley Award for excellence by an NGO: Star School
starschool.brimstone.net/document.asp?levelid=180
Star School works with 40,000 high school students in HIV–Aids-stricken
Zululand, South Africa. This schools-based intervention encourages
learners to build their future through informed decision-making.
The group works within existing structures—in this case, the
school system. The NGO is financed by the Swedish entrepreneur Dan
Olofsson, endorsed by the South African government. Star Schools
are now spreading out on the African continent. The project was
launched in 2005, and has since been rolled out to 40 schools in
the Umkhanyakude district of Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Images
Images for this release may be downloaded from <http://jya.net/080103pr0.htm>.
2007 BWAC committee
Malcolm Allan
Paulina Borsook
Thomas Gad
Sicco van Gelder
Ava Hakim
Patrick Harris
Pierre d’Huy
Nicholas Ind
Tim Kitchin
Johnnie Moore
Stanley Moss (chairman)
Simon Paterson
Tony Quinlan
Anette Rosencreutz
Ian Ryder
Erika Uffindell
Jack Yan
Ton Zijlstra
About the Medinge Group
Founded in 2002, the Medinge Group first published a brand manifesto
of eight statements encapsulating a vision of healthy brands for
the future. In 2003, the group authored a collection of essays entitled
Beyond Branding, which explored the ways in which brands
could add value within alternative business and social models. In
2004, the group established the annual Brands with a Conscience
list to recognize organizations who epitomize humanistic behaviour;
in 2006, Medinge added a special category of recognition named in
honour of its late colleague Colin Morley, which acknowledges excellence
by an NGO, in keeping with Colin’s humanistic vision. The Medinge
Group maintains an online, automated speakers’ and experts’ bureau
accessible through its web site, www.medinge.org.
In 2007 Medinge launched an online resource, The Journal of the
Medinge Group, a digital anthology of papers and articles written
by Medinge members.
Related sites
The Medinge Group www.medinge.org
Medinge Säteri www.medinge.com
Related documents
The Medinge Group fact sheet
The Medinge Group Q&A
Brands with a Conscience criteria
The Medinge Group Brand Manifesto
The Medinge Group members’ roster
Notes to editors
The JY&A three-stroke logo is a trade mark of Jack Yan &
Associates and is subject to protection in certain jurisdictions.
All trade marks are the properties of their respective owners and
are used in a descriptive fashion without any intention to infringe.
###
|
