JKR

4. If you are telling a story, it helps to have a point!

Half-informed consumers, competing initiatives and a fundamentally complex topic mean that even good sustainability programmes can feel anonymous or generic. The brands that are cutting through in more engaging ways often align their sustainability actions with their brand personality, to create a more “ownable” feel:

For example, Freitag has reusability as a core part of its offer. It recycles yacht sails into funky bags and wallets. This reusability is further dramatised in the brand’s flagship store (above left), which is made out of old container vessels. Because Freitag is clear about what it does, its answer to any sustainability challenge can come from the same single-minded place.

Similarly, amongst their many initiatives, Ben & Jerry’s are experimenting with grass with a higher soya content. This in turn reduces the amount of farts its cows produce, reducing the methane footprint of the brand. Such an idea is at once quite clever (the methane footprint is a big deal) but also funny, memorable and in keeping with their quirky personality.

The inspiration these two examples offer is that the brands personality can provide a focussed, distinctive and engaging way in which to frame any general sustainability activity.

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