Twitter enters the boardroom?

As social media spreads around the globe, one enclave has proven stubbornly resistant, according to FastCompany: the boardroom. Perceptions remain that social media is at best a soft PR tool and at worst a time sink for already distracted employees. A new report from McKinsey Global Institute, however, makes the business case for social media a little easier to sell. According to an analysis of 4,200 companies by the business consulting firm, social technologies stand to unlock from $900 billion to $1.3 trillion in value. At the high end, that approaches Australia’s annual GDP.  While 72 percent of companies use social technologies in some way, very few are anywhere near to achieving the full potential benefit, according to the survey of the consulting firm. In fact, the most powerful applications of social technologies in the global economy are largely untapped. Companies will go on developing ways to reach consumers through social technologies and gathering insights for product development, marketing, and customer service. Yet the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) finds that twice as much potential value lies in using social tools to enhance communications, knowledge sharing, and collaboration within and across enterprises. MGI’s estimates suggest that by fully implementing social technologies, companies have an opportunity to raise the productivity of interaction workers—high-skill knowledge workers, including managers and professionals—by 20 to 25 percent.

IKEA Foundation : “Soft Toys for Education “ campaign was able to donate 12,4 mil euro last year

Every year, the IKEA Foundation donates €1 for every soft toy sold in participating IKEA stores in November and December. The donation goes to Save the Children and UNICEF , and is spent on children’s educational projects.

The IKEA Foundation was able to donate  €12.4 million in 2011. 

Since 2003, the Soft Toys for Education campaign has:  raised €47.5 million, supported over 70 projects in nearly 40 countries, helped more than 8 million children receive a better education.

The projects improve education in Asia, Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe. With the funding, program  partners help schools become more child-friendly with well-trained teachers for all children, girls and boys, including those from ethnic minorities and those with special needs.

Diageo publishes its 2012 Sustainability & Responsibility Report

Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business, publishes its 2012 Sustainability & Responsibility Report. The report highlights progress and aspirations across the company’s key sustainability impacts including alcohol in society, water and the environment, socio-economic development, people, and governance and ethics.  The report has sections covering work with and impact on suppliers, customers and consumers.Diageo’s Sustainability & Responsibility Report 2012 is available on an interactive website here.

Harvard Business School: education program on Corporate Social Responsibility

Harvard Business School (HBS) will host an executive education program, Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategies to CreateBusiness and Social Value, from October 17–20, 2012 on the HBS Campus.  Corporate Social Responsibility will address the challenge of balancing business objectives and social accountability.

“Corporate Social Responsibility is a crucial element of any business strategy,” said Kash Rangan, Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing and faculty chair of Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategies to Create Business and Social Value.  “Corporate Social Responsibility will help corporate executives focus, align and integrate their CSR initiatives to create shared value for firms and communities.”

Brands in the Edge of Ethos : You Want Success? Start a Mass Movement.

There’s a new talk in the marketing world now and it has to do with… movements. The goal is to use people as Media, exploit their causes  and , ultimately, find and  push their buy button in their brain . How? This is where  the book ‘Uprising: How to build a brand and change the world by sparking cultural movements’ explains how brands can become part of something that is changing the advertising industry. Author Scott Goodson is founder and chairman of the agency, StrawberryFrog. Perhaps a good read for selfish  brands with a vision to become tiny hidden persuaders  and manipulators, exploiting the so-called Social (?) Media.

After Capitalism? “Nice Capitalism” ... of course !!

Economist Jayati Ghosh has seven dreams for an ideal society, which would root out inequality but preserve cultural differences. You can see the relevant video in Guardian here. She is one of the world's leading economists, professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru university, New Delhi, and the executive secretary of International Development Economics Associates (Ideas). What a pleasure to see today such leading figures in economics to embrace ideas presented in a book published in 2008 , before the economic crisis, that forecasted the turmoil .. Have you read the book “Nice Capitalism” ? The book was proved prophetic, since with his own way ( and with it’s underlined message “Nice Capitalism…WANTED! ) forecasted in time the collapse of the American economic hegemony and it’s model of “Selfish” Capitalism - characterized by greed, arrogance but also indifference for the increasing inequalities in the society - and the supremacy of “Nice” Capitalism that is adopted mainly in countries of Europe , based on the ancient Greek – centric idea of “metron” (measure) in life. 

Monsanto and other Global Brands Give Millions to Kill GMO Labeling

New campaign finance reports reveal that Monsanto Co. just contributed $4.2 million to defeat Proposition 37 in California / US, which would require labeling of genetically engineered food, according to consumer watch dog Right to Know .  That is the largest contribution in the race.  Total contributions from major global brands to defeat Proposition 37, amount to $25 million.

Thus far, the “Big 6” pesticide companies (Monsanto, Dow, BASF, Bayer, Syngenta and DuPont) have contributed $13.5 million to defeat Proposition 37. See details in the link. http://www.carighttoknow.org/monsanto_gives_4_2_million_to_kill_california_gmo_labeling_initiative

Σε αφανισμό οδηγούνται οι μεγάλες ελληνικές βιομηχανίες από τις εξοντωτικές τιμές του φυσικού αερίου

Με Ειδικό Φόρο Κατανάλωσης (ΕΦΚ) δεκαπλάσιο από άλλες χώρες, έλλειψη ανταγωνισμού, μονοπωλιακές πρακτικές, άκαμπτο ρυθμιστικό πλαίσιο και εξοντωτικά τιμολόγια που είναι 100% ακριβότερα από ότι σε γειτονικές χώρες και σε χώρες της ΕΕ, το φυσικό αέριο βάζει τη ταφόπλακα στην χαμένη ανταγωνιστικότητα των Ελληνικών προϊόντων και γίνεται η αιτία να οδηγηθούν χιλιάδες ακόμη εργαζόμενοι στην ανεργία. Διαβάστε περισσότερα εδω.

THE NEW TRIAL OF SOCRATES 2012: Serious stuff for Thought Leaders

In the spring of 399 B.C., Socrates confronted 500 Athenians, citizens, judges and jurors, in his trial initiated by the charges leveled at him by Meletus, Anytos and Lycon. The trial began with a reading of the formal charges: Socrates is guilty of crime in refusing to recognise the gods acknowledged by the state, and importing strange divinities of his own; he is further guilty of corrupting the young.

On May 2012, almost 2,500 years later, the trial of Socrates was repeated. This time Socrates was acquitted in a historical trial which is not a re-enactment but a modern perspective based on current legal framework supplemented with ancient Greek elements and comical theatrics.

The Alexander S. Onassis Foundation found advocates for its venture, top American and European judges and lawyers, who all examined the trial material retrieved from ancient texts by Plato (Apology, Crito, Euthyphro, Phaedo), Xenophon (Memorabilia) and Aristophanes (The Clouds), as well as the corresponding Athenian law of that time.

The 2012 event took place in Athens ( the 2011 trial was in New York), and you may see the relevant video ( also in English and French languages, with concurrent translation), at : http://www.sgt.gr/en/programme/event/688

Building Ripples Into Your Futureproof Brand

By Marc Stoiber

The concept of brand has rippled, or expanded, greatly with the rise of sustainability.

Suddenly, it isn’t all about limiting interaction to times revolving around consumption. Companies are thinking about how the consumer can do more, impacting the environment during use or at disposal, for example. And they’re also going further and further up the supply chain to ensure virtuous behavior – knowing that journalists are growing more vocal about environmental infractions that previously remained hidden.

Speaking with Robert ter Kuile, PepsiCo’s senior director of environmental sustainability, I learned that this ripple is now spreading beyond the consumer entirely, and into their community.

Ter Kuile, who speaks about innovation in water use this week at GLOBE 2012, said that his company is digging deep into local communities to find water saving opportunities that produce both positive environmental and consumer impact.

“If you start thinking outside your watershed, you’ll miss nuances of the local situation that you really need to pay attention to” ter Kuile said. “It’s about breaking down the watershed where we operate, and analyzing the situation across the spectrum – from farms to the supply chain to runoff.”

Ter Kuile used PepsiCo’s Casa Grande, Arizona facility as an example. The plant operates at near net zero waste and zero landfill. It is powered entirely by renewable resources – solar and biomass. And a new water filtration plant cleans used water to US drinking water standards, enabling it to be reused in operations and eliminating wasteful ‘one-pass’ water. It isn’t hard to see how this story would make the news in a desert city, and earn a positive glow for the company.

PepsiCo took the ripple even further, signing a joint declaration with the UN, stating that … read the full story at : http://www.marcstoiber.com/2012/03/13/building-ripples-into-your-futureproof-brand/ 

What Makes an Iconic Brand?

Brands are an accepted part of our daily lives. But some brands seem to transcend their product or service categories to become part of the popular culture. What distinguishes these iconic brands from the rest of the pack, and what can marketers learn from them?

In today's world, brands are everywhere, a familiar part of daily life for most people. But a few brands, such as Coca-Cola, Nike, and McDonald's, have set themselves apart. These brands have come to represent something more than a product or service. They are embedded in our culture and our consciousness. They are icons.

Iconic brands inspire an enduring form of affection that any marketer would want for his brand. But iconic status, which has traditionally been built over decades, is enjoyed by relatively few brands. What can we learn from these brand icons that might be useful to all brand marketers today? Read the full report by WWP :

http://www.wpp.com/wpp/marketing/branding/whatmakesaniconicbrand.htm

Restoring Confidence in Brands

Long before the crisis, a number of studies showed a growing lack of trust in business and their leaders,. For example, only ¼ of the public trust them. Further on, brand importance goes also steadily down. For example, brand loyalty today is only 9%, from 40% some years ago. The crisis also showed that the notion of “Powerless State” is a myth. Society is now pressing harder for a new “corporate social contract “ and the new issues for the businesses are endless, including: regulation, environment, unions, privacy, safety, off shoring, civil society, governments as owners, consumer activists, NGOs and others. How modern corporations and brands could respond to these strategic and organizational challenges, beyond simplistic CSR, “Green Wash” practices and the recently invented by brands concept of “social missions in the supermarket shelf? See more and contribute to the debate here.

Rebranding Greece

Brand Greece certainly has a perception problem. While other EU countries have worse economic indicators regarding debt and fiscal discipline,  Greece  easily is considered Europe’s top laggard and a  prominent member in the PIGS club. Greeks are the ones that according to Eurostat are  working more harder in EU (30% more that the Germans and the others in the European North … not included the usual second unregistered job sometimes ) and are consider lazy !! So who to blame about that? The answer is ..Zorba, according to  Peter Economides, a prominent branding guru. Peter Economides is a Greek  brand strategist with a global perspective. Owner and founder of Felix BNI based in Athens, Peter is a former Executive Vice President and Worldwide Director of Client Services at global advertising agency McCann Erickson Worldwide and Head of Global Clients at TBWA\Worldwide. You can see the relevant slide presentation here and watch a  recent video  with his speech about ‘ Brand Greece’ and some other  big misconceptions here.