A few weeks back I learned that P&G won the European Business Award for Corporate Sustainability (Mar 11). This felt great…indeed, P&G has been a leader in this space vs. competition.
Sustainability is a pretty broad term as it incorporates social, econonmic & environmental aspects. Recently, I have been able to take part in some of our “socially sustainable” projects here in Switzerland, and they do have impact within the community.
The award was great, but with the tremendous amount of global challenges facing companies we are going to have to step up our efforts in a big way. I recently learned that 29 of the top 100 economic entities in the world are corporations, not countries. P&G has the brands, technology, expertise and global scale to help solve problems in ways few other institutions can, so it needs to continue to be a force for good in the world.
On m-cause, I write about marketing, society and culture (and a host of other random stuff). You can find me on twitter @RyanMacJones.
2 Comments
Hey Ryan,
just heard your call-in to Mitch Joel encouraging him to keep pushing the cause of social media and marketing. Ironically, I listened to it after just returning to Frankfurt from two days of meetings on Pampers at P&G in Geneva. I work at the Saatchi & Saatchi office here where I’m the Regional Strategic Planning Director for Western Europe. Like you, I’ve also become interested and inspired by the possibilities of new marketing and social media for marketers in general, and naturally also for Pampers. And similarly, it’s through people like Joseph Jafee, C.C. Chapman, Mitch Joel, and Seth Godin, among others, that my horizon has expanded by leaps and bounds in this area over the past two years or so. I’ve also started to bring this thinking into my work on Pampers, and while it’s a bit slow going, I’m feeling that things are starting move. You may have heard a recent audio message from Intelligirl sent to CC, Mitch and Joseph on a related theme — i.e. how to move social media and marketing beyond the so-called fish bowl. I responded via an audio message that Joseph played on his show — saying essentially the same thing that you said to Mitch. Namely, that I believed the thinking was starting to reach a broader audience of marketers — indeed, people like you and me who are starting to bring that thinking into our discussions and conversations within the organizations in which we operate. In any case, it’s good to hear that there’s at least one other person in my P&G/Geneva universe who is stretching his mind in this area and I would love the opportunity to meet personally at some point when I’m in Geneva. Perhaps we could put our heads together in responding to Mitch’s call to share some examples of how we’ve actually brought new marketing thinking to the brands we work on, although I realize, of course, there are guidelines of confidentiality that we have to take into account. Or what about organizing something to get Mitch or Joseph over to Geneva to help spread the word. I’d see if Saatchi & Saatchi might co-sponsor. Drop me a line at josquin3@mac.com or stephen.rothman@saatchi.de Would love to hear from you. And kudos on your blog. Steve
Steve,
Man, tks so much for this great and motivating comment. I have sent you an e-mail to discuss.
–Ryan