Communicating Sustainability Using

Social Mediaby JoeyShepp.com

Presenter• JoeyShepp.com

• Founder Earthsite.net and GreenMaven.com

Social Media Today

Information Age• The industrial age filled

the world with Stuff

• The Information Age is Filling our world with Information.

• Cheap, Accessible, Abundant

• potential limitless growth

Disruptive Technology

• Free

• Mobile

• DeCentralized

• Real-Time

• Hyper-local

Closing the Digital Divide

• Internet to reach 2 Billion Users this year, Representing 30% of global Population

• 70% of Developed Countries

• 21% of Developing Countries

Source: http://mashable.com/2010/10/19/internet-2-billion/

Moore’s Law

• Speed of computers Doubles every two years

• “Singularity” is coming… Computers transcend Biology ~Ray Kurzweil

Facebook:Global Citizenship

• 500,000,000 Active users

• 700,000 New Users Daily!

• 70% outside the US

• 380,000 Likes / minutes

• Accounts for 25% of all USA page views

YouTube:You are the Media

• 35 Hours Uploaded every Minute!

• Hundreds of the most popular users make 6 Figures a year

• Lady Gaga and Eminem surpass 1 billion hits

Twitter:The Pulse of the pLanet• New Record Set: 8,868

Tweets/Second

• 40% USA60% international

• In the USA, 87% awareness, yet only 7% use it

• Sentiment Analysis Proven as accurate as Exit Polls

3,339 Texts Per Month

Born into this world

• 92% of U.S. Toddlers have an online presence

• The vast majority of children today will have online presence by the time they are two years old — a presence that will continue to build throughout their whole lives.

Why use Social Media for Sustainable Business?

The New Marketing Landscape

• Earned Media(Public Relations)

• Owned Media (Website)

• Advertising(Paid)

• Social Media (Community)

Social Media Is DIFFERENT

Old School New SchoolB2C C2C

Top Down Bottom Up

Closed Open

Print Media Digital Media

One to Many Many to Many

Privacy Transparency

Advertisement Conversation

Four out of fiveNEW MEDIA USERS

interact with companies and brands online

source

Source: MiresBall and KRC Research interview Brand Marketers

Belief that Social Media Provides an Opportunity to Reach New

Customers

Two-thirds of American new media users

Feel they can influence business practices by voicing opinions online.

source

What people WantFrom Sustainable Businesses

• 85% what’s in products and how they’re made

• 83% additional details about labels and claims seen offline

• 82% providing a forum for consumers to voice concerns over business practices

• 82% reporting progress on social and environmental issues

• 80% advocating for social or environmental issues

source

Social Media is perfect for Sustainable Business

• Sustainable Businesses have an authentic story

• Sustainable Businesses are fine with transparency

• Social & environmental responsibility is what community wants to hear

OpennessTransparency

AuthenticityFull Disclosure

Greenwashing Today

TerraChoice Marketing

More Green

• Between 2009 and 2010 the number of “greener” products (products claiming to be green) increased by 73%

• As consumers demand greener products, companies are attempting to meet that demand with more green products.

More Greenwashing

• In 2010, over 95% of “greener” products commit one or more of the seven “Sins of Greenwashing”

Greenwashing Progress• Companies are improving

with practice

• Big Boxes Stock More Green

• Eco Labeling Good and Bad

• BPA Claims Rise

• Toys and baby products poor

Avoiding Greenwashing

Hidden Trade Offs

• Paper from Sustainably Harvested Forests

• Need to tell the full story

No Proof

• Tissue paper claiming recycled content, but not how much

• Need to show proof to claims

Vagueness

• Food claiming to be “all natural”

• Use specific sustainability terms or certifications to describe your product quality

False Labels

• Giving the impression of third-party endorsement

• Be clear with endorsements and certifications

Irrelevance

• CFC-Free, despite it being banned by law

• Make your sustainability claims meaningful and relevant

Lesser of Two Evils

• Organic cigarettes

• Sustainability isn’t about less bad, it’s about going to the root of the issue

Fibbing

• Claiming to be Energy Star certified when you’re not

• Honesty as a practice

Focus on Accountability

News Travels Fast

• People trust people, not companies

• Many to many communications speeds up information transfer

• More people connected more time in the day

Radical Transparency

• many to many communications accelerates sharing

• people trust their peers

• Brands no longer control the message

Reputation Sticks

• Every review and comment builds reputation

• People trust reviews

• One good or bad review can make or break reputation

Sustainable Marketing Tactics

Reposition Sustainability

1. High Performance

2. Affordable

3. Good for People and Planet

Think Community

• No longer “Consumers”

• Community manager

• About Engagement

• Acknowledged Power Dynamic

• Customer as a Stakeholder

Localize

Encourage regional Independent Social Media

List of WholeFoods Regional Twitter Accounts

Independent Media

Special Offers with Foursquare Checkins

Local Benefits

Deliver Social GoodUse Social Media to Deliver Social Good

Million Baby Crawl

• Seventh Generation

• Consumer Activism Campaign

• Toxic Chemical Policy Reform

Crowd Sourcing SustainabilityDraw innovation from your customer community.

Starbucks Sponsors EcoCup contest

CSR EvolutionTell your company’s responsibility story every day

Seventh Generation

• CRS Innovation

• Open Feedback

• Contests for Innovation

CEO, JEFFREY HOLLENDER

What the world needs is... "Media mavens who can leverage social

media into political change."

Environmental ImpactSocial Media is Reduces Environmental Footprint

Social Media is Sustainable

• Reduced Travel

• Many to Many Communications

• Paperless Office

• Energy Use… getting better

Measuring Sustainability Communications

Conventional Measuring of Social Media ROI

• Direct(sales/lead gen)

• Baseline: 6-12 month process

• Brand Sentiment

• Engagements

Engagement as the basis forSocial Currency

• Responding

• Engagement / Participation

• Sharing / Thanking

• User Generated Content

Few Sustainability Standards

• There are no mandatory sustainability reporting standards

• All existing standards are voluntary

• GRI, Natural Step, ISO 14001

Carbon Offsets

• The universal patch

• A good start, but better to solve underlying problems

Common Sustainability Measurements

• Commuting Miles Saved

• Energy/Water Conservation

• Product Lifecycle Analysis

• LEED Standards

Sustainability Dashboard Vision

• “Quickbooks for Sustainability Measurements”

• Many attempts at Sustainability Dashboards, but none have succeeded

• A Complex Task

B Impact Rating System• The B Impact Rating

System is a useful management tool to:

• 1) to assess your company's impact on each of its stakeholders and

• 2) improve your social and environmental performance

Good Guide

• Measures environmental impacts of common products

• Search online and with mobile apps

Klout

• Measures Social Media Influence

• Combines many social networks

• Influence as a basis for reputation

Communicating Sustainability Goals and Progress

Set a Roadmap

• People understand you can’t be Sustainable overnight

• Admit to where you’re at

• Make achievable goals against a timeline

• Report on those goals

Tell Your CRS Story

• CRS Reports are not interesting for consumers

• Break down your CRS report into an ongoing story

• Provide daily/weekly updates of your Sustainability Story

Sustained Engagement

• Ask employees to report on how sustainability impacts them

• Ask customers for feedback on how sustainable your company is

Where are we going?

Growth in bothSocial Media and Sustainability

Create a Sustainability Roadmap

Use Social Media to TellYour Sustainability Story

And remember toStay Human

Resources

Twitter Accounts

@JoeyShepp

@Earthsite

@SocialGoodMedia

Tweet me your Questions@JoeyShepp [Your Question]

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