The launch of Sustainable Brands in Cape Town far exceeded my expectations on every level. The opportunity in Africa for brands to contribute to shaping a better future for both business and society is palpable, and well demonstrated by the leadership work going on there by sizable companies like P&G, Nedbank, Woolworths, and others is well matched by the spirit of entrepreneurship and the terrific examples of world-changing grass roots innovation taking place there.

KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz - Founder of Sustanable Brands

REPORT BACK

Eighty speakers from around Africa and the world wowed the audience with their insights and experiences of how to deliver business profitability based on the principles of sustainability.

Sustainability is a word that describes the new landscape of environmental, social and economic value that is redefining how business is done, where CSI budgets are is being invested and as a methodology that fosters new relationships that deliver shared value.

HOW NOW - WOW!Africa’s inaugural Sustainable Brands conference was held at The Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town and was a rousing success for the delegates, speakers and brand representatives who attended the packed four day conference.

Sustainable Brands Cape Town Conference was the perfect marriage between the spirit of Sustainable Brands – foresightedness, action ability, generosity – and the spirit of South Africa – creativity, entrepreneurship, vibrancy. Inspiring!

Virginie Helias - Vice President Global Sustainability Procter and Gamble

I met some very pro-active and like-minded “change agents”; people that I feel could expand my own horizons and efforts, people that understand the urgency of now. Sustainable Brands is an incredibly effective and powerful networking event and is creating the venue to foster a better future.

Donald Thomson - The Center for Regenerative Design and Collaboration

How Now – the official publication of SB’16 Cape Town showcased the range of content that was on offer at the conference and thanks to the print sponsorship of Novus Holdings has set the scene for an international publication that will reflect the values and purpose of the global Sustainable Brands community of over a million participants and counting.

KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, the founder and CEO of Sustainable Life Media, producers of Sustainable Brands had this to say about the event: “The launch of Sustainable Brands in Cape Town far exceeded my expectations on every level. The opportunity in Africa for brands to contribute to shaping a better future for both business and society is palpable, and well demonstrated by the leadership work going on there by sizable companies like P&G, Nedbank, Woolworths, and others is well matched by the spirit of entrepreneurship and the terrific examples of world-changing grass roots innovation taking place there. I look forward to helping support this learning and networking community going forward and to leveraging the great work taking place there to help spur the shift to a sustainably flourishing future world-wide.”

The platinum sponsor was Procter and Gamble, a brand active in community regeneration in Africa as well as driving research and innovation into products that will future fit their business and expands their social and environmental custodianship.

FSC™ – the world’s leading forest certification label, Fairtrade and Flo-cert presented their findings on how product certification can grow brand value and validate supply chains. FSC™ partner’s Tetrapak and SAA also showcased how their brands and product offerings were enhanced by certification and is an important element in creating the necessary market pulls to shift commodities up the curve of sustainability. Under the spotlight was the role of the conscious consumer who will drive the product uptake and ask more questions from brands as to their environmental and social practises.

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF SB’16 CAPE TOWNHow Now showcased the range of content that was on offer at the conference

Or visit the following link in your browser:

https://issuu.com/sbhownow/docs/how_now_publication_digital/1

Click Here to Read

Giving our welcoming keynote address was Trevor Manuel former Minister of finance in the South African Government and Founder of the Mitchell’s Plain Bursary and Role Model Trust, who officially opened the conference and had this to say;

In the South African context, and indeed in many quarters of the African continent, business sustainability vis-à-vis the growing number of marginalised youth is a difficult and challenging question which we dare not shy away from but must tackle head on.

The answer to his question was the launch of another first for the Sustainable Brands community in Africa (with great thanks to Butler’s Pizza for enabling this event to take place) the Future Leaders event, a youth targeted, mini-conference that brought together some amazing change agents active in South Africa’s landscape who are innovating their way to create better business opportunities for future economic and job growth.

Dr David North of Pick n Pay validated the role the consumer will play in shifting the business towards more sustainable practises and Justin Smith of Woolworths discussed the role of the retailer in building resilient retail supply chains that will also impact on food security.

Mpumelelo Ncwadi of Indwe Trust NPC presented a case study of rural development that inspired both Pick n Pay and Woolworths and we expect great solutions emerging from this new relationship fostered on the conference platform.

A partner for the Sustainable Brands community in South Africa – The National Business Initiative of SA (NBI) highlighted their research on the green economy to show that there is a pressing need for financial education and clarity on investment in the economic drivers that will fast track funding into initiatives to help this sector to grow from niche to a more mainstream approach for South Africa in order to accelerate growth and resilience.

The business tracks that were the foundation of the conference included Creating Shared Value and Circular Economies with inputs from Nicola Robins of Incite and Alex Lemille, Building Resilience Supply Chains and enterprise development with an exceptional presentation by Seapei Mafoyane (CEO of Shanduka Black Umbrellas), Better Business Leadership and Growth, The Age of Transparency and Measuring Managing and Reporting with Kevin James of GCX Africa sharing insights from his work with some of South Africa’s leading corporations.

BUSINESS TRACKS OF THE CONFERENCE

Tackling the issues of communication and Ubuntu brand building were Mark Aink from the Netherlands who shared his global perspective on communicating business with purpose. The Innovation and Regeneration Track welcomed Donald Thomson all the way from Costa Rica to share his incredible story of how to create social businesses that enable communities to thrive and Tony Budden of Hemporium who showcased how hemp-based solutions for building, job creation and health within South Africa.

CREATING SHARED VALUE

Circular Economies

BETTER BUSINESSLeadership & Strategy

A NEW LANGUAGE Communication & Behaviour Change

BUILDING RESILIENCE Supply Chains &

Enterprise Development

INNOVATION FOR REGENERATION

Macro Trends & Drivers

THE AGE OF TRANSPARENCY

Measure, Manage & Report

The inspiration pauses were a delight as Eagle Encounters brought the delegates to rapt attention with their eagles and owls and the performances of Mbali Vilakazi and slam poet Croc E Moses helped to provoke thought and wonder.

INSPIRATION PAUSE

To all our sponsors, to those of you who attended, to the speakers who gave of their time and wisdom to be present and launch the way for a conference on sustainability that will lead networking and business development and foster new relationships on the African continent.

THANK YOU!

Bronze Sponsor

Bronze Sponsor

Platinum Sponsor Silver Sponsor Silver Sponsor

Media Partner Bronze Sponsor

Bronze Sponsor

Future Leaders Partner

For taking time to meet and engage with me during the SB’16 breakfast. For the well thought, well researched and absolutely splendid introduction before my talk. No one has ever gone that far to make me feel a part of a conference. Mpumelelo Ncwadi Indwe Trust NPC

Sustainable Brands Cape Town 2016 was one of the most inspirational and informative conferences I have attended in more than three decades. It is essential for any business, wanting to survive in the future. Being sustainable is no longer good enough – you need to be thrive-able and responsible. Jacques Maritz CEO Hotel Verde

The loving power of the South Africans and how their beautiful, colourful culture was woven through the conference.

Nancy Mancilla Isos group

BASF was excited to participate in the first Sustainable Brands Conference held in Africa. The event was filled with an interesting programme, addressing diverse topics in mostly inspirational ways highlighting various opportunities to create a better future for us.

Petra Bezuidenhout BASF Head of Communications & Governmental Relations Africa

Here are some of the experiences our delegates and speakers shared with us after the event

The diversity of topics and speakers and the different people that I met.

Portia Bangerezako Sanlam

The Sustainable Brands conference exceeded my expectations in every way - both from a personal and professional point of view. I am grateful to the Mr Price Group for allowing me to attend the event and feel that the event was a life changing one for me in so many ways. Through the conference I learned how I can personally add further value to our retail business and how our business can turn challenges into opportunities to build a brighter future for all South Africans.

Pierre TosteeHead of Communications MRP Foundation

The willingness of participants to share openly both their successes and their failures, it is important to create a space where people feel safe to speak freely so that we can not only learn how to get things right but also understand how to avoid getting them wrong. This is especially important when the brands themselves present as that is where the key learning’s come from.

Chris Kastern WWF SA

I was inspired by most of the speakers at the event. It was a great opportunity to hear how companies and brands are applying sustainability strategies within their core models to improve processes and lessen the environmental impact. Chris Whyte CEO Use-it

DELEGATES: 304 SPEAKERS: 80

MEDIA COVERAGE REPORT SUMMARY - MAY 2016

Ad Value PR Value

Print R 799,999.64 R 2,399,998.92

Broadcast R 684,627.75 R 2,053,883.25

Online R 1,330,000.00 R 3,990,000.00

TOTAL R 2,814,627.39 R 8,443,882.17

#SB16CPT was trending in Cape Town for all 4 days of the conference 220 000 Impressions of our Tweets Profile visits increased by 1000% during the convention period

TWITTER

MEDIA REPORT

FIN24 Sustainable certification worth it – Fairtradehttp://www.fin24.com/Companies/Retail/sustainable-certification-worth-it-fairtrade-20160524 HOW WE MADE IT IN AFRICA Entrepreneur shares what African start-up ecosystems can learn from Silicon Valleyhttp://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/entrepreneur-shares-african-start-ecosystems-can-learn-silicon-valley/54454/Are sustainable brands in line for greater profits?http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/african-sustainable-brands-increasingly-winning-brands-consumers/54481/

BIZCOMMUNITY #SBCT16: What value does advertising bring to your life?http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/11/144936.htmlCollaboration needed within the one economy - Joanne Yawitchhttp://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/356/145062.html GREEN BUSINESS GUIDE Sustainable certification is worth it says Fairtradehttp://www.greenbusinessguide.co.za/sustainable-certification-is-worth-it-says-fairtrade/ CAPE BUSINESS NEWS Is a sustainable certification worth it?http://www.cbn.co.za/packaging-transportation/freight-forwarding-international-trade/sustainable-certifica-tion-is-worth-it-says-fairtrade

#SB16CPT: World needs to check itself - Trevor Manuelhttp://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/11/144730.html

Up your game on sustainability, challenges Manuelhttp://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/up-your-game-on-sustainability-challenges-manuel-2016-05-16 Get Up off Your Bright Idea – Seapei Mafoyanehttp://city-press.news24.com/Business/winning-women-get-up-off-your-bright-idea-20160519 The Sustainable Brands Conference in Africa: David Katzhttp://www.southcoastnews.co.za/the-sustainable-brands-conference-in-africa-david-katz/ Young leaders and business alike explore solutionshttp://thegreentimes.co.za/young-leaders-and-business-alike-explore-solutions/ FSC Certification Creates Competitive Advantages, Raises Standards in Forest Managementhttp://www.environmentguru.com/pages/elements/element.aspx?id=3623262

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