Companies today are able to engage in dialogue with their consumers through a variety of mediums, from traditional methods such as product packaging, to newer methods such as social media. However, according to a recent study by Carbon Trust, only a small percentage of consumers place confidence in companies’ sustainability claims. Additionally, hesitations in integrating social media into communications strategy still exist alongside a lack of understanding of how effective these tools can be. Our session today will examine how synergies between social media and communication strategy can have a tremendous impact by restoring consumer confidence, creating two-way dialogue, and promoting green practices. We investigate cost, return, strategy, transparency, and benchmarking for these communications campaigns, within the greater conversation of how this form of new media and globalization have compelled change in the corporate- consumer relationship.

1. Communicating
Sustainability Using
Social Media
by JoeyShepp.com

2. Presenter
• JoeyShepp.com
• Founder Earthsite.net
and GreenMaven.com

3. Social Media Today

4. 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

5. Disruptive Technology
• Free
• Mobile
• DeCentralized
• Real-Time
• Hyper-local

6. 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/

7. Moore’s Law
• Speed of
computers
Doubles every
two years
• “Singularity” is
coming…
Computers
transcend
Biology
~Ray Kurzweil

8. 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

9. 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

10. Twitter:
The Pulse of the pLanet
• New Record Set: 8,868
Tweets/Second
• 40% USA
60% international
• In the USA, 87% awareness,
yet only 7% use it
• Sentiment Analysis Proven
as accurate as Exit Polls

11. 3,339 Texts Per Month

12. 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.

13. Why use Social Media
for Sustainable Business?

14. The New Marketing Landscape
• Earned Media
(Public Relations)
• Owned Media
(Website)
• Advertising
(Paid)
• Social Media
(Community)

15. Social Media Is
DIFFERENT
Old School New School
B2C C2C
Top Down Bottom Up
Closed Open
Print Media Digital Media
One to Many Many to Many
Privacy Transparency
Advertisement Conversation

16. Four out of five
NEW MEDIA USERS
interact with companies and brands online
source

17. Belief that Social Media Provides an
Opportunity to Reach New
Customers
Source: MiresBall and KRC Research interview Brand Marketers

18. Two-thirds of American
new media users
Feel they can influence business
practices by voicing opinions online.
source

19. What people Want
From 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

20. Social Media is perfect
for Sustainable Business
Openness Authenticity
Transparency Full Disclosure
• Sustainable Businesses have
an authentic story
• Sustainable Businesses are
fine with transparency
• Social & environmental
responsibility is what
community wants to hear

21. Greenwashing Today

22. TerraChoice Marketing

23. 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.

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

25. 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

26. Avoiding Greenwashing

27. Hidden Trade Offs
• Paper from Sustainably
Harvested Forests
• Need to tell the full
story

28. No Proof
• Tissue paper claiming
recycled content, but
not how much
• Need to show proof to
claims

29. Vagueness
• Food claiming to be “all
natural”
• Use specific
sustainability terms or
certifications to describe
your product quality

30. False Labels
• Giving the impression of
third-party endorsement
• Be clear with
endorsements and
certifications

31. Irrelevance
• CFC-Free, despite it
being banned by law
• Make your sustainability
claims meaningful and
relevant

32. Lesser of Two Evils
• Organic cigarettes
• Sustainability isn’t about
less bad, it’s about going
to the root of the issue

33. Fibbing
• Claiming to be Energy
Star certified when
you’re not
• Honesty as a practice

34. Focus on Accountability

35. News Travels Fast
• People trust people, not
companies
• Many to many
communications speeds
up information transfer
• More people connected
more time in the day

36. Radical Transparency
• many to many
communications
accelerates sharing
• people trust their peers
• Brands no longer control
the message

37. Reputation Sticks
• Every review and
comment builds
reputation
• People trust reviews
• One good or bad review
can make or break
reputation

38. Sustainable Marketing
Tactics

39. Reposition Sustainability
1. High
Performance
2. Affordable
3. Good for People
and Planet

40. Think Community
• No longer “Consumers”
• Community manager
• About Engagement
• Acknowledged Power
Dynamic
• Customer as a
Stakeholder

41. Localize

42. Encourage regional Independent
Social Media

43. Independent
Media
List of WholeFoods Regional
Twitter Accounts

44. Local
Benefits
Special Offers with
Foursquare Checkins

45. Deliver Social Good
Use Social Media to Deliver Social Good

46. Million Baby Crawl
• Seventh Generation
• Consumer Activism
Campaign
• Toxic Chemical
Policy Reform

47. Crowd Sourcing Sustainability
Draw innovation from your customer community.

48. Starbucks Sponsors
EcoCup contest

49. CSR Evolution
Tell your company’s responsibility story every day

50. Seventh Generation
CEO, JEFFREY
HOLLENDER
What the world needs is... "Media
mavens who can leverage social
media into political change."
• CRS Innovation
• Open Feedback
• Contests for Innovation

51. Environmental Impact
Social Media is Reduces Environmental Footprint

52. Social Media is
Sustainable
• Reduced Travel
• Many to Many
Communications
• Paperless Office
• Energy Use…
getting better

53. Measuring Sustainability
Communications

54. Conventional Measuring
of Social Media ROI
• Direct
(sales/lead gen)
• Baseline: 6-12
month process
• Brand Sentiment
• Engagements

55. Engagement as the basis for
Social Currency
• Responding
• Engagement /
Participation
• Sharing / Thanking
• User Generated
Content

56. Few Sustainability
Standards
• There are no mandatory
sustainability reporting
standards
• All existing standards are
voluntary
• GRI, Natural Step, ISO
14001

57. Carbon Offsets
• The universal patch
• A good start, but better
to solve underlying
problems

58. Common Sustainability
Measurements
• Commuting Miles Saved
• Energy/Water
Conservation
• Product Lifecycle
Analysis
• LEED Standards

59. Sustainability
Dashboard Vision
• “Quickbooks for
Sustainability
Measurements”
• Many attempts at
Sustainability
Dashboards, but none
have succeeded
• A Complex Task

60. 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

61. Good Guide
• Measures environmental
impacts of common
products
• Search online and with
mobile apps

62. Klout
• Measures Social Media
Influence
• Combines many social
networks
• Influence as a basis for
reputation

63. Communicating Sustainability
Goals and Progress

64. 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

65. 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

66. Sustained Engagement
• Ask employees to
report on how
sustainability impacts
them
• Ask customers for
feedback on how
sustainable your
company is

67. Where are we going?

68. Growth in both
Social Media and Sustainability

69. Create a Sustainability
Roadmap

70. Use Social Media to Tell
Your Sustainability Story

71. And remember to
Stay Human

72. Resources

73. Twitter Accounts
@JoeyShepp
@Earthsite
@SocialGoodMedia

74. Tweet me your Questions
@JoeyShepp [Your Question]

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