TED was at the Sustainable Brands Conference a few weeks ago, listening to the discussions and ‘thought leadership’ ideas from sustainability and brand experts.
Highlights included the presentation from Ogilvie Earth, a sustainable branding consultancy that used animations and videos to communicate their vision for how sustainability can be a powerful driver for innovation.
Another branding consultancy, Dragon Rouge, has developed a series of short films based on the new business models they propose that brands will have to adopt and adapt to, in the next 15 to 20 years. In their future vision, Primark will offer subscription-based clothing that you hire and that is recycled into a closed loop system once worn out and returned. Here at TED we have been talking about rent or service-type models for fashion for a while now, so it is amusing and inspiring to see businesses start to take up the ideas.
The most inspiring speaker of the day was John Marshall Roberts, a behavioural psychologist and expert at the communication of sustainability – what he called ‘persuasion tools for sustainability leadership’. He introduced the concept of ‘world view thinking’ – the way an individual thinks that informs their perceiving, knowing, thinking, doing, and decision-making. Once we understand what someone’s world-view is, we can use this to overcome cynicism and inspire others to act in positive ways. Truly inspirational!
