The Unilever Effect
First there was M&S with ‘Plan A’. Now there is Unilever’s ‘Sustainable Living’ Plan.
Most would agree that’s a very simplistic view, these two large companies were not the first or only ones to make strides towards genuine sustainability. However, I believe that at the time ‘Plan A’ and ‘Sustainable Living’ were released they were bold, visionary, transparent and honest. These qualities, along with a myriad of other, less influential factors helped both reports lead the dialogue on corporate sustainability and infiltrate the consciousness of the public on a large scale.
As a communications professional it’s interesting to consider how much weight we should place on the other factors that generated such a high level of recognition for these plans: the language used; the campaign budget; the brand’s capital; the scale of engagement with third parties and consumers; CEO support and the personal media profile of that individual; the companies relevance to people’s everyday lives… I could go on, but I won’t. Read more