eCommunications for global organisations

One of our contacts from EUROPEN recommended this video which reflects in a viral - web friendly way the purpose of packaging.


When it comes to discussing sustainability and product development, packaging is often seen as an easy target for policy makers. There’s a public perception that packaging equals waste. So the more packaging, the more waste is being created. Only few people take into account that packaging also prevents waste and keeps the product safe in a purposeful way (if designed smartly).


Have a look at the video clip below developed by Elipso (the French plastic & flexible packaging association) that addresses this topic.

This is a crosspost from Ideaplants

We are a young and dynamic team of Hyperthinking individuals… helping you to see communications with new eyes and shaping the future of tomorrow…

Tomorrow is a big day for us, and we hope for Brussels. We have been working on setting-up TEDxBrussels (http://www.tedxbrussels.eu) for the past few months and it has been an exciting and challenging experience.

We have long been fans of TED (http://www.ted.com) and avid watchers of the videos the organisation shares with the world, so when the opportunity came up to help with the organisation and launch of TEDxBrussels, we jumped in working alongside OLPC (http://www.olpceu.org/) and a number of others to make this idea a reality.  It has been a challenging  ride and tomorrow we will see if it is up to the vision that the team had in mind.

We very much hope this event marks the beginning of culture shift in Brussels, bringing together passionate individuals who believe in the power of ideas to change their surroundings.  One of the first initiatives to come out of this thinking is a project called ‘Imagine The City’, developed by TEDxBrussels, The Bulletin and AddictLab.  The idea is to get the community of TEDxsters to share ideas on how to transform their city on a platform called www.brusselslab.com.  Addict Lab will selecting ideas emerging from this platform on a regular basis and The Bulletin will feature some of the most intriguing ones.  Later we will look at how to turn some of them into a reality.

If you want to get involved in this community and start thinking about the next TEDxBrussels, then join the ning (tedxbxl.ning.com/).

See you tomorrow or online.

Kanal Consulting Group a US-based management firm has developed a 12 step guideline to Implement sustainability accross an organization.

As reported on greenbiz.com, they propose the list of steps to implement sustainability in order to improve the “bottom line and the environment”.

The list covers: Be coherent in what you do, have a proper strategy and model, get everyone on board and roll this out across departments.

Employee engagement seems to be one of the key components that are still perceived as challenging when it comes to implementing sustainability.

In a way it makes sense - we are dealing with individuals on whose motivation the success of the project depends. Coming up with a really motivating internal campaign to get everyone on board, opening up the plan so employees can propose their own ideas requires not only a lot of preparation but also a rethinking of the current thinking that is being done around sustainable development. Is it time for an open source approach for global companies?

This is a post from ideaplants.org

At our recent event organized with IABC & ING around ‘How web Strategies can transforming your communications’, Globecorp.biz made an interview with one of our panel speakers & clients, Colin Hensley, General Manager of Corporate Affairs and Planning at Toyota Motor Europe (TME) on Toyota’s usage of social media including the Aim Zero Emissions blog, the Green Design Channel and Twitter we set up as part of a campaign we helped to develop.

Colin has developed new ways of engaging with his key audiences and is now actively twittering and blogging about what’s happening on CSR at the heart of Toyota Europe. Here the interview:

The event discussion around how web strategies can transform communications of global corporations is not over yet: You can join the online discussion of the eventin the IABC Ning Community.

…To become a climate ally!

Just seen this campaign initiated by Kofi Annan:

Download the song at www.timeforclimatejustice.org and become a climate ally. Music and movie stars come together in a new campaign for climate change.

We are at day 2 and I believe this campaign gets all the ingredients to become the holy grail of the viral marketing.

1. a universal quest
2. great ambassadors
3. a song
4. several viral mechanisms built on typical WEB2.0 platforms
5. an original way to sign the petition by downloading the song
6. the right time with the Cop15 window
7. an excellent production (who has done this?)
8. participation features such the “upload your tck and put it on the map”

This will be a huge success.

As you can see, I am very enthusiastic about it.

After months of hard work, editing and designing, we have just gone live with our latest eBook, “Your Online Journey Starts Now - A Survival Guide for Corporate Marketers”. Writing an eBook takes time and perseverance and I hope that the outcome is worth it. I am sure a great deal can still be improved, and I look forward to your feedback in order to update it.

It is written for the corporate marketers who want to take advantage of the current crisis to shift their communication to a web based model.

Read it, share it and enjoy!

Looking forward to your feedback.

Clay Shirky gives a TED (www.ted.com) 16 minute presentation on how social media changes the dynamics of power and communications because it creates the possibility of masses communicating with masses.  A compelling account of what communicators and politicians everywhere need to understand.

Clay wrote a book called ‘Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations‘ which looks interesting.  His site/blog also contains some more background on his thinking and approach.  He is a consultant to international organisations like Nokia and the BBC and a professor at NYU.

Just came across this post by JustinSMV about the impact social media is likely to have going forward (a bit like a fresh version of the machine is us).  A good way to get your mind to focus on the strategic importance of these new tools when preparing yourself for 2010.  As the FT and the Economist recently declared the recession in Europe (ok at least for France and Germany) is (almost) over, it is time to start thinking about the future and how to plan for 2010 - but without going back to the bad old ways…

This should give you some inspiration.

Here an interview from a Social Media presentation I gave at The Hub last week together with Oihana (eMarketeer at The Hub):

I do believe that the shift towards social media is not only important for Corporate Marketers.

The fact that you have to become more transparent also means you have to start reviewing your current business operations: How compliant are we really? And how do our stakeholders perceive our performance?

Some years ago it would have been a great opportunity for a Business to move towards social & environmental responsibility to gain a competitive advantage. Today it becomes more and more a must to not fall behind your competitors and to avoid a potential crisis.

Being truly transparent does not only mean that a corporation needs to implement a CSR report that is compliant with GRI standards we are talking about a process of change management that is not to underestimate. It’s not just about the numbers but also about the motivations & meaning given to these values by each and every employee.

Only in the moment a researcher from the R&D division, your supply chain partners and the external maintenance guy live up to this philosophy and come to work every day because they truly believe they help save the environment and add benefit to the community by working for your organization, you can talk about a successful implementation of this approach. It’s not just a one off exercise. It’s rather a cultural transformation of the whole organization.