What a time...

To be alive...

I headed to SF last week to enjoy the wine country and spend time with my best friends and instead I landed to a new reality and got pulled into some real shit. My best friend works for mayors office and so I spent the week helping him shape a community based plan of social impact and resolve for the city in the midsts of demonstrations and Trump effigy burning. It was eye opening and it got me thinking about changes in our society, new expectations, how our behaviors should change and what this means for people, marketers and brands. Brand missions must now stand for issues that connect us to each other and the communities we live in. We must go beyond the wedge issues that divide us and focus on what makes us all interconnected. Brands have focused a lot on individual issues like self-esteem, empowerment and stereotypes - which are all amazing issues and shouldn’t be neglected, but what we need right now as a country are more community based programs that brands can help lead. Connecting us to opinions outside of our bubble and getting people to stand together is critical. It’s up to us as marketers to ensure that our brands are prepared to get involved with helping people and communities connect with each other in a productive not destructive two-way conversation. True dialogue is needed and it’s up to all of us to foster that dialogue in the face of a new political reality. 

Purpose Driven Mission

I had the pleasure of attending the Fast Company Innovation Festival in NYC and one of my favorite panels was "Can Dolls and Watches Save The World? A Study in Purposeful Brand Transformations." hosted by Weber Shandwick's Social Impact Team.
The discussion was centered around Lisa McKnight, SVP at Mattel/Barbie, Jaques Panis, President at Shinola and Paul Massey EVP, Global Lead of Social Impact at Weber and the question I kept asking myself was:

Is it mandatory to now structure your business to center around your Social Impact Mission?

The answer that kept coming back from the panel was YES. The future of business is a Purpose Driven Mission that makes an impact. Investors are seeking Purposeful Brands, Millennials are looking to work for Purpose Driven Brands, and companies are all transforming their entire operating structure to fulfill their Purpose Driven Mission. It doesn't take much more convincing that a all brands need to transform. 

Here are 5 tips for Communicating Purpose that were shared: 

1. Be Bold - Communications need to elevate a strong heart-pulsing vision of purpose
2. Be Authentic - The story can’t be invented. It has to be in the DNA of the company. 
3. Be Creative - the best work captures imaginations and shows what’s possible when brands contribute to a better world
4. Be Transparent - The most powerful stories of purpose are often about the unexpected lessons learned along the way
5. Be Sustained - Delivering on a core purpose is a life-long ambition. Communications need to deliver for the long term

Coworking Space For Social Good

30 percent of Americans are working remotely and 40% will be by 2020. That's a huge number and this has led to the rise in collaborative work environments that have evolved beyond the coffee shop and home office. Coworking spaces like wework are skyrocketing because people are seeking community, collaboration, tech support,  educational and social benefits and because working from home can be really lonely.

At the same time, many businesses are striving for something bigger than just making a profit, they are trying to make an impact and change the world for the better. They are creating products and services that revolutionize the way that humanity interacts with each other. 

So it makes total sense that coworking spaces like Impact Bazaar are popping up and synthesizing these two trends. Impact Bazaar is a physical marketplace in NYC where innovators and entrepreneurs can access & offer premium resources to accelerate their ideas & impact. The goal is to provide critical access to knowledge, resources, community and opportunity for all who are working in social impact and building solutions to address our world's greatest social and environmental challenges. 

Impact Bazaar is open to the public and encourages walk-ins. With a cost of $10 a day, you get access to the 5,000 square foot space and a set of daily activities offering critical knowledge, resources and insights into the community.

Some Impact Bazaar Partners: