Month: November 2020

Lush

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by Tara Wulf

LUSH cosmetics company was created by a husband and wife duo in 1995 in London after going bankrupt from their two previous clean cosmetic company endeavors. They created LUSH out of frivolous pursuit of a new clean cosmetic dream with little to work with. With minimal, naked packaging, simply designed with quality, clean, and vegan ingredients, this philosophy stuck. They are one of the few brands who do not participate in animal testing.

They have multiple belief statements. To sum them up, Lush believes in hand-making effective products from fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. They believe in buying ingredients only from companies that do not test on animals, and only on humans. And, they “believe words like “fresh” and “organic” have an honest meaning beyond marketing”.

Giving is at the core of the LUSH business. They do this through the Charity Pot program, ethical campaigns, and customers. They are involved in advocating for the environment, animals, people in need, and giving back to local and international organizations. They have multiple partners including Beagle Freedom Project, The Ocean Legacy Foundation, and Grades of Green. In addition to partners, LUSH uses their brand platform to give voice in ethical campaigns such as “Trans Rights are Human Rights”, a campaign advocating for trans rights, “Death is not Justice”, a campaign directed towards abolishing the death penalty, “Trophy”, a campaign to raise awareness about trophy hunting animals, and many more.

LUSH is one of, if not the top leading brand in the environmental and animal awareness category, so it is hard to find something that they can do better at in regards to this. I would consider them an extremely responsible brand. As compared to Body Shop, a similar clean beauty brand, LUSH can learn from them in their packaging. I think a lot of times packaging sells a product. In the case of LUSH, all of their packaging is the same, whereas Body Shop packages different colors based on different products. That is a very small thing, but it could lead to greater profit.

Madewell

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by Ashleigh Maier

Madewell is a retail clothing company based in the United States. They have 145 store locations throughout the country, and an extensive website filled with their products. Madewell sells awide array of clothing, shoes, and accessories, but their claim to fame is their premium denim.They’re website is very clear in emphasizing their responsible sourcing policies, which includes the exclusion of sandblasting when producing denim in order to protect the safety of employees. Additionally, they have a goal of increasing their Fair Trade Certified denim to 90percent by 2025.

Responsible Brand Checklist:
Company acts in light of environmental and social needs of people – gives back to the community
Madewell emphasizes three major ways that they give back to the community: femaleempowerment, carbon offsets, and inclusivity. To promote female empowerment, they partner with nonprofit Girls Inc. and run Girls Who Create workshops. To work towards lowering carbon offsets, they matched Giving Tuesday donations made to the National Forest Foundation. And to promote inclusivity, they donate 50 percent of the purchase price of their Love to All collection to the Human Rights Campaign.

Company is transparent in all that they do, good and bad
Madewell’s website is incredibly detailed when it comes to their social responsibility practices.Their Do Well tab covers everything from their corporate-nonprofit partnerships, to their environmental and supply-chain awareness in sourcing apparel materials. They are transparent that they could always be doing better, and they even show that their 2025 Fair Trade Certified90 percent goal is only currently at 26 percent. Madewell is very aware of their goals but also very aware that goals take time to reach.

Internal representation in advertisements and campaigns match and display support for diversity and inclusion

In recent months, Madewell added a Black Lives Matter statement complete with goals forimproving their diversity & inclusion efforts. They are clear in stating that they have work to do, but their statement feels authentic to their brand. Madewell also has a section regardingd iversity & inclusion in their Do Well report. In this report, they lay out the various ways that they give back to the community to improve inclusion efforts, as well as details about their Open To All campaign.

While these three checklist items are just a few that stand out, Madewell truly fits the criteriaf or many other checklist items as well. They are an authentic brand with great goals an dtransparency that transcend through their employee base and retail stock.

Reformation

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by Yangyang Lin

Reformation is a fast-fashion clothing brand first established in 2009 by Yael Aflalo, a former model whose parents owned a clothing store in downtown Los Angeles. Reformation now operates twenty stores globally, that is headquartered in Los Angeles, with an office in Culver City and a factory in Downtown. The company’s message has remained consistent: the brand still uses the slogan “Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option, We’re #2”. All of Reformation’s pieces are made from sustainable materials.

A lot of fast-fashion brands continue to manufacture clothes disregarding the waste they can possibly create, this Los Angeles based fast-fashion clothing brand has managed to reinvent the definition of sustainable fashion. The brand has attracted huge celebrities and influencers to become loyal followers including Taylor Swift, Kendall Jenner, and Rihanna.

The target audience of the brand are young contemporary females, looking for chic, sexy outfits that are environmentally ethical. All clothing pieces have their own RefScale on the description page, clearly stating the pounds of carbon dioxide emitted, gallons of water they use and pounds of waste they generate from each piece. The brand also started a project called thredUP, in which consumers can earn credit by sending them old, used garments to be recycled. Furthermore, Reformation has published its quarterly sustainability reports and information about the fashion industry’s environmental impact on the homepage, as well as their factories and photos of worker representatives, their recycling process and instructions on how customers can prolong the life span of clothes.

In February 2019, Reformation launched its “Carbon Is Cancelled” campaign which uses credits to encourage customers to show they have reduced their carbon footprints. The company is also promoting industrywide sustainability by collaborating with Rent the Runway, Patagonia and more. Reformation is doing well in general because of their long-term effort to show their transparency and build trust with their customers, precious insights into target consumer needs and the successful usage of e-commerce. The brand overall has done a great job connecting with customers by being transparent and making the commitment toward a more sustainable business. Reformation is a responsible brand.

Adidas

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by Bryce White

Adidas, which some people may know by their acronym all day I dream about soccer or Sports, was founded August 18, 1949 in Herzogenaurach Germany. The global sports lifestyle brand produces various sports products with a great dedication to improve the world in various areas. Specific areas where they seek improvement is with environmental support and combating racism with their various on going donations, internal support, and campaigns that suggest consistency, resiliency, authenticity, and a great foundation for a brand who is socially and environmentally responsible.

Adidas’ mission statement reads as followed “The Adidas Group strives to be the global leader in the sporting goods industry with brands built on a passion for sports and a sporting lifestyle. We are committed to continuously strengthening our brands and products to improve our competitive position.” Although there mission is directly focused on the quality and production of the brand and brand products there actions speak louder than their words. In my opinion, this shows their commitment without the need to boast and brag about how they are impacting the world in a positive manner. This also is a display of their authenticity and genuine responsibility.

Their impact on the environment is second to none in the sports industry. In 2015 Adidas partnered with an environmental organization Parley for the Oceans and launched their Parley campaign that was centered around removing plastic from our oceans. Recycling and marine waste is a very serious issue. Scientist sand experts predict that we will have more plastic than fish in our oceans in 30 years. In 2019 this campaign was able to produce 11 million shoes made from recycled plastic from our oceans which is a large amount of plastic that is removed from the oceans. This campaign has been so successful and impactful Adidas has made it a goal to remove and replace all virgin polyester with recycled polyester in 2024. Adidas has suitability in mind as well as making an impact with social issues, for they are standing up to racism. They continue to donate and invest in black and hispanic communities. They will invest 120 million dollars over the next four years and will increase their hispanic and black employees by 30% over the next four years. Employing individual from this specific community is huge, for it shows that they want these communities to not only be represented in media but internally. This displays genuine commitment to social change.

What can Adidas learn from NIKE?

I think Adidas can learn how to support activist and movements prior to popularity. Although, Adidas intent and commitment to social responsibility is genuine they could have supported the movement earlier. Nike supported and centered a campaign around Collin Kapernick early and it felt even more genuine because Collin was blacked balled from the NFL, which showed Nike’s ability to support a cause despite popularity or trends. I think both companies are doing great things and are impacting the world in their respective ways. I think sporting brands have a huge platform as well as a huge following that can influence the masses to be better humans. I think these two brans hold a lot of responsibility because of how much power they have. I love seeing how each brands impact each other, for example I recently purchased nike’s recycled shoes (space hippies). Not sure if this would have happened if Adidas campaign and support to help the environment was not successful.

Amika

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by Stephanie Legault

In the language Esperanto, Amika means ‘friend’. Amika’s mission is to be a“friend to all-to hair, hairstylists, her, him, you and them” as highlighted on their website. The colorful, creative and badass Brooklyn-based brand Amika,make their hair products with some key values in mind. Those values include: All Hair is Welcome, Always Cruelty Free, Going Greener, and Cleaner Ingredients. Amika acknowledges and appreciates the diversity of all hair textures, colors and lengths, and strives to create products that create happy and healthy hair for everyone.

The responsibility that Amika demonstrates as a brand is evident in their values, their culture, and their community. Amika is a true friend to the animals and has even beenc ertified under the Leaping Bunny Standards. They would rather teston human hair, sincethat is what the products are actually being made for! Using cleaner ingredients in their products is another important company value that Amika holds. They never use any ingredients that could be harmful, not only to the environment, but also to their consumers. Their products are always sulfates, parabens, aluminum starch and phthalatesf ree.

Like many of the competitors in the cosmetic industry, the race for recycled packaging is on. Amika is launching new product packaging that is made from 90% post-consumer recycled(PCR) materials. In an earth day blog post, Amika outlines their 5-year sustainability plan that includes activities like, launching ar ecycling collection program, sourcing their key ingredient from socially responsible farmers, onboarding salons to join the Green Circle network, and earningt heir B-Corp certification. They’ve even partnered with TerraCycle, a social enterprise waste management recycler. You can now send off your Amika empties in good faith, knowing that they will be reused to create new packaging.

In the midst of a global pandemic, many brands have considered the hardships and battles that the world is facing. Amika’ sresponse, as a haircare company, was to donate shampoo and conditioner to the front-line workers who need clean hair daily to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Understanding that their donations don’t reach nearly all the front-line workers in the health care industry, Amika has launched a special 40% discount fo rhealthcare heroes to claim. I consider Amika to be a responsible brand because they havec learly thought beyond the bottom line of their company by servinga diverse communityof stakeholders.They’ve recognized that creating great quality hair products doesn’t have to be damaging to hair, to the community, or to the earth.

Tillamook

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by Britnee Speice-Will

Tillamook, the dairy brand in Oregon, is a responsible brand that focuses on their commitment to social good. They recently became a certified B Corporation because of their dedication to their six Stewardship Commitments. These commitments include thriving farms, healthful cows, inspired consumers, enduring ecosystems, fulfilled employees, and enriched communities.

The first commitment, thriving farms, is dedicated to helping farmers be more efficient, economically sound and practical for generations. Tillamook pays farmer owners above the market value and a premium for quality milk. The second commitment, healthful cows, focuses on the five freedoms of good animal welfare: providing adequate food and water, comfort and shelter, proper handling, prevention and treatment of disease and injury, and minimizing fear, stress and suffering no matter the size of the farm. They work closely with animal nutritionists and veterinarians.

The third commitment, inspired consumers, focuses on providing the highest quality of ingredients. When teaming up with suppliers and contract manufacturers, they only team up with individuals who share Tillamook’s values. When consumers wanted to see less packaging with Tillamook’s Cheese Boards, the company responded by reducing plastic materials for the snack tray by 30% and reducing the plastic film by 20%. The fourth commitment, enduring ecosystems, focuses on improving “waste reduction, water stewardship, clean energy, and fuel efficiency efforts.” Tillamook’s website states, “When it comes to the environment, good is never good enough.” They recognize they are taking steps in the right direction but that there’s still a long way to go.

The fifth commitment, fulfilled employees, focuses on fostering a culture that is enriching and fulfilling. Some of their 2019 highlights include 100% of employees being paid a living wage, 45% of employees holding a Manager or above status being female, and 14% of their employees being promoted that year. Their sixth commitment, enriched communities, focuses on investing time and money into their communities. They were awarded the 2019 Outstanding Philanthropy Award from The Association of Fundraising Professionals. They also created a full-time position dedicated to understanding the root causes of hunger in Tillamook County.

Overall, Tillamook is responsible because they are transparent with what they do as a company, are empathetic towards their employees, farmers, community and consumers, and are authentic, as everything they do aligns with their values.

Phenomenal

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By Meg Krugel

On International Women’s Day in 2017, entrepreneur Meena Harris took a leap of faith by putting a t-shirt boldly emblazoned with the words “Phenomenal Woman” on the market. She hoped to sell a couple hundred shirts through the month of March 2017 and planned to donate proceeds to support women’s organizations around the country as a way to counter the rhetoric and policies of a newly elected President who didn’t align with her values as a woman of color and new mother. On launch day, Harris’ startup sold 2,500 Phenomenal Woman shirts; the campaign was extended for three months and made 10,000 sales during that time. It was clear that there were a lot of Phenomenal Women in America who wanted in on the movement Harris had started… who saw themselves in the mission of a small lifestyle brand that was proudly – overtly, even – committed to social good.

Over the last three and a half years, Harris, a former corporate tech lawyer and the niece of Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, has transformed Phenomenal into much more than a T-shirt company. From the beginning, Harris conceptualized Phenomenal Woman as a social impact initiative. In an article in Vogue magazine from 2018, Harris reflects on her journey as CEO: “I knew that the campaign wasn’t really about a cool T-shirt, but rather using the T-shirt to benefit and amplify a cause. Ultimately, I wondered, why not amplify many causes?”

Today, the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign partners with a growing list of non-profit beneficiaries large and small, which cover a wide range of policy issues, including health equity, criminal justice reform, gender parity in STEM fields, reproductive health, LGBT equality, educational equity, and many more. Through its product messaging, the brand builds a base of activists (many first-time activists) on major issues like voting, sexual assault, immigration and women’s rights. Each issue is made visible in its clothing line – a sampling of shirts for purchase on the company website read “Phenomenally Indigenous,” “Electable,” “Phenomenal Voter,” “Arrest the Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor,” and “Phenomenally Trans.”

They’re not empty slogans or virtue signals – every single one of the products in the Phenomenal line are tied to both a social justice message and charity component (a complete listing of which can be found on the Phenomenal site). I can think of few other businesses that can make this claim, and yet, research demonstrates what a market this really is. In a survey on Charity and Activism by YPulse, an astounding 87% of people ages 13-39 say that buying products from brands that have social good components make them feel better about spending money, and 85% say that all brands should do some sort of social good/charitable work. In this same population, 88% believe they can make a difference by getting involved in a cause, including translating that activism into supporting brands that inspire social change.

Phenomenal has an extensive list of brand ambassadors, most of them celebrities of color, and is an Instagram darling whose curated feed features a blend of celebrities and everyday women calling attention to the causes that matter most to them. The Phenomenal brand – which now encompasses Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, Phenomenal Media (bringing awareness to issues affecting underrepresented communities) and Phenomenal Girl – is intentional in its outreach to their target audiences, in an effort to create more meaningful engagement. They’ve also partnered with major media organizations on digital campaigns, including a partnership with The New York Times in 2018 for #1600Men, a full-page ad with the signatures of 1,600 men in support of Christine Blasey Ford and survivors of sexual assault. The ad ran in the days leading up to Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Justice hearing, making clear the brand is certainly willing to take risk in communicating its values.

In assessing Phenomenal for brand responsibility, I see a few areas with room for improvement. Phenomenal’s website, aside from the merchant function, feels more like a startup than it does a well-oiled business machine (which is likely intentional) – but the About Us page is fairly limited in scope, there is no explainer page on company culture and inclusion, or commitment to sustainability and the environment. Given what we know about environmental impacts of the fashion industry, I do think the brand could benefit by clearly articulating the ethics of its garment production, especially given the price point for many of its products ($60 for a sweatshirt, as example). I would also recommend a little more transparency on what percentage of a sale is given to charity.

Harris is not a newcomer to social responsibility and brand stewardship; she previously worked as an advisor to other brands on corporate citizenship, social responsibility and diversity and inclusion prior to starting Phenomenal. In an article for Complex news, she channels this experience in asking the question: “Are we promoting these issues in a way that is actually aligned with that work? Ultimately, if we grow as big as I think we can, I want to challenge everybody to think about that. You have enormous power in not only being a profitable company, but also a platform.”

Even with room for growth and improvement, the brand exemplifies this idea that buying a t-shirt and posting a photo on social media is a small gesture, but a nevertheless important one, particularly for underrepresented groups in making their voices heard and giving visibility to their identities in authentic ways.

Sources
1. Ellis, S. (2020, Aug. 25). “There’s More to the Phenomenal Woman Brand Than Powerful T-Shirts.” Complex News. https://www.complex.com/style/2020/08/meena-harris-phenomenal-woman.
2. YPulse. (2020, July 22). 4 Brands Building Themselves Around the Causes that Matter to Gen Z. https://www.ypulse.com/article/2020/07/22/4-brands-building-themselves-around-the-causes-that-matter-to-gen-z/

3. Harris, M. (2018, July 18). “How to change the world, a five step guide.” Vogue. https://www.vogue.com.au/vogue-codes/news/how-to-change-the-world-a-five-step-guide/news-story/29ed8a2be4abca83ab95bb63779d5190.

4. Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign website (accessed 2020, Nov. 22). https://phenomenalwoman.us/

Cocokind

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by Haley Justus

Cocokind is a small skin care brand with the mission, “clean and conscious skincare for all”. The skincare brand was founded in 2015, by Priscilla Tsai a former investment banker who struggled with acne prone skin. After nothing her doctor prescribed worked, Tsai began experimenting with natural ingredients in her kitchen. Tsai said to Allure Magazine, “I decided to start Cocokind around a few key values: simple, quality ingredients, consciously and sustainably created, and with affordable pricing.” Most Cocokind products are certified organic, and all are certified cruelty free.

On the responsibility topic to start, Cocokind started the “Cocokind Impact Foundation” which per their website, “The Cocokind impact foundation provides financial grants to female entrepreneurs in health, wellness, and sustainability industries who are focused on creating social impact through business.” Additionally, the brand is committed to sustainable practices, ranging from the sourcing of ingredients to the packaging of their products. On their blog there is a post titled, “Our work on sustainability”. The post sufficiently details all the changes and steps they are taking to consistently be more sustainable.
What I see Cocokind delivering extremely successfully on is transparency. The blog post I mentioned previously laid out many steps on how they are actively changing their modes of operation and how they produce what they do. Tsai said to Allure when describing the impact of the COVID- 19 pandemic on the business, “I was super upfront with our customers about what was happening and told them on social media what we were facing – warning people that we didn’t know when their orders would go out, but it could be April.” Yet another example of the brands and Tsai’s transparency.

The examples I have listed here just scratch the surface as to how Cocokind has stepped up to be a responsible brand. As a consumer and a long time Cocokind supporter, their transparency and commitment to social good is one of the reasons I keep coming back. I am excited to see them grow and watch their commitment to social good become even more impactful.

P.S. Their “mymatcha all-over moisture stick” is one of the best lip balms and/or moisturizers ever and no this is not sponsored content!

Alo Yoga

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by Sidney Hur

Founded in 2007, Alo Yoga is an athletic wear brand that aims to inspire mindful movement to yogis around the world. From their sustainable practices of serving consumers with ethically made pieces, to creating an eco-friendly sanctuary for their employees to work in, Alo Yoga has very quickly become one of the most sought-after athleisure clothing brands to both wear and work for.

The Alo brand stands for “Air, Land, and Ocean”– the company built itself on protecting those elements. The founders of the company, Danny Harris and Marco DeGeorge, recognize that “to have a clean practice, you need a clean environment and Alo Yoga strives for that every day”. The brand lives and breathes in its ethical standards. Alo production is 100% sweatshop free, they utilize the best dyes, analyze their water consumption, take close note at their dye times (to reduce waste), and are overall dedicated to minimizing their ecological footprint through daily efforts.

Ways that the Alo brand minimizes their ecological footprint in the workplace and stores is through their car charging stations at the headquarters, advanced recycling programs, sky lights in the warehouse/manufacturers, paperless warehouses, and solar panels throughout their offices and flagship stores. The brand is driven through ethical efforts and believes that the waythey make clothing is just as important as the product itself.

Not only does Alo put in genuine effort to serve consumers with high quality pieces, but the company also invests a great amount of time into the well being of their employees. The
company believes in cultivating community and culture where individuals can truly thrive and grow in. From daily yoga classes at the headquarters, to workshops that hone into our individual ‘why’, Alo is dedicated to creating a community of connectivity and mindful movement in hopes to bring positive transformation to the world.

From the brand’s design to the brand’s mission, I believe a truly responsible company puts in the work both internally and externally. It is important for me when I assess whether a company is responsible or not by asking, “Would I personally work for this company?”, because at the end of the day I want to work for a company that I truly resonate with and I believe brings me value. I can confidently say that Alo Yoga is one of the most authentically influential companies I dream to work for

Toyota

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By Alyssa Hinojosa

Who are they, what do they do?

Toyota Motor Co. was established in 1937 and was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda. Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. The motor company has become the global market leader in sales of hybrid electric vehicles and has become one of the largest companies to encourage the mass-market adoption of hybrid vehicles. They are also a market leader in hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Since their establishment they have reached many miles stones internally along with external awards and recognitions.

What is their mission? Vision?

Toyota USA mission statement is “To attract and attain customers with high-valued products and services and the most satisfying ownership experience in America.” They have a vison “To be the most successful and respected car company in America.” Toyota creates vehicles by listening and responding their customers. They believe that their cars should do more than help people go places on the road and that they should also help people go places in life. Toyota values the safety of their customers, their employees, giving back, and the environment in everything they do.

Why do you think they’re responsible?

Toyota does business by producing products and services that aim to make advances in sustainable mobility and safety technologies. They have 28.8 million vehicles built in the U.S. and counting, 2,383,349 2019 vehicles sold in the U.S., $28.4 billion direct investment in the U.S., and over 186,000 people working across the U.S. They focus on environmentally sustainable solutions in everything they do and every vehicle they make are made in efforts of advancing towards a brighter tomorrow. On their website they provide reports on the carbon, water, materials, and biodiversity efforts they are practicing in to contribute to lowering their environmental impact. What can Toyota learn from Southwest?As a bigger worldwide auto company, Toyota can learn from Southwest who is a major American airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and is the world’s largest low-cost carrier, is more employee recognition. Southwest makes it apparent how much they care about their employees as well as their customer. Their purpose for doing business is to “Connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel.” They are also a very transparent organization where their story is easily traced on the internet unlike Toyota which was pretty hard to find. Southwest provides a website dedicated to their story with a a navigation at the top which allows an easy navigation to What’s New, Fact Sheet, Advertise,
Careers, Media Relations, Investor Relations, and Terms & Conditions, unlike Toyota which has all their important navigation links in their footer. Referenceshttps://www.toyota.com/usahttps://global.toyota/en/company/trajectory-of-toyota/history/https://www.toyota.com/usa/our-story/https://www.toyota.com/usa/environment/https://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest/index.html