3.18.2008 - 02:45pm ET

(CSRwire) BURLINGAME, CA - March 18, 2008 – Sustainable Life Media today announced a first-class speaker line-up and preliminary panel topics for Sustainable Brands '08 (SB'08), the only event that addresses how to leverage all aspects of sustainability as a driver of brand value, taking place in California at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort from June 2-5, 2008.

Building on the strong success of last fall's Sustainable Brands '07 in New Orleans, close to 100 sustainability leaders from the top corporations, government and NGOs, along with communications consultancies, think tanks, research houses and media – all of whom are contributing in significant ways to leading the charge in sustainability - have already confirmed participation in this year's June conference.

AMD, BBMG, Burt's Bees, Clorox, Cohn & Wolfe, Discovery, Domani, Dow, Earthbound Farms, Fast Company, Fiji Water, Gap, GE, Georgia Pacific, Gravity Tank, HP, IBM, IDEO, Interface, Johnson Controls, Kashi, Kendall Jackson, KEEN, Landor Associates, Method, Mindclick, New Belgium Brewery, NRDC, Pepsi, Saatchi & Saatchi, Seventh Generation, Sun, SustainAbility, The Breakthrough Institute, The Climate Group, Yahoo!, and Ziba Design are just a few of the organizations confirmed to be on site to exchange best practices and delve into the many facets of sustainability in business at this dynamic four-day event.

The SB'08 agenda features current practical applications, emerging best practices and insights into future trends in three key areas – Market Drivers & Emerging Opportunities, Brand Inside and Brand Outside -- using case studies in corporate innovation, sustainability thought leadership and insights from several brand new research studies planned for launch at the conference.

"The desire to develop more sustainable brands is a major driving force behind some of the innovative practices we are starting to see in the U.S. and abroad," said KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, CEO of Sustainable Life Media. "As consumers become more environmentally aware, being able to understand the importance a sustainable business model has on a company's brand and ongoing success becomes critical. Sustainable Brands ’08 has pulled together an amazing line up of business leaders who are redefining how companies will be built in the 21st century. Those who join us will be inspired to think in new ways about creating value while driving meaningful change."

Market Drivers & Emerging Opportunities will cover up to the minute research findings from around the world on changes in perception, participation and demand on a wide range of stakeholders, from consumers to suppliers to investors and employees. This thread will also offer attendees a glimpse into how ongoing changes in the natural world, emerging governmental regulation and NGO pressures are impacting the ongoing drive toward innovation for sustainability.

Starting from vision, mission, governance and metrics and moving to product and business model design innovation, supply chain, materials and packaging strategies, Brand Inside presentations will survey some of the most creative strategies and tactics for building or redefining a brand for sustainability. Several sessions will address best practices surrounding the how, when and what of carbon footprint measurement and mitigation. Employee engagement is seen as one the most relevant components of a successful Brand Inside Strategy, so leaders in culture-as-brand and organizational change will present their experiences with this sometimes complex issue.

Brand Outside speakers will present some of the most inspiring new brand, and re-branding efforts of the year. Practical workshops and breakouts will walk participants through each step from developing an effective marketing strategy to effectively deploying integrated marketing campaigns. Focused discussions are also planned how to limit your risk of being accused of greenwashing or greenmuting, building credibility through co-branding and affiliate relationships, certifications and labeling, and using digital technologies to build brand affinity in the blogosphere and via social networking.

About Sustainable Brands

Widely reputed to be the most compelling sustainability conference of the year, Sustainable Brands '07 debuted in New Orleans in September 2007, convening 230 brand leaders from market-making companies such as AMD, AT&T, BP, Dell, Coca-Cola, Clorox, GE, HP, Kimberly-Clark, Nestle/Purina, Pepsi, Time, Inc., Toyota, Wal-Mart and an unprecedented list of others. Sustainable Brands '08 is expected to draw a significantly larger audience and deepen the previous year's discussions via three distinct program categories: Brand Drivers, Brand Inside and Brand Outside. http://www.sustainablebrands08.com

About Sustainable Life Media

A business-to-business online community, e-newsletter and event company located in Burlingame, CA, Sustainable Life Media (SLM) is home for business professionals looking to build new value and competitive advantage by innovating more sustainable strategies, practices and products. SLM brings business professionals top news stories related to the what, who and how of environmental and social innovation, and helps them connect with thought leaders, peers, partners and solutions providers that can help them quickly reach their goals. For more information, please visit: http://www.sustainablelifemedia.com/about.

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