BBMG, the brand innovation firm dedicated to social responsibility, has partnered with Passenger, the social software leader in on-demand customer collaboration, to create "The Collective," the first private online community for connecting conscious consumers with sustainable brands and related causes.

Through online polls, discussions, idea storming and live meetings with entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, marketers and thought leaders, The Collective's members will help shape the policies, practices, products and marketing campaigns of some of the nation's most respected causes and socially responsible companies. The digital platform builds on BBMG's deep knowledge of the conscious consumer and is part of the agency's effort to integrate co-creativity deeply into brand strategy, sustainable design and culture change.

"Our research shows that the most passionate consumers, the top 10 percent, actively shape the content and conversations consumed by the remaining 90 percent," said Mitch Baranowski, BBMG Founding Partner and Chief Creative Officer. "Sustainable brands increasingly understand the opportunity of engaging these new consumers in co-creating products, campaigns and experiences that enhance our lives, embody our values and improve the world around us."

"The Collective is designed to help shift the paradigm from brand-driven monologues to ongoing creative dialogues, leveraging the power of social media, crowdsourcing and online collaboration to involve consumers at every key milestone, closing feedback loops and creating a virtuous cycle that drives insights, innovation and influence," he added. "The Collective symbolizes what we call the 'Age of Co-Creativity,' and we believe it holds great promise for the future of branding and marketing."

Formally in private beta, The Collective launched earlier this month and already has nearly 400 active members who meet criteria for socially-minded values and eco-friendly behaviors. Initially, BBMG will limit membership in the community to no more than 2,000 consumers. Both emerging and established brands have joined BBMG to stage various initial events with The Collective's members, including Madécasse, a fair trade chocolate company, and ShoreBank, one of the nation's leading community banks. Upcoming events are scheduled with Save Darfur, SweetRiot and Blue Avocado, a sustainable lifestyle products company.

The community is the first tangible result of a strategic alliance between BBMG and Passenger to help sustainable brands harness the power of on-demand customer collaboration through a new approach to branding and marketing.

"BBMG is one of our brand innovation partners, and we can honestly say that they are pioneering a new use for our technology, really the first agency to take it to this level," said Samantha Skey, Chief Marketing Officer, Passenger. "Because BBMG is so dedicated to the intersection of branding, sustainability and social purpose, and because their segmentation is so focused on early adopters who genuinely care about these issues, The Collective will be a great learning tool for the brands we work with."

In addition to the ongoing collaboration with conscious consumers, BBMG also plans to use The Collective to release periodic trend reports, building on its highly regarded Conscious Consumer Reports with a new Conscious Consumer Index and more dynamic pulses on topics like most/least socially responsible companies, trustmarks, localism and green behaviors.

THE COLLECTIVE: AT A GLANCE

What: The Collective, the first private online community dedicated to connecting conscious consumers with sustainable brands, was concepted by brand innovation firm BBMG and is powered by Passenger's on-demand collaboration technology.


Who: Initially The Collective is limited to no more than 2,000 consumers who meet criteria for socially-minded values and eco-friendly behaviors.


How It Works: BBMG, in consultation with its clients and brand partners, regularly presents the community with events designed to spark conversation and collaboration. These themed events usually involve one or more of the following: polls, surveys, live chat sessions, idea storming, discussion boards and multimedia galleries.


Key Benefits: By staging an event, brands, causes and thought leaders benefit in at least three ways: (1) Discovering new insights; (2) Co-creating products, services and campaigns; and (3) Generating buzz and word-of-mouth advocacy with this influential consumer segment.


Why It Matters: The Collective is designed to help sustainable brands shift the marketing paradigm, leveraging the power of social media, crowdsourcing and online collaboration to involve consumers at every key milestone, closing feedback loops and creating a virtuous cycle that drives insights, innovation and influence.


More Info: jointhecollective.net

About BBMG
With studios in New York and San Francisco, BBMG is a nationally recognized firm dedicated to creating innovative brands that engage and inspire today's increasingly conscious consumers. By integrating branding with sustainability, technology and social purpose, BBMG helps organizations embrace innovation, forge new markets, discover new products, create new experiences and drive real culture change. Recent clients include Samsung, Williams-Sonoma, Inc., Clif Bar & Co., Eileen Fisher, Harvard Kennedy School, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, ShoreBank and WGBH, among many others. BBMG is proud to be a founding member of B Corporation and a certified green business. For more information, please visit http://www.bbmg.com.

About Passenger
Passenger social software powers private online communities for the world's leading marketers and top social brands. Passenger communities provide real-time customer insight and cost-effective innovation, while driving ambassadorship and increased efficiencies in market research. The Passenger application, delivered Software-as-a-Service, combines market-leading social networking, collaboration, media, research and analytics features into a single intuitive interface. Passenger's knowledgeable Client Services and Community Insights teams provide thought leadership and maximize community value for clients such as JC Penny, Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz and Fox as well ongoing support for self-service, channel and agency partners. Founded in 2005, with offices in Los Angeles, Palo Alto and New York City, Passenger is privately held and funded by Shelter Capital Partners, StarVest Partners and Steamboat Ventures.

BBMG

BBMG

BBMG is a brand and social innovation consultancy dedicated to creating business growth and positive social impact. We’re strategic creatives and creative strategists, culture experts and design thinkers. We build brands with purpose that are relevant to a new generation and resilient for the fast, transparent and volatile world we live in today. To learn more about how we build brands for humans, visit www.bbmg.com.

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