Sustainable Brands® announced today that the Emerging Economies Consumer Behavior Change Project will launch at the Sustainable Brands Rio conference in Brazil. Led by Eight Sustainability Platform, in partnership with Futerra Sustainability Communications, the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS), the Instituto Akatu and Sustainable Brands, it is the first project to explore the cutting-edge issues of sustainable consumer behavior change exclusively for the Brazilian market.

The project is sponsored by Banco Itaú and supported by Dow, Nestlé, Unilever, Invepar and Pepsico. The project will provide materials to support business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses in Brazil to engage consumers in behavior change on sustainability. The materials are being developed by the expert partners, with input from leading businesses. To solicit this input, a private workshop was held in São Paulo on April 24th, at the Dow Brasil headquarters with a select group of 50 experts. Representatives from the marketing, communications, brands and sustainability departments of partner companies and organizations such as Telefônica, O Boticário, BR Foods, AES Eletropaulo, Duratex, WWF, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and Purpose participated.

According to Pablo Barros, the creator of the project and the founder of Eight Sustainability Platform, “There are many responses to the problems that our society faces, but influencing the behavior of individual people is one of the most effective ways for facing up to challenges of this scale. We have decided to begin our work by developing mechanisms for use by B2C companies, because of the strength of their brands, their scale and their penetration, and because of the positive returns that these companies and their brands can achieve by engaging with their consumers.”

Solitaire Townsend, co-founder of Futerra, said, “Creating sustainable lifestyles is the greatest business opportunity of the 21st century. Brazil must be at the heart of this new market. We can both share learning from global brands and also discover the sustainable behaviors unique to Brazil.”

Marina Grossi, chief executive officer of the CEBDS comments, “Brazil will only be more sustainable in 2050 if it implements significant changes before 2020. That is the conclusion of Brazil Vision 2050, a study launched by the CEBDS at Rio+20, which proposes a new business agenda for the country. Of the nine pillars of this Vision, the first addresses values and behavior. In this area, the business sector can only undertake major transformations by communicating with people, engaging them and influencing them to change their consumption habits. The foundations of a behavior change project are provided by research into the ways in which each and every one of us thinks, consumes, produces and disposes of goods and services. This is critical and cutting-edge research which can help support the changes needed to meet the objectives of Brazil Vision 2050, a Brazil where all Brazilians live within the natural limits of the planet and where the consumer culture has been replaced by the principles of sustainable development and by the values of personal success and satisfaction.”

The project launches today during an afternoon session at Sustainable Brands Rio. Introduced this year in Brazil, the conference will convene over 350 brand innovators on May 8-9th to address the role of brands in leading the way to a flourishing future. "Since 2006, Sustainable Brands has been focused on helping the global brand community find value in leading the way to a sustainable future," states KoAnn Skrzyniarz, founder of Sustainable Brands. "Brands play a critical role in aligning business and society. Understanding how to encourage and support more sustainable consumer demand is fundamental to our future, both for business and society. We are grateful to be part of this project and hope it will contribute important insight that can be shared with our global community of change makers who are committed to enabling the sustainable economy of the future."

More information about the Emerging Economies Consumer Behavior Change Project and access to the white paper can be found on www.eightsustainability.com/#!mudanas-de-comportamento/cc4o.

Information about Sustainable Brands Rio, May 8-9th at the Windsor Atlântica Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, can be found on the conference website.

About Eight Sustainability Platform
Eight Sustainability Platform is a global platform that works on sustainable solutions, drawing on a wide range of partnerships with leading organizations in the international sustainability space. Eight aims to serve as a catalyst for change and to influence the transformation of current forms of production and consumption. It provides consulting services, executes special projects and specializes in adding speed and scale to initiatives that aim to change the paradigms of both companies and consumers. Eight’s work is based on the partnership model, cooperating with its partners to find solutions for global sustainability issues and its clients, while also developing partnerships with its own customer base.

About Futerra Sustainability Communications
Futerra is an award-winning sustainability communications agency with offices in New York, London and Stockholm. Our mission is to make sustainability so desirable it becomes normal. From green marketing to corporate responsibility, brand strategy to creative execution, Futerra transforms global businesses into leading sustainable businesses, offering real and impactful solutions.

About Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS)
CEDBDS is a business national association and non-profit that leads efforts on sustainable development implementation in Brazil, effectively articulating Brazilian government and business actions. Created in 1997, CEBDS integrates the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) national council’s net.

Recognized as the most reputable business institution in the world, WBCSD brings together 200 business groups that act all around the globe. In Brazil, CEBDS has today 76 associated companies that represent (in total) more than 40% country’s GDP and more than 600 thousand jobs.

CEBDS’ mission is guided by fostering business leadership as a change catalyst towards a business model that enables economic activity success, fosters social inclusion and preserves environment assets.

About Instituto Akatu
Created on March 15, 2001 (World Consumer Day) within the Ethos Institute for Business and Social Responsibility, Akatu is a non-governmental organization that works to raise awareness and mobilize society for conscious consumption. The Institute's activities are focused on changing consumer behavior on two fronts – education and communication – with the development of campaigns, content, surveys, games and methodologies. Akatu defends the act of conscious consumption as a fundamental transformation of the world, as any consumer can contribute to the sustainability of life on earth: through the consumption of natural resources, products and services and the enhancement of social responsibility companies.

About Sustainable Brands
Sustainable Brands® is the premier global community of brand innovators who are shaping the future of commerce worldwide. Since 2006, our mission has been to inspire, engage and equip today’s business and brand leaders to prosper for the near and long term by leading the way to a better future. Digitally published news articles and issues-focused conversation topics, internationally known conferences and regional events, a robust e-learning library and peer-to-peer membership groups all facilitate community learning and engagement throughout the year. Sustainable Brands is hosted by Sustainable Brands Worldwide, a division of Sustainable Life Media headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Sustainable Brands

Sustainable Brands

Sustainable Brands® is the premier global community of brand innovators who are shaping the future of commerce worldwide. Since 2006, our mission has been to inspire, engage and equip today's business and brand innovators to prosper for the near and long term by leading the way to a better future. Digitally published news articles and issues-focused conversation topics, internationally-known conferences and regional events, a robust e-learning library and peer-to-peer membership groups all facilitate community engagement throughout the year.

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