This is one of the more thought-provoking reads on the significance of sustainability to brand owners. The central argument is that superficial initiatives won't allow brands to engage with consumers and won't help solve the world's problems. The short-term focus on sustainability is the result of mistaking symptoms for cause.
The authors suggest brand owners should look at building what they call "social capital", something defined as "trust, dialogue and shared thinking". A sustainable future will only be achieved when more brands achieve a sense of social capital. Because this is the sole way brands will ever be truly valued by consumers. And only when they are thus valued will they be able to create sustainable value.
All this theoretical thinking is based on a huge research project, Sustainable Futures, which seeks the opinions of 25,000 consumers globally.
This book can be a difficult read, but it offers invaluable insights into new ways to think about brands, particularly the way consumer brands fit into the sustainability debate.
