Sustainability Brand Rivalry Results: Apple vs. Microsoft

We opened up the SHIFT Report vault and dug into the key findings that came out of a query – How do technology heavy weight brands’ – Microsoft and Apple – consumers relate with sustainability issues, and how do these findings compare with the North American general population? The results are in. Thanks to all our Ci: Soundbite subscribers who voted on which brand rivalry they want to see. Click here to download a pdf of the report.

Share the Knowledge: Rolling out The SHIFT Report

Highlighting data from the Apple vs. Microsoft sustainability brand review, Facebookers & Sustainability, speaking engagements in the US & Canada… this newsletter – along with so much of what we are doing right now - is all about sharing our insight and analysis on consumers & sustainability.

We spent the summer working hard to create a series of strategic intelligence tools that give you greater access to the SHIFT Report. As one of our fellow sustainability brand allies at Nau said "From a philosophical point of view, you need to give more companies access to this kind of information". We couldn't agree more. Opening up access to SHIFT is directly in line with Ci's mission: to drive and support the shift to sustainability, by having the best intelligence on it.

As we launch this series of products, stay tuned to our blog for more tidbits that we will share. In the meantime, we’ve created a series of intelligence products for you, from a dip-your-toe in the water SHIFT Query to an annual subscription, as well as access to the Sustainability Passion Index™ (SPI) where you can see the true sustainability segments of the North American population. If you’re still thinking sustainability is just a small group of niche do-gooders, or that sustainability is just ‘green’, think again. The Vocal Globalist makes up 41% of the North American population. Click here for a pdf of an overview of the SPI, including a description of each segment and what size of the market the represent.

If you have a question about where your brand stands in the Sustainable Marketplace, our SHIFT Dive options offer tailored reports by brand (yes, that’s right, we’ve dug into data on a selection of major brands including Toyota, Starbucks, Tostito’s, Method and more) or category.

Thanks to those who shared their thoughts on this new SHIFT Report offering. Your perspective and insights have helped us shape this series of tools. We’ve often struggled with just how much do we share from The SHIFT Report and at what cost. You can download a complete overview of the answer right here.

And if you’re interested in something a little more bespoke, click here for just a sampling of what’s possible.

Facebook users and Sustainability: What’s your motivation?

Understanding what motivates people is not only key to crafting effective brand and communications strategies - obviously, digging into the ‘why’ behind the behavior is a classic account planning tactic - it’s also fundamental in shifting behavior.

In fact ‘why’ is something of an obsession for all of the folks at CI, and - together with Dr. Tom Crompton, author of the WWF’s Report Weathercocks and Signposts: The Environment Movement at a Crossroads – we believe that understanding motivation is crucial to lasting change. Rather than tantalizing their extrinsic desires says Dr. Crompton ‘…groups working for environmental change should be targeting the intrinsic set of values that motivates the public’ (Source: ‘The problem with Big Green’ article by our allies over at Worldchanging)

At Ci, one of the areas we look at is what motivates people to make socially responsible & sustainable lifestyle choices and purchase decisions. There are four key motivations:

- Being personally impacted, or feeling personally connected to the issues
- Feeling a sense of fear and personal responsibility about what will happen if I don’t act
- General concern and wanting to be a better part of society
- What goes around comes around, call it Karma if you like

Inspired by two recent articles, Clive Thomspon’s ‘Brave New World of Digital Intimacy' in the NY Times Sunday Magazine last week, and a Green Marketing Blog on Social Networks.

We got thinking about Social Networkers, and how their motivation to make socially responsible and sustainable choices might compare with the general population. We dug into the SHIFT Report vault and looked at Facebook users, Flickr users and Ideal Bite readers. We choose Facebook, mindful of the fact that it is the icon of social networking brands (See chart below). Interestingly, in terms of prioritization they rank the same as the General Population. However, when you look directly at the figures Facebookers are significantly MORE motivated. NGO’s note: If you haven’t already, start your Facebook group, but avoid Fear tactics - fear is the least important motivator for both Facebookers and the General Population when they are making socially responsible choices.

For information on the methodology for the latest installation to Ci’s SHIFT Report, a 5000 person North American study, please click here.

Back to school, and the speaking engagements!

It’s not only time to pack the kids off to school in the morning, it also happens to be conference season. Over the next couple of months, Ci will be speaking and/ or moderating a panel at the following events:

- Open Dialogue’s 2nd Annual Green Marketing conference. Taking place October 22 & 23, 2008 in Toronto.

- Focalyst Executive Forum: Targetting Boomers & Beyond. Taking place October 22 & 23, 2008 in NYC.

If you happen to be attending, please come find us – we’d be happy to connect.