Sustainable Brands Hosts Influential Brand Leaders at SB’17 Detroit

CLIENT RELEASE:  

SAN FRANCISO, May 22, 2017 – Sustainable Brands® kicks off its largest community gathering today with Sustainable Brands’17 Detroit at the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit. Over 2,000 business executives along with their teams from 35+ countries across the globe are attending the conference and Activation Hub. In addition, there is anticipated record breaking livestream viewership in collaboration with Detroit Public Television (DPTV).

SB’17 Detroit marks the launch of the community’s global initiative, Redefining the Good Life, and seeks to discover how redefined societal aspirations are transforming the way brands deliver value for their customers. This is the largest assembly of brand leaders, sustainability practitioners and design innovators gathering for a collective conversation about how businesses can emerge as leaders in the 21st century economy. 

Over 300 influential brand leaders and practitioners of environmental and social innovation are sparking conversation around how businesses and brands are responding to shifts in customer attitudes toward the ‘Good Life’. 

Program highlights and companies launching news from the conference include:

  • Sustainable Brands and Harris Poll release new data on American attitudes and aspirations that will drive brand innovation and new product/service offerings.
  • Interface shares new research revealing the latest and most exciting aspects of their ambitious Climate Take Back framework.
  • Bill Ford, Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company shares the company’s transformative journey toward delivering innovative good mobility products and services to 21st centurycustomers.
  • BASF shares a breakthrough value-to-society calculator that estimates a brand’s contribution to society along the entire value chain.
  • GlobeScan and SustainAbility share new research insights on leaders’ perceptions and expectations around the state of sustainable business globally.
  • CDP shares their latest water report exploring corporate risk on water security.
  • William McDonough, Founding Principal, William McDonough + Partners Architectschallenges the community to join his pursuit in redesigning for the good life.
  • BBMG and GlobeScan share new research insights on a number of trends around consumer attitudes and behavior.
  • Wrangler launches a pilot program for U.S. sustainable cotton and aims to unlock significant improvements in yield, irrigation water, energy inputs, GHG emissions and soil conservation.

The Activation Hub at SB’17 Detroit

The Activation Hub is the focal point for collaboration and exploring new ways of creating brand value while driving positive impact in the world. Nearly 100 interactive sessions and facilitated conversations take place in the Activation Hub this year, focused around market sector pavilions. Highlights include: 

  • BASF showcases how businesses can collaborate to help community development in urban areas, specifically around their partnership with SB and the Michigan Urban Farming Institute Community Resource Center build project
  • Ford Motor Company hosts the Good Mobility pavilion and features General Motors,United Airlines, Fiat Chrysler (FCA US LLC) and others leading a discussion on the future of both ground and air transportation. Both Ford and Fiat Chrysler are hosting vehicles on site.
  • A ‘Good Homes’ pavilion, anchored by Procter & Gamble, features Kohler, Dopper, Shawand others. Whirlpool debuts their WLabs appliance innovation for reducing food waste and leads a virtual look into their living research laboratory, ReNEWW House.
  • Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) hosts the ‘Good Retail’ pavilion featuring Savers, SCS Global Services, and Harvest Time International, promoting responsible and transformative sustainability best practices for the industry at large.
  • The Dow Chemical Company anchors the ‘Good Chemistry’ pavilion and discusses how the company is working towards improving the chemicals used in the food, waste and green building spaces. Dedicated discussions explore how the chemical industry as a whole can better align the emerging Good Life aspirations with innovation in that sector. They also release their 2016 Sustainability Report.
  • UPS anchors the ‘Good Logistics’ pavilion and will showcase their eBike during the Opening Night Reception in the Activation Hub. UPS is solving the demands of urban logistics through alternative fleet innovations like the eBike – one of the first-of-its-kind electrically-assisted tricycles used in crowded city centers.

The Activation Hub is open Monday evening from 6:30 – 9:00pm; Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons from 12:00 noon until 7:00pm; and Thursday from 12:00 noon until 3:00pm.Ticket passes for the Activation Hub Only are available for purchase during these times.Pre-registration is encouraged. 

Free Conference Live Stream

Sponsored by CVS Health, Meijer and BillerudKorsnäs, and produced in partnership with Detroit Public Television, Sustainable Brands offers free access to 3 days of live stream broadcast from the conference. After registering, live stream viewers receive access to the live simulcast of conference plenary sessions beginning Monday evening. Interested viewers can learn more and register at SB17Detroit.com/live/register.

This global gathering of prominent business leaders is led by Lead Sponsors Ford Motor Company, The Dow Chemical Company, and BASF. Sustainable Brands Strategic Partners are the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and The Erb Institute. Principal Sponsors include Nestlé and Citizen Group. Target, UPS, Amazon, and Procter & Gamble are Premier sponsors and Savers, Shaw Industries Group, Ltd., Braskem, General Motors, DanoneWave Foods, Vinyl Business & Sustainability Council, United Airlines, jetBlue, Quantis, Thailand Sustainable Development Foundation (TSDF), Trucost, Wrangler, Timberland, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance and World Organization of the Scout Movement are Major Sponsors. Additional partners include:The Nature Conservancy, Harris Insights & Analytics, The Huffington Post, Wharton IGEL, Effie Worldwide, and others. 

For a list of attendees and a complete list of sponsors and speakers, please visit the conference website at SB17Detroit.com. Tickets for both the conference and Activation Hub are still available and can be purchased onsite at the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit. 

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 a division of Sustainable Life Media headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Daniel Cherrin

DANIEL CHERRIN |served the City of Detroit as its Communications Director and the Press Secretary to Detroit Mayor, Ken Cockrel, Jr. He is a public relations + affairs specialist who just happens to be a lawyer, with 20 years of experience providing senior public relations and government relations’ counsel to organizations on state and federal regulatory and legislative matters, as well as issues affecting corporate and individual reputation, crisis management and the media. Daniel is the founder of NORTH COAST STRATEGIES (Est. 2005) an independent public relations consultancy that combines the best of a big agency with hands-on executive-level experience and support. As a signatory company to the United Nations Global Compact, we are dedicated to addressing issues around human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption. We are also focused on redefining your brand and changing the conversation to create an impact.