Purpose 360 with Carol Cone

Latest Episodes:

BBMG is on a Mission to Make Sustainable Living Desirable to All Dec 03, 2019

Show notes

BBMG was founded on the idea that branding can be a force for transformation for people and society. In the 16 years since launch, BBMG has shifted the way consumers and industry views brands: not as transactional entities, but human-centered connectors between business and people.

Raphael Bemporad, BBMG’s founding partner, joined Purpose 360 to explore insights from The Pull Factor Project, which BBMG released this fall with Sustainable Brands. The Pull Factor is aimed at helping marketers make sustainable living desirable to the masses, and includes actionable tools for brand leaders and marketers to “design communications that drive business growth while shaping a culture of sustainable living.”

Listen for Raphael’s insights on:

• How to define brand challenges, discover human factors, identify drivers of behaviors, and pilot and implement best practices

• The cultural shifts and emerging social issues shaping the role of business in society

• Nine core behaviors that brands can focus on to drive change for people and planet

Resources:

• Download the Report

• The Pull Factor Project

• BBMG

• Raphael Bemporad on LinkedIn

• Sustainable Brands - Brands for Good+

• Branding Mag on The Pull Factor

The New York Times Finds Purpose in Truth Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

In an era of fake news and alternative facts, the media is finding a new purpose rooted in transparency and truth.

The New York Times’s purpose, “We seek the truth to help people understand the world,” hinges on a critically important idea: that the truth is worth it. In this episode, Amy Weisenbach, Senior Vice President of Marketing, talks about how this core tenet was driven by purpose and brought to life through the power of storytelling.

First aired in 2017, the New York Times’s “The Truth is Worth It” campaign unpacks the journalistic process behind real New York Times headlines, and continues to probe topics ranging from the failing MTA and Trump’s tax returns to ISIS and children at the border.

At the center of the campaign, said Weisenbach, is the idea that journalists are seeking the truth by holding power to accountability, bearing witness to moments of tragedy and triumph, giving a voice to the disadvantaged, and creating a shared baseline of facts. Which ultimately helps people understand the world, making their lives richer, and hopefully forming a more just society.

Listen for Amy’s insights on:

The value of transparency and honesty in advancing purpose in a divisive nation
How to leverage key cultural moments to tell stories that matter
The evolving role of purpose in the media, and why storytelling is an inherently purpose-driven field

Resources

CECP: Giving in Numbers 2019 Nov 07, 2019

Show notes

Giving in Numbers, CECP’s annual report on corporate social investments, is often considered a bible for corporate and nonprofit professionals alike. Now in its 14th edition, and based on 18 years’ of benchmarking data, Giving in Numbers is based on company-reported information from more than 300 companies.

Carmen Perez, Senior Director of Data Insights, and Andre Solorzano, Senior Manager of Data Insights at CECP, joined Carol to share the story behind this nearly two decades-long effort to track and analyze the far-reaching impact of corporate giving.

Listen for Carmen and Andre’s insights on:

The evolving expectations of employees: how they want to give their time, talent, and money
How purpose can direct an organization’s giving strategy
The social issues that are garnering the most (or least) corporate support today

You can listen to our episode with CECP’s CEO, Daryl Brewster, here.

Resources:

Brewing a purpose with AB InBev Oct 23, 2019

Show notes

AB InBev exists to do a lot more than brew your favorite beers. The company’s purpose — to bring people together for a better world for the next 100+ years — comes to life in more ways than we could cover in one episode. Yet it is grounded in a very simple idea: that culture defines the company.

Pablo Jimenez, AB InBev’s Global Vice President, Reputation & Communications, joined Purpose 360 to unpack the company’s “Dream. People. Culture.” approach to bringing people together for a better world. This guides initiatives like Budweiser’s commitment to use entirely renewable energy by 2025 (a bold goal given that 41 million Budweisers are sold daily around the world), Stella Artois’ partnership with water.org, programs to enforce safe drinking habits, and much more.

We invite you to crack open one of AB InBev’s 500 beer brands and listen for Pablo’s insights on:

How a simple question – “What would the world miss if your company didn’t exist?” – inspired CEO Carlos Brito to bring the company together for soul-searching, and ultimately, to develop AB InBev’s purpose.
How to create hyper-local connections and be part of the solution in culturally diverse markets while maintaining an overarching global vision and purpose.
Why purpose must be a long-standing commitment, and how AB InBev’s 10 principles and focus on ownership is helping the company look to the next 100 years.

Resources

Redefining Corporate Reputation Oct 08, 2019

Show notes

Reputation is corporate currency today. Yet reputation can seem hard to quantify—and at a time when transparency and authenticity are expected by all stakeholders, the ability to measure and track reputation is critical.

Enter Reputation Institute. Now in its 21st year, the organization is a data, analytics, and insights platform powering companies to understand and build reputation. Kylie Wright-Ford, the Institute’s CEO, joined Purpose 360 to discuss the company’s approach to measuring and analyzing the reputation of companies, cities, and leaders—primarily through its RepTrak platform. She also discusses other products related to corporate responsibility through CR RepTrak and CEO reputation through CEO RepTrak.

Wright-Ford also unpacks the importance of reputation, and its seven dimensions today—from products and innovation to workplace and citizenship. Listen for her insights on:

The difference between brand (a promise) and reputation (whether that promise is kept).
How companies can balance the rational and emotional aspects of their reputation, and why those emotional aspects are on the rise.
The potential impacts of a healthy reputation, and how companies can leverage that reputation to build stronger ties to key stakeholders.

Resources

(00:00) - Welcome to Purpose360
(01:22) - Introducing Kylie Wright-Ford
(05:10) - The CEO Vision for RI
(06:26) - Why is reputation so important today?
(07:19) - Emotion and reputation
(09:08) - What is RepTrak?
(12:20) - Digging in to Pulse Score
(13:52) - Forbes and the Annual Global RepTrack 100
(18:18) - The bottom line value to enhancing scores
(20:44) - Reputation's impact on retention
(23:04) - CR RepTrak
(28:12) - The upcoming PurposeTrack from RI
(31:05) - Silence is no longer golden: The reputational value of the CEO
(35:24) - 'The Leadership Mind Switch'
(37:47) - Kylie's admirations list
(41:13) - Upping the intelligence game for purpose strategies
(43:43) - The future of purpose
(45:59) - Explore RI

Force for Nature Sep 25, 2019

Show notes

This Climate Week, the future of our earth is top of mind. But for Restore the Earth Foundation, this is just one week out of the year that the nonprofit dedicates to our planet—starting with restoring 1 million acres in the Mississippi River Basin, known as the North American Amazon.

It’s a huge task, and one that Restore the Earth Foundation can’t tackle alone. The organization’s pioneering model, which leverages the power of multi-billion dollar corporations to fund boots-on-the-ground restoration work, is making a measurable difference on Earth.

In this episode, Restore the Earth Co-founder and Executive Director PJ Marshall joins Purpose 360 to share the story behind her organization’s genesis, and how Restore the Earth is changing the way the private and public sectors work together to support critical environmental projects.

Listen for PJ’s insights on:

The significant regional, national, and global impacts of Restore the Earth Foundation’s work in the North American Amazon— such as the potential to reduce the U.S. carbon footprint by 2% and generate more than $12 billion in economic value.
How Restore the Earth created the EcoMetrics Model, which accounts for the environmental, social, and economic co-benefits and impacts of Restore the Earth’s reforestation work.
- This allows the organizations funding Restore the Earth’s efforts to account for the value created by their investments—ensuring stakeholder and shareholder buy-in for these critical reforestation projects.
How Restore the Earth has built partnerships and coalitions with organizations like Dow, VMware and U.S. Fish & Wildlife.

Resources

Bridging Hope and Possibility with Cisco Sep 10, 2019

Show notes

Cisco is in the business of connecting people. To Cisco, that means more than providing industry-leading technology—it means creating a world of potential to make the impossible possible.

Tae Yoo, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and CSR, joined Purpose 360 to talk about Cisco’s legacy of connecting people for business and societal impact, and bold goal to positively impact 1 billion people via digital solutions by 2025. Core to this effort is the Cisco Networking Academy, an initiative providing students around the world with critical networking and technology skills. Beyond setting students on the path to school and career success, Cisco Networking Academy has supported local economies around the world, generating new jobs and inspiring the next generation of innovators.

Listen for Tae’s insights on:

How the Cisco Networking Academy helped introduce Cisco to new markets, such as its growth in sub-Saharan Africa
How being a tech company with a “higher risk tolerance” drives Cisco to collaborate and innovate on solutions that can positively impact society
How embedding sustainability in the organization, and giving business units ownership and accountability, has helped Cisco reduce environmental impacts

Links & Notes

CECP is making business is a force for good Aug 27, 2019

Show notes

Imagine a world where all businesses exist to help society – and make a profit in the process. That’s the future CECP (Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose) is building. Founded by Paul Newman in 1999, CECP is a CEO-led coalition working to redefine the ways in which companies engage with stakeholders to better serve society.

In this episode, Carol talks with Daryl Brewster, CECP’s powerhouse CEO and former Nabisco and Krispy Kreme executive. Under his leadership, CECP convenes 200 of the world’s largest companies, representing $6.6 trillion in revenues, more than $20 billion in social investments, 14 million employees, 23 million hours of employee engagement, and $15 in assets under management.

Listen to hear Daryl’s insights on:

Balancing short- and long-term social and business strategy to maximize impact, and how vanguard companies are bringing investors into their social impact strategy
The growing value of transparency and trust in embedding and operationalizing purpose
Building coalitions to advance business and capitalism as a whole – because re-shaping the role of business in society takes a movement

Resources:

Purpose Makes Community Possible at US Bank Aug 13, 2019

Show notes

570 hours per day.

That’s the number of hours US Bank employees volunteered, daily, in their communities last year. US Bank’s 74,000 employees don’t give back just because they have big hearts for helping those around them – giving is a core value at US Bank, driven by purpose and activated through the company’s Community Possible platform.

Reba Dominski, Chief Social Responsibility Officer and President of the US Bank Foundation, joined Purpose 360 to talk about how purpose drives community, economic, and workforce development inside and outside the company. Community Possible, which encompasses giving and community engagement across three pillars—work, home, and play—guides US Bank to achieve business and societal goals, driven by data and an ethos to “Make possible happen.”

In this episode, Reba shares insights on how purpose helps US Bank:

empower employees to make decisions that are good for business, people, and planet;
develop fair and responsible products that create economic opportunity for all;
create a meaningful community presence through projects like the US Bank Pullman Community Center on Chicago’s south side.

RESOURCES:

Making Capitalism More “JUST”: Martin Whittaker of JUST Capital shares the organization's bold vision to reshape how corporate America works Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

The world needs more just companies. But what makes a company “just”?

JUST Capital is an NGO working to help corporations evolve their business and societal commitments to make capitalism more “just.” That’s a big task, but one that JUST Capital’s CEO, Martin Whittaker, relishes. Martin joined Purpose 360 to discuss the genesis of JUST Capital (which was founded by legendary investor Paul Tudor Jones II) and how it’s setting a roadmap for corporate America – defining the actions and behaviors companies should adopt as they interact with employees, customers, consumers, communities, and shareholders in a meaningful way.

Central to this is the JUST 100, an annual ranking that recognizes the top 100 most “just” companies in America. Companies are ranked based on how they perform on issues that Americans care most about – such as safe and secure jobs, truth in advertising, environmental responsibility, and 33 other components. Since launch, the JUST 100 has influenced the way companies are approaching their ESG commitments.

Aside from its flagship rankings, JUST Capital is doing a lot to harness the power of American business for good. In this episode, Martin expands on the JUST ETF, JUST Index, and what comes next in a “just” economy.

Listen in for Martins insights on:

How purpose and corporate social responsibility can drive ROI across a business – if it’s implemented authentically, and smartly.
Why Wall Street is putting more money behind companies with robust ESG commitments.
The vital importance of culture in an organization, and how “crowd sourcing the DNA of a 21st Century company” supports long-term success.

Resources:

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Purpose 360 with Carol Cone

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected