7 Global Super Brands & Their Sustainability Efforts

Brands that have achieved the ‘Super Brand’ status have done so by embracing the constant need to adapt and change with the perpetually evolving market landscape. The climate change pressure remains a prominent force forcing brands to innovate and change with the present times. Most existing Super Brands have already flared the banner of sustainability in terms of making their business processes more streamlined and environmentally conscious.

Setting the market standards quite high, these brands have worked relentlessly to safeguard the environment. By incorporating the boons of modern technological advancements, such Super Brands have responsibly optimized their practices. To take a leaf out of their handbooks will help serve other aspiring brands to ace this arena. Thus, to help achieve this goal, we’ve listed some of the ways in which these global Super Brands have embraced the era of sustainability:

PUMA

As one of the most famous and sought-after brands in the world, PUMA has answered the need for sustainability by ideating some innovative strategies and programmes. The brand’s Faster Forever strategy has been curated to foster positive change in the industry. Beginning almost a decade back, in 2011, PUMA started ‘The Clever Little Bag’ campaign when it redesigned the packaging of its shoes. The packaging now being used for PUMA shoes, i.e. its shoe bag, is made of cornstarch. This means that it’s easy to naturally decompose within a period of 3 months. By forgoing the use of paper or plastic, PUMA pioneered a legacy sustainable change. This has also helped reduce the carbon emissions of the company by 10000 tons and reduced its paper consumption by 65%.

IKEA

We all know IKEA as a leader in the furnishing and home décor industry, but very few people are aware of the green initiatives taken by this industry giant. By sourcing half of its wood from sustainable foresters, IKEA has helped reduce deforestation and unchecked lumbering of trees. Moreover, all IKEA cotton products are made from cotton that’s sourced from farms that adhere to the Better Cotton Standards. The brand has also shifted to more sustainable ways of powering its stores by switching to solar panels. With more than 700,000 solar panels powering its stores, IKEA has become one of the most energy-efficient Super Brands in the world. To help reduce the carbon footprint of its employees, the brand has also gifted them bikes.

Procter & Gamble

For the uninitiated, Procter & Gamble is the parent firm for companies like Tide, Febreze, Head & Shoulder, Vicks, and others. This global Super Brand has done its fair share to infuse environmental consciousness into the operations of its in-house brands and ventures. The water from the HVAC systems of the firm’s Saudi Arabia plant is used to irrigate land and top off fire tankers. Moreover, this Super Brand has fine-tuned its processes to the extent that 70% of its global production sites are sending no waste to the landfills. Procter & Gamble has also shifted to the use of windmill energy instead of fossil fuel-driven energy sources. Moreover, ‘The Holy Grail’ project of the firm manufactures products that come with 90% recyclable packaging.

Nike

This sports shoe brand has only but recently started working to achieve sustainability in its production processes as well as finished goods. However, it’s always better to start in the present rather than wait for a time when there will be no future. Nike has recently launched an app where its customers can compare the environmental footprint of the different shoe fabrics the brand sells. They’ve also started using post-consumer recycled products in their goods to reduce the waste output levels.

Apple

As a world-renowned Super Brand, Apple too has embraced sustainability as an essential stepping stone to the future. Back in 2015, Apple signed a $1 billion deal with First Solar to use renewable power sources for its California offices, warehouses, headquarters, and data centers. The Apple Renew Program also allows customers to trade in their old Apple devices for a gift card. They can also have them recycled for free at an Apple Store. Apple has also ensured that environmentally harmful PVC is removed from its power cords, and earphones to make them safer.

Amazon

Amazon’s solar rooftop project is well-documented as one of the largest sustainability moves by a Super Brand, owing to the magnanimity of the brand’s reach and demand. The brand is guided by a ‘24/7 policy of eco-consciousness and awareness’. Amazon has invested in 10 renewable energy farms with windmill turbines to leverage the boons of clean energy. It also works with its listed manufacturers to reduce waste outputs quite significantly.

Google

Apart from these Super Brands, Google has also worked extremely hard to transform its environmentally-conscious policies into tangible reality.  By investing $2.5 billion in renewable energy projects like ones mapping forest loss, tracking illegal fishing, poaching, etc. the brand has soared high on the sustainability radar. One of the biggest sustainability achievements of the brand remains its search engine’s 100% transition to renewable energy sources.

Thus, by following in the footsteps of these global Super Brands, aspiring and budding ones can also make a difference. Sustainability is important to customers because they too are increasingly environmentally conscious and want to side with brands that mirror their philosophical standpoints.