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International think-tank announces 2007 Brands with a Conscience

Stockholm, Seal Beach, Calif. and Wellington, December 21 (JY&A Media) The Medinge Group, an international think-tank on branding and business, today releases its fourth annual Brands with a Conscience list. In the Group’s opinion, these nine diverse organizations show that it is possible for brands to succeed as they contribute to the betterment of the society by sustainable, socially responsible and humanistic behaviour.

The international collective of brand practitioners meets annually in August at a secluded location outside Stockholm, Sweden, and collaborate on the list, judging nominees on principles of humanity and ethics, rather than financial worth. The Brands with a Conscience list is evaluated on criteria, including evidence of the human implications of the brand and considering the question of whether the brand takes risks in line with its beliefs. Evaluations

are made based on reputation, self-representation, history, direct experience, contacts with individuals within the organizations, media and analysts and an assessment of the expressed values of sustainability.

This year, the group added a unique category commendation, the Colin Morley Award, recognizing exceptional achievement by an NGO. Mr Morley, a member of the Medinge Group, died in the London Underground bombings in July 2005. The award commemorates his visionary work in humanistic branding.

For 2007, the group has singled out the following organizations:

Adnams
Ecover
Fetzer Vineyards
Freeplay
IKEA
RED
Virgin Group/Virgin Fuels
Whole Foods

The first Colin Morley Award for a non-governmental organization is given to Shakespeare's Globe.

Announcing the 2007 Brands with a Conscience, Stanley Moss, CEO of the Medinge Group and chairman of the initiative, called them ‘evidence of the increasing embrace of humanistic branding as a critical component of corporate behaviour. The list shows that today we are seeing successful brands demonstrate deeper ethical understanding, commitment to sustainability and greater brand complexity.’

‘By definition, all NGO-brands should be brands with conscience,’ remarked Thomas Gad, Chairman of the Medinge Group. ‘This year we innovate an award which supports the importance of branding them. The first Colin Morley Award is given to Shakespeare’s Globe of London, and honours a cultural project as a brand of conscience. The commercial awards this year show a good mix of large organizations and smaller entrepreneurs. We favour the idea that brand conscience is not exclusively for enthusiastic smaller companies. It is equally important for large organizations—and for those possibly much more difficult.’

Nicholas Ind, a founding member of the group, said, ‘This has been the year that the corporate world really discovered the imperative of action on the environment. We have recognized this in our choice of Brands with a Conscience. Among this year's winners there are some powerful examples of what can be achieved when a genuine commitment is made to sustainability.’

‘Brands with a Conscience has regularly shown that it is possible to achieve international recognition while living one's most heartfelt aims,’ said Jack Yan, a founder and Director of the Medinge Group. ‘This year's winners may be a mixed bag in terms of their industries, but share a joint vision to make their part on the planet a better, happier one.’

Ian Ryder, a founding member and Director of the Medinge Group, commented, ‘The Brands with a Conscience awards have truly come of age this year. The range and quality of entries was high and the judging was hard, but any one of this year's winning organizations, large or small, demonstrates that active, "conscience-driven" brand management helps customers, partners, communities and the world at large. Significantly, they help in the essential act of

achieving commercial success. Well done, and thanks, to all the nominees for trying, and to the winners for being just that little bit better.’

Patrick Harris, a Director of the Medinge Group added, ‘As the first recipient of the Colin Morley Award, Shakespeare’s Globe is well positioned as a humanity-focused organization and as a leading brand. Through its efforts of studying Shakespeare in performance, it encourages individuals to find personal relevance, and to realize the effects of a timeless commentator on the human condition.’

Freeplay
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Established in 1994 and driven by its core purpose of making energy available to everybody all of the time, Freeplay Energy plc seeks to maintain its leadership in creating and developing the international market for self-sufﬁcient energy products. Its commitment to this objective is demonstrated by the establishment of its product range and the formation of strategic alliances with partners that bring compatible technology and market leadership. The application of the company’s technology has had a signiﬁcant role in promoting education and access to life-changing information to isolated communities in the developing world: to date, over 100,000 Lifeline radios (powered by Freeplay technology) are being used in humanitarian projects in over 20 countries.