There is a powerful opportunity for brand managers to integrate corporate responsibility commitments into brand platforms to win consumer loyalty. General Motors and Zipcar both ran recent campaigns in universities to win over students. One car company shows they understand their target audience while the other shows a disconnect.
The May 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review has an interesting feature article called ‘The Sustainability Imperative’. The authors argue that sustainability is the next transformational business megatrend comparable to past megatrends like IT revolution and globalization. Some businesses will come out as winners and others as losers. Firms seeking to gain advantage should get the vision right and get the execution right. Read more on what to do and how to do it in this post.
reThink Waterloo 2012: A Business Sustainability Forum. May 11, 2012. Waterloo. 
Carbon Economy Summit 2012: Regulation, Risk, Revenue. June 6, 2012. Toronto.