Sustainability is moving from nice sounding commitments and campaigns to real actions. Finnish spirits brand Koskenkorva is shaking up the spirits industry with its ground-breaking Climate Action vodka, the first sustainable vodka made entirely from regeneratively...

Today, I heard yet another tree planting project pitched to me with great eagerness from a marketing director. I think my reaction was telling. It’s like when you every Christmas got that sweater from your grandma and you really wished it was Lego – you just put on...

Missed the last episode of #Purpose hits and Misses with Ad Age? For the first visual stream, Ad Age editor E.J Schultz and I scrutinise Heinz, Busch Light, United and more. Check it out here: https://youtu.be/ZLX3vFCxPTE?si=-eV-31HPTNk-clFm

Corona is no longer an emergency, concluded the World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday. Human stupidity is. We’ve just gone through the biggest experiment in behaviour change where people adopted social distancing and better hygiene on a global scale. In many...

You can choose to mirror #culture or you can choose to move culture. As the latest #climate report came out from the IPCC, it's abundantly clear - yet again - that brands need to step up to the challenge and inspire people to act on climate. This demands a new type of...

Are activist brands just dictators on steroids? What ad would you have been the proudest of making? The one from United Colours of Benetton on the left or the one from Patagonia on the right? If you’re not familiar with the term activist brands let me explain. Over...

I often hear many myths about emerging markets. Like #consumers are only in for aspirational campaigns, or that people don’t care about sustainability. Or that it’s all about that bigger flat screen or a running water toilet! I was invited to speak at Dubai Lynx...

At @dubailynx sharing my insights about the most necessary creative tactics the next 18 months in the impact/sustainability space. From sausage factory to collaborative, cross-displinary, problem-solving creativity Use hate & love: think like an impact...

A gin #brand posing as a #sustainability saint, or paid actors promoting #inclusivity? Sounds like a great way to fall into what I call #TheHeroTrap. Check out the latest #Purpose Hits and Misses #podcast hosted by the great E.J. Schultz on Ad Age for more ads that we...

I’m in Morocco, yet purpose is not a new topic there, but it seems dominated by the usual international players. The opportunities are there for local brands to engage and innovate. To make purpose meaningful and avoid the hero trap or call it purpose-wash, it’s...

Or is the industry just another tool in the Green-washers arsenal to delay any serious response? Are you in Dubai? March 14th I’m heading to Dubai to join the MENA's premier Festival of Creativity joining Daniel Hulmeand Gemma Spence for a look at what’s needed to...

Do you have any good examples of brands, that have shown real leadership the last couple of months? As the economic climate is becoming challenging it's easy as a brand marketer or agency strategist to run for the hills and shout: SELL, SELL, SELL. We've been here...

Part 1 of an interview with the Founder of Trunblocked.com, Peter Marshall, where we discuss some controversial views, with a focus on #airports, #airlines and #travel retail. We also discussed the precarious challenges that seeking a path to #sustainability presents...

Are purpose and ESG-communication losing their magic? Have people grown tired of grandiose purpose-statements from companies and CEOs? Is the market space becoming cluttered with sustainability messaging and the effect wearing off? Are people in challenging economic...

Product, product, product drove Super Bowl commercials this year; purpose and ESG communication were largely left on the bench. If Super Bowl commercials are a symbol of the times we live in, then put on your helmet and shoulder pads — sustainability and purpose...

Subvertising is a type of advertising that is intended to subvert or criticize mainstream advertising. It involves the alteration or parody of advertisements in order to convey a different message than the original. Subvertising can be used to challenge the dominant...

I dare you - find your why in people’s aspirations or challenges. It’ll take you no more than 5 minutes to see the difference. I’ve been in the purpose space for more than a decade and witnessed leaders and organisations run into what I call “the hero trap” by...

#CanIChange? Most certainly a question you’ve been pondering yourself these last days. And you’re not alone. Every new year, @Google reveals the top searches for the previous year. In 2022, people mostly googled how they could change themselves. This is also the theme...

A new post-purpose reality is here! New #LeadershipStrategy interview in Forbes: I sat down with David Hessekiel from Cause Marketing Forum / Engage for Good while in #NewYork and discussed my book #TheHeroTrapand some of the latest research, we've done with GfK. It's...

I’ve been advocating for change in this climate space for +13 years and I’ve seen a rise in commitments, campaigns and talk – yet is it all just too little too late? Why aren’t we seeing the mass mobilization of citizens or corporations or for that sake elected...

Six key takeaways from this year’s Cannes Lions and how your campaigns can be better Cannes Lions is to advertising what Cannes is to film - the biggest global gathering of the industry. The change is visible, but is it simply what advertising is so good at:...

A Cannes Lions first: “Open House for Good” (OHFG!) encourages everyone to open up their venues, beach, cabana, yacht, event space during Cannes Lions and discuss the most important topic of our time: Sustainability in all its social, environmental, economic and...

Download the Booklet here We’re witnessing a purpose-fatigue – so what’s the way forward? How can brands better inspire action?  Inspired by my book The Hero Trap and its framing around transformative brands and the methodology the Arrow, I’ve embarked on a research...

If you put on the hero’s cape and shout the fatigued chorus of “better world” and “do good for people and planet” you most likely will fail as people can easily criticize you. You most likely don’t wake up in the morning with an aim to save the world. On a good day, I...

In the second episode of the recent Ad Age podcast, we uncover the difference between commercial suicide and sincere support for the LGBTQ+ community. Check out the article and podcast (taken directly from Ad Age) below: Purpose marketing expert Thomas Kolster does...

Although more than a little delayed, we want to extend a massive congratulations to the winners of the Goodvertising Awards 2021. All this work is so important for driving messages and action from others! Goodvertising Awards are like no other award. You cannot enter,...

Let me ask you a question. Is there anything you would like to change about yourself? Anything you would like to become better at? You don’t have to get pen and paper out and start writing your list. Trust me, mine is long. Of course, we all have stuff we want to...

Ocean plastic is not going to be your brand lifebuoy, most likely your Achilles Heel. Most brands didn’t become irrelevant because they forgot their purpose, their WHY, but because they forgot WHO to play a meaningful role for. Think about the majority of reality TV...

I used to be a big advocate for purpose, but it’s time we revise how we activate purpose. And yes, purpose is being challenged from many fronts these days for not being good for business (Unilever vs. Terry Smith) to not delivering the results for the brand (like...

When it comes to purpose marketing, there is a simple rule: Don’t just talk about your brand. Talk about what you are doing to make a difference or change behaviour. Myself and Ad Age kicked off a new podcast that tackles some purpose nonsense and helps bring a bit of...

Welcome to Climate Punk! I’m behind the microphone on a mission to find radical new answers to the climate emergency. No more BS. Hopefully by talking to climate punks around the world, I can inspire you to find the climate punk within yourself. Take a look at our...

This article was originally written and published by Creative Review When Danish marketing and sustainability expert Thomas Kolster wrote his book Goodvertising back in 2012, the world hadn’t quite yet cottoned on to the idea of purpose in marketing. Since then, of...

As I prepare to head up the Impact and Future Impact juries at the 2022 D&AD awards, I talk about why creatives should stop focussing on small interventions and move on to bigger, systemic challenges. For the most part our industry is no better than a sausage...

I’m grateful for all the powerful and insightful conversations I had on #podcasts in 2021. I really love the format for its frankness and each one of the podcasts provoked me to think differently - and together with the hosts, I feel fortunate to have learned and...

I’m immensely proud to be elected Jury Chairman of D&AD Impact, which I regard as the most important award in our industry, as its honouring ideas that drive sustainable change. It’s a lighthouse in our industry – showcasing that our industry and creativity...

Back in 2012 Thomas Kolster put together what was possibly the first list of creative 'Awards for Good' in his seminal Goodvertising: Creative Advertising that Cares book. There were 12 including Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (Grand Prix for Good),...

WORKSHOP Learn how to fight purpose fatigue and create an authentic, people-first brand Most companies today are firmly on the social and environmental issues bandwagon like bees around a honey pot from oceans plastic to diversity. People are increasingly distrustful...

At least the game was fun to watch, because this year’s commercials make the United Nations’ sixth edition of the Global Environment Outlook report seem like interesting reading. This year, corporate America chose to laugh rather than voice an opinion. This article...

We shouldn’t lure people into consuming more than they need; but rather, help people make it all add up to a more meaningful life. Brands might be able to keep afloat on a short-term strategy and hide behind a cloak of innocence, but every dinosaur step is one closer to extinction.

Thomas joined TEDx Panteion University's jam-packed event in Athens in May this year. Does advertising satisfy or create the needs of the modern human after all? Undoubtedly, advertising is one of the most misconceived professional fields in modern society and the...

On 23-25 April, I joined the team and more than 3000 attendees at Sustainable Brands Paris that took place at Le Carrousel du Louvre, where we discussed the state of sustainability - and indeed the future of it. Check out the video for the panel debate I had the good...

The new power is empowerment, unravels how and why brands need to redefine the good life and give individuals the power to get involved in this process.

You need a bear to explain sustainability – I absolutely love the simplicity of the message: The Bare Necessities. Isn’t that really what life is about?

Goodvertising mangler en struktureret medarbejder, som kan være med til at skubbe bevægelsen fremad. Det forventes at du har en skarp pen og kan skrive på engelsk. Arbejdsopgaver er blandede som f.eks. at opdatere Goodvertising.info og de sociale medier, kommunikation...

Traveling in markets like Turkey and Egypt it’s easy to get pessimistic about the outlook or for that sake if you live in Britain faced with #Brexit or in the US faced with Trumpism.

I had a cup of coffee with Mathias Vikström, CEO of RBK Communication and one of the brilliant men behind the Åland Index and I couldn’t let him leave before I got this interview

Are you not really sure what Goodvertising actually is? Thomas Kolster has the answer.

CSR efforts can grow under even challenging circumstances. This was true when I visited Belarus and my recent visit to Georgia proved it again.

While Coke’s new campaign might be killing the brand, could it be revitalizing sales?

The film Bitter Grapes is calling for the Scandinavian supermarkets to live up to their corporate social responsibility efforts as well as leaving me and you with the hasty message about “choose your wine responsibly”. The film’s pointed finger bothers me, so here is what the film should have done.

Join behind the scenes from Sustainable Brands Bangkok, which offered a culinary journey and inspiration from Thais pioneering a local food movement.

Finally an award celebrating impact rather than empty words and awareness: D&AD Impact Award. I was honoured to join the judging alongside creative minds like Jamie Oliver and David Droga.

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of judging the 4th African Cristal Awards in Marrakesh. The Awards also saw a novel collaboration between Cristal and Goodvertising as it was decided to award the very first “Goodvertising Grand Cristal”.

I should be more media-savvy than falling for this recent press story. It’s a stark reminder about the power of the press.

Proud to be judging the Marketing Can Change The World Award by The Drum

A blog post originally featured in an African magazine dedicated to sustainability “How Now”.

Too much advertising has the opposite effect to that intended, and it’s high time brands realized that, author Thomas Kolster told the Media360Summit in Hong Kong.

Really excited to join the Sustainable Brands Host committee to bring the European event from London to Copenhagen.

French edition of Goodvertising coming out September 30th. What to expect?

I’m excited to share with you our upcoming change project together with North Europe’s biggest documentary film festival: CPH:DOX. Do write me if you want to join or support this amazing initiative – lots of exciting possibilities for brands and organisations. Read more here.

Check out this selection of 10 astonishing award-winning Cannes Lions #Goodvertising campaigns

Initiative from Sao Paolo. Most recycling bins ask people to sort the garbage into different categories, but do people really bother?

The EACA Care Awards is the 6th award I’ll be judging over the last two years, which is an important way for me to keep up-to-date.

There’s plenty to be optimistic about when it comes to advertising in 2015! Finally brands are beginning to recognize that it’s not about pushing messages and snappy jokes at people, but actually seeing where they can play a meaningful role in people’s lives

This sustainability tag-team took the audience at Sustainable Brands in London on a journey towards new thought processes in problem-solving.

Most brands are still scarily silent about the difference they want to make in our lives and yet hope we won’t notice them force-feeding us with advertising-as-usual

TrendBook 2014 by Polish marketing expert Hatalska presents an analysis of the five top trends for the next year and I’ve contributed to the chapter about sustainable development.

An interview about good acts, prank it forward and random acts of kindness in Danish news daily Politiken

After a period of increasing demand for shorter advisory sessions I have decided to launch a formal “Expert 1-on-1” through Skype or phone

When the Ethical Corporation invited me to a conference called the “Responsible Business Summit”, I already had two matches in bullshit bingo “Ethical” and “Responsible”. I assumed we had moved on from the responsible smokescreen to discuss what really moves 99,9% of companies: Money or the fear of losing it.

In terms of share of voice, there’s no doubt about it: standard advertising outmuscled the David-like attempts of Goodvertising to bring a different narrative forward — one that advocates caring for each other and our planet.

Brands need to have a single-minded sustainability preposition instead of a save-all approach that often equals save-nothing. Those who succeed in the green space stand for something like Bodyshop for animal cruelty free cosmetics.

I hear that statement often when I’m doing a talk or presenting to a group of marketing directors. It’s often delivered as a defiant outburst or a sarcastic mumbling,”Our clients don’t care about sustainability!” or, “Our clients won’t pay more for sustainable products!”

Together with Denmark’s biggest financial news daily Børsen and marketing magazine Markedsføring I’m putting together a conference called Sustainable Bottom Line.

Book a talk or workshop now - and get the insights behind Goodvertising

A company’s responsibility used to stop at the factory gates, but now covers the entire life cycle of the product from cradle to grave. But where does this responsibility end?

For a global gathering of the most brilliant minds from agencies it was shocking to notice that 99.9% of their so-called creativity is still used to sell more stuff instead of taking on the biggest challenges of this century: the darkening clouds of the social and environmental crisis lurking in the horizon.

Just returned from 4 inspiring days in San Diego at Sustainable Brands where I also launched wheregoodgrows.com

I was speaking last week at an advertising summit in Yangon, Myanmar and it was an exciting opportunity to get a look at a cute Asian kitten before it grows into yet another Tiger.

The theme of collaboration once again came through in the surprisingly honest and insightful experiences that the marketers shared with one another at Sustainable Brands in London.

Thomas Kolster shares his views on how to make sustainability attractive through communication.

At the conference Sustain Our Africa I saw a continent that’s far from the picture painted by most Western media of hardship, struggle and poverty

An estimated 80% of US consumers are interested in sustainability in some shape or form. The mainstream market for sustainable products is definitely there.

Even though it might sound like greening up a Hummer, which eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2010, it’s nevertheless a welcomed step. Yes, Hummer and the superyachts have certain similarities, it’s really not a necessity, but a luxury bestowed the few.

If you’re willing to come along, we can do it; and if you aren’t – we’re going without you. As I have argued, no matter where you are in the hamster wheel as a marketer, we can change towards a sustainable and respectable future.

Our ignorance has left much of our planet in a state of emergency. Our natural resources are depleted, we are faced with catastrophically high carbon levels, a destruction of half the earth’s biodiversity, exhaustion of our oceans’ fish stocks and toxins and metals in most living beings on the planet. I could go on and on.

When compiling our cases for the book, Goodvertising, we noticed that while there was certainly a trend towards more sustainable communication, there was no central source or archive where one could go and find this work. As a destination for both inspiration and sharing best-practices – we have created the first website of its kind in the world – WhereGoodGrows.