LOHAS OPPINION LEADERS TESTIMONIALS
LOHAS Initiative
"There's an uneasy courtship going on between corporate America and the diverse, sometimes idiosyncratic collection of companies that make up the "sustainable lifestyle" movement - firms that promote their products as healthy and easy on the environment. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has begun buying organic cotton; Colgate-Palmolive Co. owns natural products pioneer Tom's of Maine; prominent organic food brands have become subsidiaries of major agribusinesses."
Steve Case, co-founder of America Online
“Ethics plays an important role. Consumers want to know that the information they are receiving is accurate and objective, while advertisers are facing growing restrictions on advertising certain products, such as cigarettes and alcohol, or to certain audiences such as children.
Similar issues are likely to arise around adverts that encourage environmentally unsustainable behavior such as flying and driving gas-guzzling cars - and the companies that make them. Emma Howard Boyd, head of SRI at Jupiter Asset Management, says global advertising groups such as WPP are already having to react to moves by some of their biggest clients, such as BP, Vodafone and HSBC, to focus on environmental issues.
The media is essential to the creation of lifestyles, so companies need to look at how they can be part of the solution. One company that has seized this opportunity is BSkyB, which recently went carbon neutral. "If a company can show it can help tackle global problems such as climate change, it will increase brand loyalty and should help that company gain or retain market share," says Harriet Parker, an analyst at Morley Fund Management. The market potential of what is known in the US as LOHAS (Lifestyles Of Health And Sustainability) is huge; research suggests that the US market alone is worth $227m and the ability to tap into it will be very valuable.”
Traditional Media May Face Extinction - Mike Scott, Financial Times, May 7, 2007
"Sustainability is the conduct of life and business in such a way that the present generation can live – and thrive – without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same."
Santa Monica Mirror, May 4, 2006
"A study conducted in November of 2007 by the US National Business Group on Health and Watson Wyatt, revealed that almost half (46%) of the 355 large employers interviewed said they currently offer financial incentives to their workforces to encourage healthy behaviors."
Industry Week Magazine, January 01, 2008
"Sustainability used to be just for hippies.
In America, it's now big business."
Oliver Bennett, The Telegraph, March 2006
"My hope is that 10 to 20 years from now, there won't be a need for LOHAS conferences", said Steve Case, who has bounced back from AOL's much maligned merger with Time Warner to start Revolution Living, investing in wellness, resorts and health care."
Reuters, April 4, 2006
"March 19, 2007 — The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) today released a ranking of the fifty most environmentally and socially responsible companies that is for the first time based on both a consumer perspective and investment analyst ratings of corporate sustainability and responsibility.
The first companies in the LOHAS Index:
1. Microsoft Corporation
2. Whole Foods Market, Inc.
3. Kellogg Company
4. McDonald's Corporation
5. The Home Depot, Inc.
6. The Walt Disney Company
7. United Parcel Service, Inc.
8. The Coca-Cola Company
9. Starbuck's Corporation
10. PepsiCo, Inc."
The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), March 20, 2007
Joesph Marra, director of marketing at Natural Marketing Institute
"Even at the highest levels of consumer products, corporations do not need to be convinced at all that cutting their climate footprint, reducing their use of fossil fuels is money in the bank.
They are seeking competitive advantage over - in the case of Danone, Nestlé, Kraft, Unilever and so forth."
Gary Hirshberg, co-founder and CEO of Stonyfield Farms
"What can you do to help change corporate America? If you are working in a corporation, don’t be afraid to introduce new ideas about everything from more holistic management concepts to recycling programs for the coffee break rooms.
Start in-house environmental awareness chat groups online.
Request that lighting fixtures be changed to compact fluorescents.
As a consumer, buy green, buy local and talk to store managers asking them to stock more green, sustainable and organic products. Enquire about companies’ green policies."
The Global Intelligencer, January 2007
