Location: Patagonia Headquarters, Jollemanhof 11, Amsterdam
Max. 100 seats available - admittance with reservation only - reserve through Eventbrite
With Alex Weller (Patagonia) and Greo Belgers (Triodos Bank) | Hosted by Jennette Plooij
With the social and environmental challenges we are facing today, we need solutions for positive environmental change at a large scale, and we need to spread them far and wide. At the second Brand the Change Live, we are honoured to have two speakers who are building brands that have done just that: Patagonia and Triodos Bank. Their journey has not been easy, and success certainly didn't happen overnight: both brands have been bringing people on board with environmental positive business practices for decades, through marketing campaigns, platforms and activism. Tonight, Alex Weller and Greo Belgers, marketing directors of their respective brands, are sharing their lessons learned along the way. The evening is hosted by Brand the Change ambassador for the Netherlands, Jennette Plooij.
Alex Weller, Marketing Director Europe, Patagonia
Patagonia is an experiment in doing unusual business. It’s an outdoor apparel company driven by an unflinching belief that radical business ideas can both inspire and implement solutions to the deepening environmental crisis. With ground-breaking unconventional campaigns—including giving away 100% of Black Friday sales to environmental causes, repairing people’s clothes for free, and buying an ad in the New York Times telling people: “Don’t Buy This Jacket”—it’s vital that the marketing team works hand-in-glove with the wider business, building ideas in real time and taking risks. Alex Weller, European Marketing Director, opens up the disruptive model behind Patagonia’s communications strategy and the ways in which the brand engages with its international community of advocates.
Greo Belgers, Director of Marketing Triodos Bank
Triodos Bank is like any other bank in terms of the range of services it offers, from everyday banking services and savings accounts to investment management and venture capital funds, but: it invests only in sustainable companies and aims to be 100% transparent about how it puts customers' money to work. Founded in 1980 in the Netherlands, the bank has humble beginnings with a niche audience of idealists. In part bolstered by the financial crisis in 2008, Triodos now has half a million customers across Europe. Greo Belgers will share some of the challenges the bank faced and insights he gained in building a brand that helps Triodos make money work for positive social, ecological and cultural change.
There is a limited amount of tickets available, please reserve a spot through Eventbrite and bring your printed ticket or email confirmation to the event.
About Brand The Change!
Brand the Change is a book, community and call to action to use the power of branding to advance social and environmental good. In 2014, Dutch designer and brand developer Anne Miltenburg founded the Brandling, an education company to help social entrepreneurs build stronger brands. She realised one of the key aspects of building stronger brands is giving social entrepreneurs access to quality branding knowledge and tools to improve how they sell the change they want to see in the world. As a result she created a full branding guide, with case studies, tools and exercises, and the full branding process from A-Z. The first edition of Brand The Change was crowdfunded through Kickstarter by 271 backers. Brand the Change Live is an extension of the book: reviewing cases live in front of an audience, and offering like minded brand experts and social entrepreneurs to connect.