Insights, perspectives and thinking from the Mangrove team - on growth, Innovation, Strategy and the world of business.
As leading car manufacturers drop entry-level models to hit EV targets, it raises a bigger question for every business: what does good growth actually look like? Profit, margin, unit sales and sustainability goals cannot always all be satisfied at once.
Are consumers growing tired of the preachy, finger-pointing rhetoric that some challenger brands use to communicate sustainability? As Quiet Luxury sweeps fashion, it’s time to ask whether Quiet Activism might be the smarter path forward.
LEGO have tied ESG performance to bonuses for all 18,000 of their salaried employees – a bold, pioneering move. But will psychologist Albert Bandura be proved right? When everyone is responsible, is anyone really responsible?
England’s Euro 2024 squad announcement is the perfect prompt to ask what ‘Total Football’ can teach businesses about sustainability. Success won’t come from lone individuals – it requires a team-first mindset and the kind of internal collaboration that most organisations haven’t yet cracked.
Three times this week someone has thrust their solar panel app in my face. Annoying? Yes. But it’s also a perfect real-world example of social proof in action – and a timely reminder of the irrational tools marketeers should be using to accelerate behaviour change.
Greenwashing gets all the bad press, but could greenhushing be equally damaging? The growing reluctance to talk about sustainability progress – for fear of being called out – is quietly eroding brand goodwill with consumers, customers and stakeholders.
Working in sustainability means constantly pushing against the natural flow of the business – overworked, under-resourced, challenging the status quo. But those who take the path less trodden are also shaping a more sustainable future for all of us. As Steve Jobs said: it’s better to be a pirate than join the navy.
A trip to Earthfest in Kings Cross was a timely reminder of why it pays to get out of the office and reconnect with sustainability at the grassroots. The real leaders of this movement are quietly making a difference, driven by hope and the optimism of possibilities – not weighed down by a corporate agenda.
This week marks the 10th anniversary of Fashion Revolution. After a decade of campaigning for greater transparency, barely half of the 250 largest fashion brands disclose their primary suppliers. The clock is ticking, consumers are watching, and the industry cannot afford another 10 years of inaction.
Our inboxes are awash with sustainability ‘sound bite stats’ – but how much of it is actually useful? Nick Pye examines why so much consumer sustainability data distorts reality, and why the say-do gap is the issue brands really need to be tackling.
When performance pressures bite, sustainability investment is often the first thing to go. But the indirect costs of scaling back can be just as damaging as the direct ones – and the impact on employee trust, motivation and goodwill is frequently underestimated.
The world of sustainability is blurry, connected and complex – but most companies tackling it are not. Nick Pye examines why rigid silo structures are the enemy of effective sustainability strategy, and why connecting the dots between E and S is where the real opportunity lies.
