So why should the Brand Experience Group (BXG), a marketing analytics business, have the presumption to publish a global manifesto for sustainability and brands? There are two reasons. First, we are facing unprecedented social and environmental challenges that governments are failing to address and civil society has not yet found the means to solve. More and more business owners, leaders and investors are recognising that most Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, while well-intentioned, are too little too late to have the impact needed. Instead, we need transformative change at scale and only major businesses, and their associated eco-systems, have the capacity and capability to deliver this.

Second, BXG has an important role to play and this manifesto sets out our commitment. If businesses are to lead this transformation, as only they can, they have to take citizens and consumers with them on the journey. Only by harnessing the power of consumer choice globally can we deliver change at the scale and pace needed. Ultimately it will be the ideas, values and consumer connections with authentic brands as ambassadors for sustainable business behaviours that will shape our collective future. This requires an objective and consistent basis to measure the power of these connections. BXG brings a uniquely powerful measurement platform that allows business to quantify, track and strengthen those connections, so allowing the creation of virtuous circles of sustainable business models, purposeful brand narratives and consumer engagement at scale that will ultimately be good for society, good for consumers, good for business and good for the planet.

We have a very clear purpose in this – in coalition with business and marketing leaders, to make a contribution to solving the environmental and societal problems we collectively face. On behalf of the directors, employees and supporters of BXG and what we do, I therefore commend this manifesto and make this commitment to you. We will do everything in our power to help brands and businesses deliver on this ambition across every product category, every geography and every identifiable group of consumers, globally.

Read our manifesto here

As many of you know, the Brand Experience Group aims to connect individuals with brands that stand for something important and, through this, channel the resources of the global economy into more sustainable ways of doing business. We build directly on the work that Lawrence Hutter, Chairman of the Brand Experience Group, led for the World Economic Forum to help leaders of the world's largest consumer-focused businesses place sustainability at the heart of their value creation models.

On his behalf, I am delighted to extend to you an open invitation to connect with him to have the benefit of his unique experience, informed views and our expertise on this subject.

In the meantime, please enjoy our Chairman’s video.

Understanding how brands’ sustainability narratives are creating value is becoming a really hot topic because, while most enterprises are serious about doing the right things, they aren’t always communicating them, and that matters. Consumers increasingly care about the way brands and businesses behave, and because of that it impacts brand performance and value creation.

If businesses can’t see the impact, and they can’t quantify the value then it makes it much harder to justify investing in and communicating sustainability efforts, so this missing link creates barriers and weakens commitment.

We want to help businesses build stronger brands, by measuring how performance is impacted by sustainability narratives, and how much value is being created. That will make a big difference to encouraging businesses to invest in sustainability, and in the end that’s the goal we are aiming for.