Following the news that Kelloggs has agreed to remove unsustainable palm oil from their products following a campaign spearheaded by two sisters, 10 and 12 from Bedfordshire, this is what Tashi van der Waerden, Director of Innovation at Echo Brand Design has to say:
“Kellogg’s pledged changes to its palm oil policy following the campaigning of two young teens is just another example of the compelling voice of the innocent spurring brands to sustainable improvements.
The smallest voices are now heard the loudest as brands act to sure up their future success with Gen Z & A. Our youngest generation now have a disproportionate share of voice. At first it was striking because it was unusual to have such young commentators on such complex topics (the cut through of Greta Thunberg owning to what’s coined the bizarreness effect – the tendency of bizarre material to be better remembered than common material). But it is now becoming a chorus, growing in volume through the school strikes and now seen increasingly through targeted brand boycotting.
As environmental education becomes a bigger focus in school curriculum, and young people are increasingly motivated to learn, they have become the authorities on sustainability in their homes. This new generation of forensic consumer is self-educating (for example, about supply chains) and self-organising (through petitions and protests). They have a tremendous level of knowledge on complex topics, concerning themselves with the inner workings of international supply chains and brand policies.
This generation are the gatekeepers for their families – pulling things out of the supermarket trolley and implementing recycling practices in the home. They are the resident authorities that are teaching parents and grandparents to set higher standards” – Tashi van der Waerden, Director of Innovation at Echo Brand Design.
Source: Echo Brand Design
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