by Lars Ludvigsen

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We need facts and a change in consumer and corporate behavior. During the past century, conventional branding has played an important role. It has been a must for companies to have access to the most efficient experts of manipulating and managing consumer behavior in order to secure an ever-growing demand for new products and services. And they have done a great job.

They have secured that too many bought too much stuff.

The rise and fall of conventional branding

Now, and in the future, we need facts. People wish to act sensibly. So, we need to know how the products have been produced and what materials are in them. And we need to know how they can be circulated when not useful anymore as the product they used to be. This is a job for sustainable certification bodies. In the future the demand for trustworthy information on products, services and companies will to a large extend be done by parties with no financial interest in the matter. The conventional marketing approach sponsored by the product companies has had its time. Now, we are looking for credibility when we occasionally buy or lease stuff. Credibility is based on these four pillars:

• Transparency
• Third-party
• Multi-stakeholder
• Relevance

The individual push

In addition to the credible certifications focusing on products and services we experience a growing demand for measuring footprint of the individual from an overall perspective. This demand will grow towards 2030, and we are likely to witness a system praising the footprint of individuals. Some will use it as a self-measurement tool, others will use it for personal promotion purposes.