ABSTRACT
The history of consumer culture is littered with once-dominant consumer brands that fell on hard times. Today the threat of falling out of favour or being doomed by irrelevance is increasing as the public’s confidence in brands and corporations erodes, in no little part because of the way that social media has fundamentally shifted the way that the public receives information and shapes public opinion. At the same time, all companies face new existential mega-challenges in the form of climate change, resource scarcity, increasing urbanisation and a digitally connected society. This chapter introduces the argument that the only way companies can gain respect in this social age is by embracing and integrating sustainability throughout their businesses while demonstrating that commitment through communication.
