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Tag: Patagonia

  • Patagonia Founder Gives Away $3 Billion Company

    Patagonia Founder Gives Away $3 Billion Company

    Capping what has been a long and unusual career, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard is giving away his $3 billion company.

    Patagonia has made a name for itself as an environmentally conscious company, one that gave away 1% of its yearly sales and ultimately changed its company purpose to reflect its goal of saving the Earth. With such a legacy, knowing how to move forward was a challenge.

    “One option was to sell Patagonia and donate all the money,” writes Chouinard. “But we couldn’t be sure a new owner would maintain our values or keep our team of people around the world employed.

    “Another path was to take the company public. What a disaster that would have been. Even public companies with good intentions are under too much pressure to create short-term gain at the expense of long-term vitality and responsibility.”

    Instead, Patagonia is striking its own path as it has done for nearly half a century.

    “Here’s how it works: 100% of the company’s voting stock transfers to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, created to protect the company’s values; and 100% of the nonvoting stock had been given to the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature,” Chouinard continues. “The funding will come from Patagonia: Each year, the money we make after reinvesting in the business will be distributed as a dividend to help fight the crisis.”

    Chouinard’s solution is an innovative one, and could well serve as a template for other companies who want to ensure their legacy lives on.

  • Websites Are Shunning the Facebook Button Over Privacy

    Websites Are Shunning the Facebook Button Over Privacy

    Once almost ubiquitous across the internet, websites are increasingly shunning the Facebook button over privacy concerns.

    Facebook’s button used to appear on websites large and small, providing a fast and easy way for people to log in to a site using their Facebook credentials. As consumers have grown more concerned with protecting their privacy, social media login buttons are a growing casualty.

    “We really just looked at how many people were choosing to use their social media identity to sign in, and that just has shifted over time,” Jen Felch, Dell’s chief digital and chief information officer, told CNBC. “One thing that we see across the industry is more and more security risks or account takeovers, whether that’s Instagram or Facebook or whatever it might be, and I just think we’re observing people making a decision to isolate that social media account versus having other connections to it.”

    Dell isn’t alone in removing the Facebook button. Best Buy, Ford, Match, Nike, Patagonia, Pottery Barn, and Twitch have all removed the option from their websites.

    The disappearing Facebook button is just the latest evidence that consumers are finally valuing their privacy and interested in taking greater control over it.

  • Major Retailers Commit to Zero-Carbon Ships by 2040

    Major Retailers Commit to Zero-Carbon Ships by 2040

    Some of the world’s biggest retailers have taken a significant step toward decarbonization, committing to zero-carbon ocean shipping by 2040.

    Cargo ships are one of the world’s biggest polluters, yet they are a vital part of international trade. Multiple companies have worked to address the problem, but any real solution requires the retailers shipping products to be on board (pun intended).

    It appears that some of the world’s largest retailers are doing just that, committing to using only cargo ships that use zero-carbon fuel by 2040. Amazon, IKEA, Patagonia and Michelin are just a few of the retailers involved in Cargo Owners for Zero Emissions Vehicles (COZEV).

    “We recognize that reaching this goal requires the shipping industry to deploy new technologies and utilize zero-carbon shipping fuels that are not yet in widespread use,” the companies write. “By setting this target and signaling our dedication to decarbonize this part of our supply chains, we hope to inspire a surge in investment by ocean freight carriers and producers of zero-carbon shipping fuels. To satisfy our climate ambitions, investments should focus on solutions with the potential—either individually or in combination—to reach sufficient scale to truly decarbonize our supply chains by 2040 and the entire shipping industry by 2050 at the latest. As we evaluate potential solutions, we should also ensure they can become economically viable through collaboration across the supply chain and with appropriate policy support.”

  • Twitter Works to Make Advertisers Feel Safe

    Twitter Works to Make Advertisers Feel Safe

    Twitter is taking steps to ensure advertisers feel safe on its platform, a vital step for the company’s long-term growth.

    One of the biggest challenges social media companies face is balancing individuals’ right to express themselves with companies’ efforts to protect their brand. Facebook ran afoul of advertisers in June when the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found many ads from high-profile companies placed alongside content that would be deemed racist and offensive. As a result, Coca-Cola, The Hershey Company, Levi Strauss & Co, Verizon, Mozilla, Upwork, REI, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, The North Face and Eddie Bauer were just a few of the companies that pulled their advertising from the platform.

    Twitter is working to prevent that kind of scenario, with a new focus on brand safety, according to Business Insider.

    “We want every brand to feel confident advertising on Twitter,” said Sarah Personette, Twitter VP of global client solutions, in an interview. “Brand safety is a critical component to that.”

    The company has committed to audits by the Media Rating Council. Certification by the MRC is considered the gold standard, providing some assurance the platform’s systems are operating without bias. Twitter is also planning to announce third-party partnerships in the coming weeks, aimed at promoting brand safety.

    At a time when Twitter is working to stay relevant amid the onslaught of newer platforms, and is trying to walk the moderation tightrope, this is a critical step for the company’s success.

  • High-Profile Companies Join Facebook Advertising Boycott

    High-Profile Companies Join Facebook Advertising Boycott

    Multiple high-profile companies have joined the ranks of those boycotting Facebook advertising over racist and violent content.

    Facebook has been under increasing pressure over what many perceive as a tolerance for racist and violent posts and groups, which Facebook says fall under free speech. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, and the renewed focus on equality, Facebook’s policy of non-interference isn’t flying with other companies.

    The movement comes following the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) calling out Facebook for tolerating posts and groups that promote racism and violence. A quick search by ADL researchers showed major companies’ ads side-by-side with content many would deem offensive.

    “Facebook has been claiming that it is effectively addressing hate on its platforms. ADL and others, however, have continued to expose egregious examples of online hate, misinformation and extremism across the company’s products, particularly on Facebook and Instagram,” reads the ADL’s open letter. “Whether or not these posts technically violate Facebook’s complicated guidelines around hate speech, as a result of the platform’s casual placement of ads, paid advertisements run a risk of being placed next to divisive (and sometimes blatantly hateful) content. Indeed, even a cursory investigation conducted by ADL’s analysts immediately surfaced examples of prominent brands’ advertising displayed on newsfeeds next to hateful and conspiratorial content. Although we have not spoken to these companies, we can assume that their intentions when buying advertising on Facebook did not include being displayed alongside such content.”

    As a result of the ADL’s open letter, company after company has pulled their advertising from Facebook and Instagram. Coca-Cola, The Hershey Company, Levi Strauss & Co, Verizon, Mozilla, Upwork, REI, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, The North Face and Eddie Bauer are just a few of the organizations that have joined the boycott.

    The lost revenue appears to be having an impact, as Facebook has started announcing changes to their policies in response. Whether these changes will go far enough remains to be seen.