Social responsibility in business: Ice cream and more!

It's not all about the $$$$ anymore

In todays world owning a business is not just about the bottom line anymore. Or at least, at the bottom line, it's not just dollars being counted. Environmental impact, social treatment of your stakeholders and providing opportunities for personal growth to your staff are counted equally as much when you're company is rated for social responsibility.

Creative names for icecream: Chocolate Therapy

Two Scoops

It all started I guess with Ben & Jerry's icecream. Two idealist hippies who didn't set out to change the world really, it just happened that they were doing what needed to be done. What they were about is not just making a buck, but actually helping their community. Getting their brownies from local ladies and making sure their chocolate wasn't harvested by child-slaves was a matter of course to them as well as making the best tasting icecream in the world. Somehow, against all odds, these two idealist created a multimillion dollar brand.

It's not just about the flavor

Sure, the icecream is good, some of the best ever, but only some off. That oddly named Haagen Dazs is at least equal in taste and well 31 flavors have some really good icecream as well. The thing that makes people buy B&J's icecream is the fact that they get to feel like they are making a contribution to something good in the world. For a couple of dollars they get to feel like they're saving the rainforest, promoting peace and helping a third world child go to college. What they're selling is not icecream, it's a whole new way of looking at the world.

Now, business has forever changed under the influence of these and others such hippies (think Google and don't be evil) and if you're going to promote your brand name you must do so in a way that reflects your brands responsible and environmentally concious way of doing things. A gift bag from Holden Bags might be just the way to communicate that. These bags are durable and when imprinted with your logo they say: This business cares about the environment enough to give durable stuff instead of less than useful plastic items that fill our wastebaskets.

Wine tote

Making the world a little better

For tradeshows or festive occasions, buying these tote bags bulk is made easy by the quick service at Holden Bags. Your design can be uploaded at their website and you can get a quote from them in under 15 minutes. One of my favorite bags is the cooler-bag, a supermarket necessity if you don't live real close to the store. It keeps your frozen items frozen untill you get home. Giving that away with some Chunky Monkey or Cherry Garcia icecream in it would be a great parting gift after a long day at a tradeshow. Or perhaps the wine-tote is the better choice, of course stocked with some fine California organic wine, red and white please.

Now, I'm not comparing the impact of reusable tote bags to the impact of Ben & Jerries icecream, but not all of us are meant to change the world so profoundly as those two did. Instead, we get to do our little bit for the environment and for social responsibility. We get to eat the icecream instead of making it and we get to choose environmentally friendly, reusable totebags for our next event. We do our part in making this world just a little better, one scoop or one bag at a time.

The new, socially responsible, sustainable iPad 4

What's new in the iPad 4?

Read all the information that is available on the iPad 4, which admittedly is not a lot. Apple, with it's typical closed mouth approach to marketing a new product, making curiosity do it's magic on the market and has not leaked a lot of information on this new iPad4 about to hit the stores.

However I figured I would make a list of the things we want to see on the new iPad. Let's speculate and make assumptions based on past behavior by Apple and go from there. In that we can see a lot of possible directions that Apple might be taking this. Let's also look at what is keeping people from buying an iPad and what Apple could do to make their customer base broader and happier. Perhaps if they take advise from a lowly blogger we might actually get the iPad we want!

Better customer support on the iPad4

The iPad4 targets the market where the most money is: The Elderly.

In an effort to better serve this market the iPad4 comes with an optional package of having a computer-specialist install it's basic software as well as some extension packages for the most used applications (meaning: Angry birds, photosharing tools and a basic version of pages, numbers, etc.) One of the best moves in the bussiness as a lot of elderly people (70 and up) are starting to be aware of the iPad and they do not always have a computer, nor the necessary computer skills to install the most used products themselves.

The customers service package includes several visits from the computer expert to re-install stuff that might have been displaced or lost. The package is also sold seperately. A very popular item for busy family members that don't want to drive up to grandma incessively to help her with her Pad.

The most environmentally friendly iPad to date

In an effort to please the most environmentally conscious customers as well, Apple now offers the iPad with minimal packaging, uses a lot of natural materials and comes with it's own built in solarpanel to recharge the batteries.

The front of the iPad4 consequently looks much different then before. Instead of the colored cover that the iPad2 and iPad3 sport it has the same foldable flap, but this time enbedded in it are 4 tiny state of the art solar panels that provide a high yield charge to your iPad4's batteries. Apple went all out in this and has merged their superior knowledge of minimization with the knowhow that's allready out there in terms of solar energy and has come up with a solar panel technology that could well revolutionize the world of solar panels as well. We'll be looking for the iPanel as it is called to branch out into other industries as well.

Apple sais no to slave labor!

Finally, in an effort to win all new age thinkers over, Apple has rallied to end slave labor in China (and all other countries that they buy their materials from. Apple has released footage from Chinese factories that they do bussiness with and in addition has laid out plans for the entire community surrounding the factories in China that produce their products. Plans include schooling for the young, a healthy, ergonomic work environment for their workforce and 40 hours a week contracts for all their laborers. There's also three weeks paid vacation included in the packages and pregnancy leave on a par with the Swedish are a part of the plan.

Since the package was introduced long lines of Chinese have formed outside their factories wanting to work there. Other Chinese factories have since introduced similar measures because they couldn't find enough personnel as everyone wanted to try out for the jobs in the Apple sponsored factories. World economic watchdogs are starting to call it the quiet revolution. People simply resist working at slave wages in factories.

Apple iPad4 is irresistable!

Long lines of senior citizens are expected to form when the iPad4 is introduced. A whole industry appears to be forming around the event. Small entrepreneurs with great idea's are peddling their wares to the customers waiting in line for their Apple product. There's people selling cut and cored apples to the health conscious elderly waiting in line. There's hot cocoa sold by the cup, of course this is slave-free cocoa from Tony Chocolonely that uses the introduction of the slave-free iPad4 to promote their latest product: hot cocoa mix. The atmosphere in line is festive, like a new world has begun.