Thomas Kolster
Thomas Kolster is tagged in 36 stories.
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Organizational Governance /
So, what do a slave-free chocolate brand, an activist bank and a blindfolded panel of diversity experts have in common?
- 5 years ago
Marketing & Communications /
It was a sad Super Bowl. Sad, as only Trump can say it. Saaad. One minute I had a cunning, fast-talking clown trying to sell me stuff in true ad-land fashion. The next, I felt emotionally mistreated by a sobbing stranger playing curling with my heart. Corporate America appeared not to care at all — and if it did, it cared too much — which is exactly the problem. Of four quarters of fast-paced commercials only around 10 aimed for something bigger than product plugging.
- 6 years ago
Marketing & Communications /
Leaving Cannes last week, I felt even more schizophrenic than I did during my hard-working years in ad land. On the one hand, it’s been the best year ever in the Festival’s history for advertising that does more than sell snake oil - call it ‘Goodvertising,’ if you will. On the other, it seems like most agencies and marketers are treating the biggest issues of our time as a new trend, as if doing good is simply the ‘new black’ or perhaps pink (judging from the number of women’s equality campaigns on show).
- 7 years ago
Marketing & Communications /
The political unrest seems to be good for advertising with a conscience, as this year’s Super Bowl saw the highest number of Goodvertising campaigns ever.
- 7 years ago
Stakeholder Trends and Insights /
Last week, I had the great pleasure and honour to take part in the second annual edition of Sustainable Brands Bangkok, which was founded by Dr. Sirikul ‘Nui’ Laukaikul, who many of you will have had the good fortune to hear as a speaker at previous Sustainable Brands events.
- 8 years ago
Marketing & Communications /
“Purpose is like Pokémon - everybody is chasing it and nobody knows why,” “Mr. Goodvertising,” Thomas Kolster, mused at the start of the Tuesday morning plenary session at SB’16 Copenhagen.
Articulating purpose is central to modern branding. And in a world where the majority of market value is drawn from intangible assets, “brand is king,” Kolster said.
- 8 years ago
Innovation & Technology /
As an industry, we’re ignorant at best or utterly demagogic, one-sided and irresponsible at worst. The majority of do-good efforts from brands are little more than a cheeky pick-up line to charm consumers into buying more. How can we continuously ignore the societal or environmental consequences of our craft? I often hear marketing execs talk about advertising as a mirror of society despite its omnipresent impact. Advertising unquestionably promotes screwed-up beauty ideals, preys on people’s insecurities and egoism, and pushes a material arms race in which people are considered backward if they don’t have the newest gadget.
- 8 years ago
Marketing & Communications /
This Tuesday afternoon breakout session saw Thomas Kolster, founder and creative director at the Goodvertising Agency, and Kerry Eustice, Editorial Partnerships Editor at The Guardian Sustainable Business, share their perspectives on changing the conversation around sustainability values.Early on, Kolster asserted that sustainability advertising is not doing enough to drive change, as it tends to be less engaging than other advertising messages. He and Eustice discussed dos, don’ts and new approaches that could change the way the message of sustainability is communicated.
- 8 years ago
Marketing & Communications /
This year, the hearts ran wild in Cannes. And I’m not hinting at the mysterious couple having an amicable rendezvous in the early hours of the morning on the red carpet in front of the Palais, but at the fact that the gathered Mad Men seem to have grown soft and developed a real love for making a difference. Who would have ever expected that from the same people who’ve given us ads like, “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette!” or “For a better start in life, start cola earlier!”Advertising is the single largest psychological experiment
- 9 years ago
Marketing & Communications /
Have you already failed your New Year’s resolution to live a healthier and happier life? We are own biggest enemy and the sooner we realize this, the sooner we can begin making real change. Everybody who’s been put in charge of creating change - whether it’s changing a country, business, organization, system, product, service or minds - knows that what most evidently stands in the way of change is not funds or ingenuity, it’s ourselves. We break New Year’s pledges almost as they’re outspoken, forget to switch off the lights, although risk-aware drive without a seatbelt, keep smoking although we know its deadly, repeat history’s atrocities again and again - raising the question if we at all are capable of taking care of ourselves?
- 9 years ago
Collaboration & Co-Creation /
During the bustling lunch hour on Tuesday in the Activation Hub at SB ’14 London, HP hosted a Living Progress Exchange (LPX) session that was going on concurrently online via a Convetit ThinkThank.HP’s Ann Ewasechko hosted the session, GlobeScan’s Eric Whan moderated on the ground, and Convetit’s Bill Baue moderated the online discussion.The panelists were:
- 9 years ago
Stakeholder Trends and Insights /
Most brands are still scarily silent about the difference they want to make in our lives and yet hope we won’t notice them force-feeding us with advertising-as-usual until they produce consumer foie gras. This is in stark contrast to what people expect of brands today: According to Havas’ Meaningful Brands Survey findings, 71 percent of people globally want brands to solve some of society’s biggest challenges such as unemployment, climate change, etc. Then why are brands still so silent? Why does there still seem to be an insurmountable wall between sustainability and marketing?
- 10 years ago
Nelson Mandela once remarked: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” and I'm inclined to agree. In a world riddled with social ills, one common factor becomes evident, and that is the pivotal role of education in shaping our society.I'm of the belief that one's destiny should in no way be predetermined by the socio-economic bracket one is born into. All children — whether they live on the Upper East Side in an apartment complete with staff or in a township in South Africa where access to basic amenities is sorely lacking — should be gifted with the assurance that they will receive an equal education.
- 11 years ago
Collaboration & Co-Creation /
What makes a company like GSK give away information about thousands of potential malaria-treating drugs? Why did Nike spend 6 million USD developing their Enironmental Design Apparel Tool (minimising the impact of their products in the design process) and subsequent MAKING design app only to give them away for others to use?
- 11 years ago
Marketing & Communications /
From our perspective, "brand" is who you are, what you do, how you do it, and only then, how you communicate it. This channel examines how today's leading brands are evolving in the area of sustainability marketing and communications through thought-provoking ads, creative mission marketing, social media campaigns and other successful stakeholder engagement.
- 11 years ago