RIP GDP?

What do we value the most? A healthy bank balance? A clean river? Being able to borrow milk from your neighbours?

What we value as individuals varies immensely, so in some ways it’s surprising that so many of the benchmarks and targets we set ourselves in society and business are focussed on monetary measures of wealth and growth.

But things are on the move.

On Tuesday, the OECD launched their alternative measure of wellbeing – ‘Your Better Life Index’ – which encourages you to explore how countries compare, not just on traditional factors such as jobs and income, but also community, work-life balance and life satisfaction. Rather than proclaiming any one country top of the table, the countries rise and fall as you decide what wellbeing means to you.

And that’s not all. Back in November last year, David Cameron announced plans by the government to measure the nation’s happiness and introduced the notion of ‘general well-being’ (GWB) as an alternative to the traditional GDP. Along with initiatives such as Mappiness, Action for Happiness, and organisations such as the new economics foundation, it’s coming at us from all sides.

So how should businesses respond?

As the backbone of the economy, businesses have been the key driver of GDP and other traditional measures of progress. But with growing momentum behind new measures of ‘progress’, there’s a clear opportunity for business leadership in this space. And with evidence demonstrating strong links between greater well-being and economic prosperity, this is also more than just an altruistic goal. I’m looking forward to some real trailblazers demonstrating creative thinking in creating value and success beyond numbers.

Sustainability in Sport

Good to see that some footballers are interested in more than gagging orders and playing at home...and away

Gary Neville has set up Sustainability in Sport an initiative that aims to "support the continuing growth of sport within UK communities, whilst reducing the associated environmental impacts". He hopes to enjoy as much success making football fans conscious of the environment as the Kick It Out campaign did highlighting sport’s problems with racism.

Really positive interview in the T2 today for those who have access or some part coverage from The Telegraph.

Calculus and curry

I came across this in my local news bulletin and thought it's a really nice example of a simple project that uses local community space in a positive way.

Every Tuesday and Wednesday Tower Tandoori in Tower Bridge Road opens its doors to 20 pupils from a local school to let them receive Maths tuition from City University students.

After their two hours of intensive calculation, the restaurant provides the tutors and students with a curry.

Trig and tikka. Nice.

http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/5303

The promo that will just keep giving

Not sure about you, but whenever I see a bunch of promo girls and boys hanging outside a tube or train station I have a sinking feeling that another brand is giving out loads of samples and leaflets most of which end up in the next available bin.

So this morning as I was walking through Trafalgar Square the sight of a promo team coming towards me made my heart sink - that was until I realised what they were giving out...my very own tomato plant all ready to go.

It turns out that B&Q are running a campaign to get Britain gardening. They have teamed up with a charity called Capital Growth dedicated to creating new food growing spaces across the capital. We all talk about locally sourced food. This is a great example of not only a truly useful promo givaway, but something that might just get a few of us growing our own.

It certainly put a smile on my face this morning and I'm hoping by July I might just be enjoying a desk grown tomoto at lunchtime!

Tech is the word

In last Thursday’s Raconteur supplement about e-retail there was a list of ways that retailers are using mobile technology to improve the customer experience in-store (p.8-9). My favourite is the use of Radio Frequency Identification Tags on products so that you no longer have to queue up to pay; instead, sensors at the store door are able to pick up what you have in your bag or trolley and charge the correct amount to a pre-registered card. Certainly makes self-service check outs look like something out of the dark ages, although, having said that, I can imagine the automated system having a number of teething problems...

One of the other technological innovations mentioned was an application that enables customers to scan product barcodes a see a ‘video showing them how a product is made, information about its Fairtrade status or footage of catwalk shows’. A great way of empowering consumers to be more discerning about what they buy, and a great opportunity for manufacturers and retailers to showcase the responsible/sustainable credentials of their products. In any case, with all these new innovations in technology, there are going to be far fewer places to hide!

Supermarket waste top of consumer concerns

Today’s e-bulletin from Good Business looks at the latest Concerned Consumer Index (CCI) results on the supermarket sector.

All retailers have seen a rise in consumer trust (M&S remain top on almost all ethical measures) and nearly half of consumers (49%) think the sector is doing enough to address its social and environmental issues - the highest of any sector we survey.

However, the sector is still facing a number of serious issues, none more pressing than waste. 92% of consumers think food waste in the supermarket sector is a serious issue and more needs to be done about it. Given that a commitment to no landfill and compostable waste is the social or environmental issue that has seen the biggest rise in importance when it comes to determining consumers' supermarket choice (up 12% from 2010 to 55%), this is clearly going to be one of the big talking points of 2011.

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