It has been an exciting week at JPC headquarters. Things kicked off with the unveiling of our charity’s beautiful new website https://www.brandamplifier.co.uk, which features the smiling faces and incredible stories of our alumni from the past 5 years of brand strategy bootcamps. Our savvy team of designers, copywriters, digital artists and fundraising manager have really captured the essence of the programme, which was founded on the principal that established businesses should invest in the growth of new ones.
The site re-launch was timed to the opening of applications for Brand Amplifier’s Autumn edition, which is sponsored by J.P. Morgan and focuses on the regeneration of South London’s Loughborough Junction. The global bank is investing in the transformation of one of the most deprived business districts in the UK into a hub of commercial activity and entrepreneurial trade. Their investment in BA this year will bring our participants — promising business owners –to the area and potentially deciding to run their businesses from amazing new and upcycled facilities that will be built. Always looking to the future, Brand Amplifier is already planning for editions even further ahead, and is in discussion with several businesses that are looking to give back to their communities with a BA programme. We’re eager for the Autumn edition’s stories to demonstrate exactly how BA adapts and amplifies the social and economic priorities of a global corporation’s CSR commitment. It seems the Brand Amplifier philosophy has come full circle, as businesses now begin to support us, supporting entrepreneurs.
Call it the Purpose Economy or the Sharing Economy, this holistic mentality is permeating the business sector as even SMEs are looking to give back in a big way in every sector. What a delight then as our Project Voice team celebrated the Brand Amplifier site launch over cocktails when we noticed one of our favourite philanthropic brands had joined us at the table…
Fever Tree, in case you still haven’t heard of them, is a UK-based beverage brand that prides itself on the authenticity and provenance of ingredients, sourcing high quality and fair trade ingredients from farms in the Congo to the coasts of Sicily. We had the pleasure of meeting one of their founders Charles Rolls at a recent business showcase at Excel in London. While lots of brands are claiming provenance and quality, Fever Tree is on a mission to make real progress against the malaria epidemic, by leveraging the quinine production for its delicious tonic water. The foundations of this brand’s values run deep: responsible, honest, natural, intense, strong. They’ve partnered with charity Malaria No More to help fund research and bring treatment to its victims using their notable brand voice to project the charities messages and drum up support.
Businesses are forever looking outside of themselves trying to establish how the market perceives them and how they can harness that perception to boost sales. But ego-driven marketing doesn’t gel with the sharing economy and innovative businesses have evolved. A two-way dialogue and meaningful exchange between brands and their public has emerged, and it’s a lovely thing to see and be a part of. Our own strategy director Nick Pearce recently got to experience this first hand at this summer’s Do Lectures workshop in Wales. For three glorious days at their legendary and newly renovated Ideas Farm he brainstormed with inspirational creative minds and heard talks from industry experts who have turned their brand voice into a tool for giving back.
At the JPC Group we salute brands that give back, whether it is to new businesses or old foundations. As we head out tomorrow to the TEDxBrixton kick off for ‘When Worlds Collide’, let’s hope this is the biggest trend to catch in 2014.
