Our Mission
Our mission is to bring measurable positive impact to local communities by harnessing the united power of brands and their people.
Where one brand can do great things, two brands can initiate change. We help brands to unite, combine their brilliance, and multiply the effects of their efforts for the local good. We turn brands into changemakers.
Our Pillars
The way we do things, and the things we do best, in order to fulfill our Mission.
Business-minded Experts
Our team of experienced business professionals understand the practical needs of businesses that allow them to use their efforts for good.
Career & Community
Experts using skills in a new context, learning from others, while giving back, strikes a unique combination of personal fulfillment and professional development.
Big Local Impact
Measurable, impactful effects for pressing local issues that have the potential to inspire and create change similarly in other communities.
United Networking
Brands and professionals yield bigger, more long-term outcomes when networking with a shared passion and a common goal.
Our Story
Brands for Better was originally introduced by eco-friendly footwear company SOLE at the Outdoor Retailer convention in Denver in 2018, where they invited ethical and sustainable brands to attend their booth to give lightning talks on how they were using their businesses as a force for good. The interest was obvious and immediate; the connections made between these purposeful brands were undeniable, and the team came back to Vancouver with a new light on.
Looking for a way to bring local Vancouver brands together in the same way, SOLE wanted to find a way to bring local brands together to share their forward-thinking business ideas, expand their networks and strategize on local pressing issues.
Enter Digital Hot Sauce, who when approached with this concept, quickly got to work looping in others who needed to be a part of this. As the idea refined, the Brand Battle for Good, the first event idea was born.
Later that year, a vision lunch with 35 reps from Vancouver’s biggest brands formalized the excitement and interest in a new idea; local professionals can use their expertise and their brands’ powers to have a measurable impact on important local issues together. Without delay, SOLE, ReCORK, Digital Hot Sauce, O2E Brands, and Unbounce stepped up to lead the charge, and the foundation was set.
Brands for Better Foundation is a volunteer-driven not-for-profit initiative. We are honoured to live and work (uninvited) on the traditional, ancestral and unceded (stolen) Coast Salish territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations, commonly known as Vancouver, BC.
Our Team
Brands for Better exists to make a bigger change together than we ever could alone. Our team is filled with volunteer contributors who share this drive, and their time, to keep Brands for Better running.
Founding Brands
Brands for Better was initially formed by a group of brands with one thing in common: a drive to use their powers for local impact.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Brands for Better funded?
Brands for Better is a volunteer-powered movement of passionate people and organizations working to serve and improve the local community and environment. Most Brands for Better events initiatives incur some hard costs. These costs and the operating budget are covered through event sales, generous donations and sponsorships.
How did Brands for Better get started?
Brands for Better and the Brand Battle for Good started as an idea between Karla Peckett and Scot Sustad. They met as their two companies worked together and became fast friends who shared a desire to combine creativity, problem-solving and cross-brand collaboration to address local issues that are too big to be solved by one organization alone.
They kicked ideas around and found alignment in launching an “idea hackathon” competition that was based around Design Thinking methodology.
Once Scot and Karla refined the initial concept they formed a small team and hosted a lunch and pitched the concept to dozens of senior leaders from some of Vancouver’s most influential companies (with lunch provided by Smart and Saavy). The response at the lunch was overwhelmingly positive. Volunteers stepped forward and teams formed in order to bring the concept into reality.
The first Brand Battle for Good was meant to happen in late 2020, but was postponed and reshaped to a virtual event because of COVID. The initial Brand Battle launched in April 2021.
After the first event was postponed, the community came together to form the ComeBack and idea to offer ideation, strategy, and support to 5 local organizations who faced major adversity because of the pandemic.
How do you measure impact?
Currently, Brands for Better’s most tangible impact is seen through the implementation of the winning Brand Battle for Good concepts. Each concept has specific impact goals that are measured on a monthly basis.
Other initiatives like the Spark Factor or The Come Back also have impact goals that are tracked and measured.
Is anyone employed by Brands for Better?
Not currently and it will remain this way for as long as possible. The Brands for Better movement is made possible by generous and talented people volunteering their time, talents, and resources for the greater good.
What happens to the Brand Battle for Good winners and winning concepts?
The First, Second, and Third place teams are awarded trophies and “bragging rights” at the end of each Brand Battle. Beyond the trophies and pride of winning, Brands for Better is committed to ensuring the First place idea is implemented.
Donated support and resources like a branding or campaign package from a leading advertising agency (PSDDB in 2021), a media blitz and PR from media sponsors (DailyHive in 2021), a promotional video (Wakefield Productions in 2021) as well the entire network and partnerships being activated and donating time and talents to support the implementation of the concept.
As the teams head into the final stages of the Brand Battle and the first panel of judges, they asked what they will do should they win the competition:
- They will adopt the idea as a team or organization and implement it internally
- They will release the idea back to Brands for Better in order to implement it
The 2021 winning concept is EcoMeter. It was released back to Brands for Better and is being developed and launched by a hardworking and committed group of individuals and partners. Look for EcoMeter to start being seen around Vancouver in the first half of 2022.