In this episode, Shane is joined by Andy Last, CEO of MullenLowe Salt and Author of Business on a Mission: How to Build a Sustainable Brand. The First Edition of the book launched in 2016 and with the second edition launching recently, Andy explains the inspiration behind the book and why he wanted to write a second edition.

Andy also talks about the effect the pandemic has had on businesses and their ability to build a sustainable brand, what influence gen z can have on a business and finally, Andy gives his top tips for businesses trying to build a more sustainable brand.

About Andy

Andy Last co-founded salt, one of the first UK companies to be accredited as a B- Corporation, and has advised businesses for the last 20 years on how they can improve performance by addressing social issues. He has worked since 2006 on Lifebuoy soap’s award-winning social mission, described as the ‘best social program ever’ by David Aaker, Professor Emeritus at the Haas School of Business, Berkeley. He led the launch of salt Singapore in 2012 and salt’s acquisition by MullenLowe Group in 2017. He is a regular speaker on the role of business in society, at conferences in Europe, America, Asia and Africa and as a visiting lecturer, including for Cambridge University’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership and ESADE Business School in Barcelona. He is a member of the Medinge Group, the Brands with a Conscience Think Tank, and a B-Corp Ambassador

Witnessing firsthand the success of Unilever’s life-saving handwashing project in Nairobi, Kenya, Andy saw how Unilever was building its business in Africa by giving it a social mission. He was inspired to write his book, Business on a Mission: How To Build a Sustainable Brand, sharing not just the Lifebuoy story, but the wider story of how business lost and then refound its social purpose and how different organisations have developed social missions, reinforcing the idea that businesses can be both profitable and fulfil a social purpose.

The first edition won a bronze medal in the AXIOM Business Book Awards and the second edition of Business on a Mission was published in January 2022, featuring new chapters, interviews and case studies charting the rise of ESG investing, the growing pressures on business from the effects of climate change and demands for social equity, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is available from the publishers, Routledge, at https://www.routledge.com/Business-on-a-Mission-How-to-Build-a-Sustainable-Brand/Last/p/book/9781032009414 and Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Business-Mission-Build-Sustainable-Brand-ebook/dp/B09LX19Z9B.

Andy's Twitter: https://twitter.com/saltylast

About Shane

Shane is currently interning with Irish Tech News. He is in his third year of studying Journalism at NUI Galway where he also studies IT and has an interest in programming and web development.

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