A Brand & Culture Manual, formerly known as the Employee Handbook is a document handed to and which is supposedly internalized by every employee. Employers usually provide employees with such a document upon hiring.

Now in 2020, we have put ‘People’ again in our name. Now to signify that branding is about people. People are the brand. It makes clear that brands can’t be created without the people who matter. For us, the significance is outer-directed. It explains that we co-create meaning with the involvement of the people. Colleagues, clients and partners.

A brand-driven culture builds upon the anthropological concept of culture and promotes a new way of thinking about branding. The first traces of this fresh thinking surfaced about a decade ago. By 2020 it is proving to be the best way forward for more and more visionary organisations. Culture is the foundation on which a purposeful brand has to be built. A strong meaningful relationship between people, both internal and external stakeholders, forms the base from which the brand develops.

BR-ND People remained open for business since mid-March when the COVID-19 measures locked everything up. Not only as we got to make money to feed and educate our children and pay for our rent. But moreover, we believe business has to change for the better and we know how to support organisations in doing so.

Welcome to the Corona Diary, a social closeness experiment by BR-ND People. We hope to inspire you with the efforts that we, as a team, make to fight not just Corona, but also the social distance that comes with it. Read on to see what we were up to in these strange times.

It is the 23rd of March 2020, and the world is in the middle of a sudden crisis. Is it caused by a scary invisible and highly contagious virus? Or is COVID-19 the proverbial droplet that broke the bucket? Today is also my birthday. A special day to reflect a bit on matters from the past and what it means for the future of branding. With the risk of being naif, and with a bit of imagination, I stick to my belief that branding van greatly influences people's behaviour and as such can contribute to a healthy, happy world for all.

How to leverage and link the purpose of your organisation on the SDG’s of the United Nations? How to discover your purpose with 23plusone, an emotive language to connect on the things that really matter in life? During this workshop your team will discover how purpose can accelerate your business as a force for good.

Transform your business. Grow your impact. Better the world. BR-ND and Spaces are co-hosting an event on the 23rd of April about Business as a force for good. Our world is facing many social, economical and ecological challenges. This provides opportunity for companies to become purpose-led and by doing so, to create a better type of company. Sounds like a lot of work, right? And indeed it is. At this event, co-hosted with our friends from B-Lab Europe and Spaces, we’ll show you the way to transform your business into a force for good.

On Tuesday, February 25th, the 23plusone Friends attended the SDG Action Manager event at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. It was organized by B Lab in collaboration with the United Nations Global Impact, to share with us how the SDG Action Manager will mobilize companies to increase their positive impact.

Hoe gaan merken bijdragen aan de uitdagingen waar de wereld voor staat? Hoe kunnen ze inspelen op de nieuwe realiteit van duurzaamheid als strategie naar ‘stakeholder capitalism’?

De jaarlijkse brief van de CEO van BlackRock. De business roundtable met 181 CEO’s. De vele publicaties in zakenbladen. De snelle groei van BCorps. Wake-up call voor merken? Het is tijd voor merkactivisme.

Looking back on 2019 I am particularly grateful with the support I got from Kim, Michael, Kiki and the rest of the BR-ND team in backing up for me, while I had to sort out some personal stuff. Sometimes things happen out of your own control which has an negative impact on presence and feelings and 2019 was such a year for me.

At BR-ND People, we want to wish each and everyone of you a wonderful 2020!

Yesterday at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid, over 500 B Corps publicly committed to reaching “Net Zero by 2030” — 20 years ahead of the 2050 targets set in the Paris Agreement. Together with 48 companies from The Netherlands and Belgium, BR-ND is asking CEO’s for their commitment. Jointly we placed a full-page ad in the Financieele Dagblad of 12 December 2019, to invite CEOs of other businesses to take action with us.

Hello everyone! I’m Maja Anđela, the new intern in BR-ND. Let me introduce myself in a few words. If I had to describe myself in one word, it would be- the explorer. I am walking through my life with eyes wide open, feeding on new experiences. My drive to explore is mainly focused on human nature and society. And I have known for many years what I want to be when I ‘grow up’- a psychologist.

This September, the BR-ND team joined the 2019 B Corp Summit in Amsterdam to connect, share, learn and find inspiration around building a new economy. The event brought together Certified B Corps, business leaders, change-makers, and companies from Europe and beyond, committed to using business as a force for good. Together, we delved into the challenges of our times, discovered business opportunities to do good, and strengthened the global movement for positive change.

I’m very happy to introduce myself to you as part of BR-ND’s vibrant, ever-expanding community. These things usually begin by sharing who I am.

Well, I’m many things. I’m the newest team member at BR-ND and an Amsterdam-based project manager. But I’m also a sister, a friend, a bread baker, a social activist, an expat, a millennial (the list goes on). Luckily for me, BR-ND is not about fitting anyone’s story on one webpage. It’s about being yourself and discovering what moves you. So here’s a little about myself and what moves me.

Recently, I watched a documentary on Netflix called ‘The Great Hack’, which concerns itself with the Cambridge Analytica scandal and data harvesting in general. Since I have also been doing an internship here at BR-ND over the last two months, I felt there are some similarities between what we do, and what big tech companies like Facebook do. In the following blog I have tried to express some of my thoughts on the topic.

De zomervakantie is altijd een mooie tijd om eens rustig na te denken. Na een paar dagen weg van huis en zaak, lijkt alles een beetje anders als het vakantieritme het overneemt van de routines van alledag. Ik zit op dit moment in een uithoek van Bretagne, waar het leven een beetje lijkt stil te staan. Internet is er vaak niet en als het er even is, is het wat langzaam en onbetrouwbaar.

Op 31 oktober 2019 organiseren Dazure en de stichting New Financial Forum, de Positive Finance Day. Het thema van dit jaar is: Gewoon… Doen! Op deze dag laten we zien wat er wél goed gaat in de financiële sector en inspireren we hoe het beter kan. Het belooft een bijzondere middag te worden met onder meer de inspirerende sprekers: Pleun Lauwerier (Ben & Jerry’), Astrid Elburg (organisatieadviseur), Kaj Morel (Zaak van Betekenis), Amba Zeggen (Risk & Governance) en met de finale ronde van de Positive Finance Award 2019.