Brand Battle for Good: Tackling Social Isolation in Vancouver
Brands For Better Foundation
We are an impact-driven not-for-profit initiative and network of people and brands who care, aimed at doing good.
2022 Brand Battle for Good Recap
It’s hard to believe that our second Brand Battle for Good event, which called on Vancouver brands to step up to help tackle social isolation in our city, has come and gone. Check out this incredible recap video by Kahani Pictures .
This two-day hybrid virtual and in-person event involved over 100 planning and event volunteers, over 55 subject matter experts, keynote speakers, judges and expert panelists, 36 sponsors, 20 student participants, 20 design thinking facilitators, and 152 brand participants from 30 engaged brands (listed below) across 16 teams in attendance.
“Social isolation has long been a problem in Vancouver. This has only been made worse by the recent pandemic. People are and have been missing a sense of belonging, a sense of trust, and a sense of unity,” said Karla Peckett , VP Brand at SOLE Footwear / ReCORK and Founder of Brands For Better Foundation , the not-for-profit that hosted the contest.?
“Loneliness and social isolation are linked to serious health conditions. With personal struggles, mental health issues, rising pressures, mistrust and subconscious and unconscious guilt—what does our path forward look like, and how might we return to a sense of unity? It’s time to act and leverage our brand power and resources to tackle social isolation in our city,” she added.
As we saw from the first Brand Battle for Good , big things can happen when you bring the right people together around a big idea. We’re so happy to be able to continue building this beautiful community of passionate people who are ready to tackle some serious challenges to help make our city a great place to live for everyone.
You can check out last year’s winner, Eco-Meter , which officially launched in May of 2022!?
Day 1 - Understanding Isolation Virtual Conference - August 28, 2022
Day 1 of the event was kicked off on the morning with morning host Mark Busse from CreativeMornings Vancouver, and an inspiring virtual performance from musician Desirée Dawson while participants prepared for the day.?
The morning followed with belly-aching laughs as the Brand Battle for Good opening skit by Cinova Studios and Quarterly Comedy streamed for participants. The main event feed then transitioned to introduce the Brand Battle for Good co-hosts Karla Peckett and Scot Sustad , Co-Founders of Brands for Better Foundation and Co-Visionaries behind the event, from the Clarks AV home base.
As September 30 (two days after the virtual event), marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation , volunteers and hosts asked participants to join them in wearing orange on Day 1 of the event to acknowledge, respect and raise awareness of the very tragic legacy of residential schools, and to honour the thousands of Survivors.
Karla and Scot kicked things off with Squamish-based artist Kate Zessel who was hosting a live painting session throughout the full 2-days of the event, and an opening speech from storyteller Chaandani Khan , Inspirational Speaker and Concussion Coach. Together they set the creative stage for the Understanding Isolation Conference that followed—putting everyone in the right frame of mind to tackle the social isolation problem in our city. Each of the 16 participating teams met with their dedicated design-thinking facilitator for the first time to be briefed before heading out to the first wave of the Brand Battle.
The teams then split up to divide and conquer, attending sessions and absorbing the knowledge shared by subject matter experts in the 30 workshops that followed. These workshops were led by an amazing cast of industry leaders and experts:?
Lunch was filled with a must-see keynote, The Happiness Methodology: A New Perspective ,?hosted by Melanie Mok , Senior Marketing Manager at Farmboy, and featuring sociability legends Emmanuel Mongon , Founder / CEO of HAPPIER WORLD / IMAGINVEST , and Prof. John F. Helliwell , Professor Emeritus of Economics at The University of British Columbia and Co-Editor of the World Happiness Report.?
Participants (and behind the scenes volunteers) also enjoyed a post-lunch stretch with Brent Price, Co-Owner + Director of HUSTLE , who shared his personal experience with past feelings of isolation.
Following lunch, teams divided again to participate in a heap of inspiring talks from local impact-driven not-for-profits and organizations in Vancouver’s community connection space such as:
These talks were complemented by sessions from impact and consumer behaviour experts including:?
These afternoon sessions were aimed at arming the teams with the tools needed to apply the knowledge gained in the morning sessions, to formulate ideas that will truly make a difference. ?
The day was wrapped up with the panel talks taking a slightly different approach to the conversation.
In total, more than 55 local and international subject matter experts stepped up to speak to share their incredible wealth of knowledge in the social isolation and community connection space! If you haven’t already, check out the Day 1 Speaker Line Up here , and check out Brands for Better’s YouTube to watch the talks yourself!
Day 2 - Strategy Hack-a-thon For Good - September 5, 2022
The Understanding Isolation Virtual Conference was followed up a week later, with the main event, the Strategy Hack-a-thon for Good. In this jam-packed in-person event, teams from top brands from across Vancouver flooded into the Roundhouse Community Centre to battle it out and come up with ideas to tackle Vancouver’s issues around social isolation.?
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The morning started from the Exhibition Hall Mainstage with some soothing tunes from artist Sadé Awele , a storyteller keynote from Carlos Norcia Morais , an indigenous performance by hoop dancer/storyteller Eli Gosselein Rattlesnake and singer and drummer Nakota, a morning keynote with award-winning business leader Genesa M. Greening , CEO Vancity Community Foundation, and opening remarks by hosts Karla and Scot.
Each of the 16 competing teams was led by a dedicated volunteer facilitator to guide them through an expertly crafted design-thinking flow from our impact facilitation design partners Brianna Ennis-Brown from Decade Impact, Laura Zubick from Hootsuite , and Mitchell Ballentine from Ballentine . This is where the real fun started as each team member brought forward the unique facts and data from the workshops they had attended, ultimately honing in on the direction they would like to form the big idea around.
As the day progressed with each team zeroing in on their idea, Kate Zessel's painting progressed along-side, producing a thought-provoking work of art that would be auctioned off following the event.?
After breaking for lunch, teams followed their meals with a stretch with Kile Kolkman, Personal Trainer, Fascial Stretch Therapist and Mobility Specialist from Mind, Movement, Mobility .
Teams then spent the following hours finalizing their ideas and creating the decks that would be used to deliver their pitches in the first round of judging. The minutes flew by and the clock struck 3pm, signalling each team to submit their file and prepare for presentations. Time for battle. Allotted 5 minutes to get their idea across and create an impact, the presenters were also subject to 3 minutes of Q&A from the judges to poke holes in the ideas that were brought forth.?
As judges deliberated and converged on the top 3 ideas, participants attended the Networking event which began in the Performance Centre at 3pm PDT. Participants were invited to grab a cocktail sponsored by Campari and Red Bull, check out the interactive Graffiti Wall courtesy of Tangible Interaction , get their picture drawn by Cartoon Katie , listen to music by Dj Jackson June, and connect with fellow participants. Dinner was served at 5pm. Following dinner, teams were directed back to the Exhibition Hall in preparation for the Award Ceremony.?
The Brand Battle Award Night was hosted once again by CreativeMornings Vancouver’s Mark Busse . Come 6pm, participants enjoyed the Brand Battle Award Night Opening Ceremony featuring live music with Canadian Musician & Songwriter Ben Cottrill , met with Muralist Kate Zessel for the reveal of final painting, and welcomed the Challenge Squad Panelists: Vanessa Richards from Creative Together, Andrea Reimer from Tawaw Strategies, Pete Fry , Canadian politician and business owner, Michelle Hoar , Hey Neighbour Collective, and James Delorme , president of Indigeknow.
Teams awaited patiently to find out who made the Top 3 at the Brand Battle Award Night ceremony. The pitch presenters from the top three teams would soon be invited on stage to re-pitch live in front of the audience, and the new expert Challenge Squad Panelists, who would be hearing their ideas for the first time.
The role of the Challenge Squad Panelists was to probe the presenters with thoughtful and enticing questions that would both help the Top 3 teams define their intention, and the audience form their opinion on who takes the win. The best proposal would then be crowd-voted by all participants, including the Challenge Squad Panelists. At the end of the event, there would be one winner and two runners up. The winning team would be promised a prize package that includes an upcycled trophy from Made to Fly Design , $15,000 in in-kind digital marketing support from Daily Hive , and an additional $10,000 in in-kind marketing awareness from impact publication Ripple of Change to launch their campaign.?
The three finalists were revealed—with iQmetrix first up to battle with their concept called ‘Founders Market’, farmers market meets meetup meets student club day, where local community groups showcase their offerings in a farmers market style weekend event, and members of the community are free to attend and discover groups that appeal to them.?Founders Market was an idea about people coming together at their own pace to explore new activities, discover new friends, or give back to their community. Inspired by their own neighborhood farmers markets, iQmetrix suggested that providing an accessible venue, free of cost, with diverse options would be key for individuals looking to join a local sports league, find more hands to help in a kitchen, or expand their social circles. Success for Founders Market would mean the residents of the lower mainland creating new connections on a more personal level while groups, clubs, leagues, and volunteer organizations grow and thrive. Team iQmetrix was composed of various members across the iQmetrix brand team, joined by Capilano University student Lily Rosen, and volunteer co-facilitators Katie Turner of Deloitte, and Ben Liegey, MBA Liegey of Rethink2gether.
Next up was Black & White Zebra , sharing their ‘Blockshare’ idea—creating stronger communities by bringing together neighbours to share homemade meals and moments—stating that the majority of Canadians don’t know their neighbours, which can contribute to social isolation and people feeling less safe. It feels hard to take the first step to make a connection with neighbours. Blockshare was designed to tackle the problem of “neighbours not knowing neighbours” in three key ways: target apartment buildings to activate latent community for folks already living in close proximity to one another; leverage technology to remove as many barriers a possible around meeting neighbours face-to-face; and unite people through shared, universal and FUN experiences (like food)! Team Black + White Zebra was composed of various members across their team, joined by Bachelor of Commerce student Mary-Joy Do from UBC Sauder, and volunteer facilitator Allison Jones from CLIO.
The last team was up Inbox Booths , who presented their big idea ‘Hello Yello’, a concept around visually marking public spaces where people are encouraged to have spontaneous conversations with whomever joins them. How would they mark them you ask? They would paint them yellow. The concept’s hope was that these “yello spaces”—existing park benches, wheelchair accessible platforms, picnic tables, cafe tables, etc—would be spread throughout the city. The spaces would be supported by publicity campaigns, volunteer training, and resources that encourage a mindset shift in Vancouver towards conversation and connection.?
“We’ll prove the concept in Vancouver—a city with a reputation for being cliquish and closed off—and effectively shift the mindset of people from being closed off and isolated to open, friendly, and connected,” they shared. “Our ultimate goal is to spark a worldwide movement of authentic, human interaction and spontaneous conversations. To give people public spaces that encourage and orient them to look for opportunities to talk, listen, and learn from others.”
“On the face of it the “yellow bench” concept is low-tech and might not seem impressive. But we think its simplicity is what makes it brilliant. It’s just the gentle nudge Vancouverites need to strike up a conversation and get to know each other,” says ‘Hello Yello’ co-presenter Joshua Harris. “It’s the ultimate icebreaker—public spaces where everyone understands there is a mutual willingness to have a conversation.”
When asked about scalability, ‘Hello Yello’ offered the following action plan: ‘Hello Yello’ will be volunteer-driven and user-fuelled, and will aim to work with cities, municipalities, universities and Vancouver Coastal Health for acquiring relevant data, funds and grants. They planned to maximize resources by utilizing or repurposing existing spaces, as well as look for opportunities to create new spaces.?
At the end of the event, crowd votes were cast, giving ‘Hello Yello’ the Brand Battle for Good win. Team Inbox Booths was composed of various other brand participants from Clear & Loud, Release the Hounds, EDGE Construction, Supersave, and Zaber Technologies. Team Inbox Booths was joined by Master of Business Analytics student Anusha Ramachandran from UBC Sauder, Branding/Illustration student Kyle Rask from Capilano - IDEA School of Design, and led by volunteer facilitator Emma F .
“We saw some incredible ideas presented from the Top 3 to our panel of experts, covering several different areas of focus, from food sharing apps, programs to connect seniors with youth, community volunteer fairs, and more! However our winning team, Inbox Booths, won the crowd over with the ‘Hello Yello’ concept,” said Karla Peckett.
“The idea behind Hello Yello is beautifully simple—visually marked public spaces that invite conversation and connection across Vancouver. Park benches, bus shelters, and other areas painted bright yellow! The project is well on its way, and will continue to be developed over the next year, so stay tuned for updates and watch for yellow spaces to start popping up across the city soon,” Karla adds. Follow along with their progress here .
"We heard a lot of great ideas from teams that really care about our city. Ultimately, the idea that was most implementable and accessible, offered the biggest impact, and captured the support of the crowd. But it doesn’t have to stop there," said Scot Sustad. "Our hope is that some of the other ideas presented will inspire more people to take action and bring these concepts to life on their own. We’ve got a huge network of bright and passionate people, and we think there’s an opportunity to keep the ball rolling when it comes to finding more ways to bring community and connection to the people of Vancouver."
Of course, we have to take a moment to thank everyone who made this event possible. After a ton of planning and a whole lot of hard work, we managed to bring this event to life. It’s incredible to think that this is all possible due to our amazing team of volunteers—thank you so much for all your hard work! A special shout out also goes to our wonderful facilitators, team leads, sponsors and, of course, everyone who participated in the event itself.?
This event would not be possible without support from our founding brands, SOLE , ReCORK and Digital Hot Sauce for leading the charge, and these and other generous partners: Salesforce (Platinum Event Partner), Forge and Smith (Platinum Event Partner), DailyHive (Digital Media Title Partner), Ripple of Change (Impact Publication Title Partner), GHG Accounting (Climate Action Partner), and our incredible event production team lead by erika marrett of Earth’s Own , Clark’s Audio Visual , Harmony Sense Interiors , O2E Brands , Hey Hill Design , among many others.?
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 Skwxwwú7mesh, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations, commonly known as Vancouver, BC. Learn more at brandsforbetter.ca .
What’s next for Brands for Better?
Community is at the core of what we do, and right now, we are taking time to pause and foster the connection with the incredible network we’ve forged to date. We are kicking off in-person monthly BFB Vancouver Community Meet Ups to facilitate meaningful connections and deepen our purpose and focus as an organization. The purpose of these fun and meaningful gatherings is simple: build friendships with other purpose-minded locals who want to create positive change in Vancouver; look for local volunteer opportunities to activate our network and give back; and help inform and shape our next capstone initiative! Interested in joining the conversation? You can sign up for our next Brands for Better Community Meet Up from our link in bio on Instagram.
Project Director
1 年This was such an impressive event. The breadth of education you pulled together to inspire participants was really something. I was honoured to be part of the 'challenge squad' for the final phase of the 'battle' and am excited to see where Hello Yello goes.
VP Brand at SOLE/ReCORK | Founder/Executive Director of Brands for Better Foundation
1 年James Delorme Vanessa Richards Michelle Hoar Andrea Reimer Pete Fry
VP Brand at SOLE/ReCORK | Founder/Executive Director of Brands for Better Foundation
1 年Inbox Booths Clear & Loud Kelly Lamb Joshua Harris
Donna Cheung Nouver Cheung Svend Andersen Veronika Bylicki Tessa Jordan Cléa Rochon-Berman Genesa M. Greening Carlos Norcia Hillary Burson Lucila Diaz O2E Brands Daily Hive RIPPLE OF CHANGE Magazine GHG Accounting Services Salesforce
Leah Karlberg Rachelle Patille Emily W. Janey Roh Marnie Goldenberg Mark B. Ashley Stone Mandy Y. Katrina Martin Michelle Reid (she/her) Andy Fyfe Anabella Alfonzo Raffalli Jon Stovell Jessica Dizon Pamela Saunders Madyson McKay Liz Dunn