Innholdsfortegnelse for Fall 2023 i Fast Company

Fast Company|Fall 2023

Here Today, Gone Sooner Than Ever

IN THE RACE TO RELEVANCE, TODAY'S BRANDS MUST OVERCOME so many hurdles: crowded marketplaces, the pressure to resonate across myriad platforms, and consumers’ short attention spans. These obstacles impede a brand's ability to cultivate the most valuable asset it can have: longevity. Yet even those that manage to establish themselves simply don't last as long as they once did—and neither do the companies that market them. According to the Legacy Lab, a strategy consultancy arm of ad agency Team One (which is a division of the Publicis Groupe), companies that were on the S&P 500 in the 1970s spent an average of nearly 30 years there. For the 2020s, that tenure is projected to be closer to 15 years. Brand longevity isn't the only reason—but it's a major factor. This…

2 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

Reporting that improves people's lives

Dark chocolate—low in sugar and high on flavor—has a reputation for being a healthy treat. It even provides a host of health benefits, including lowered blood pressure, better cholesterol, and a reduced risk of heart disease. But research from Consumer Reports (CR) shows that many dark chocolate bars contain potentially harmful levels of cadmium and lead, heavy metals that can contribute to bone fragility, kidney damage, and nervous system problems. When CR published its findings in December 2022, it also launched a campaign targeting makers of popular chocolate products like Trader Joe's, Hershey's, Mondelez, and Theo. Today, more than 75,000 consumers have signed a petition demanding that companies change the way dark chocolate bars are made. The CFO of Hershey's said the company is evaluating its ability to remove cadmium…

3 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

2 HOLLYWOOD

CORD JEFFERSON WRITES TO KEEP FROM raging. After getting his start in journalism writing about identity and relationships for publications like The New York Times Magazine and editing hot takes at Gawker, he began channeling his ire about race and other social delusions into film and TV work. Since then, he's helped craft one zeitgeist-capturing show after another—The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore, Master of None, The Good Place, Watchmen, and Station Eleven—examining the complicated societal factors shaping our culture and exploring his own emotional responses along the way. When he won a Primetime Emmy for Watchmen in 2020, he thanked his therapist. “Therapy should be free in this country,” he quipped. Now, as he navigates an industry (at press time) immobilized by actor and writer strikes, Jefferson makes his…

7 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

A commitment to conservation

The northern white rhino is the most critically endangered animal on Earth. With only two remaining, a mother and daughter pair, their species is fighting for survival. Integrating their expertise in wildlife care and conservation science, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) is working to save these gentle giants. The living, beating cells of 12 northern white rhinos are cryopreserved in their Biodiversity Bank's Frozen Zoo, holding a key to conservation that transcends the test of time. Home to more than 10,000 living cell lines from over 1,150 species and subspecies, it is the largest collection of living materials of its kind in the world—and an invaluable source of hope for the future of our planet. When Kurt Benirschke founded the Frozen Zoo nearly 50 years ago, he did so…

3 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

5 AGRICULTURE

FOR MOST GROCERY SHOPPERS, THE NAME LAND O'LAKES IS synonymous with dairy. But behind the scenes, the 102-yearold cooperative—which counts nearly 3,000 agricultural retailers and producers among its owner-members—offers a slew of products and services aimed at helping farmers improve their crop yields, plant health, and soil quality. This mission is especially important as climate change forces farmers to adapt to lower rainfall and higher temperatures, in addition to simply improving the nutrition of their feedstock. “Not every acre is created equal,” says Land O'Lakes COO Brett Bruggeman. The company is focused on answering the question “How do we help stretch that acre to get the most out of it?” Through its animal feed business, sustainable farming division Truterra, and the WinField United “crop inputs” arm, Land O'Lakes is working…

3 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

MIND AND BODY

TOM'S OF MAINE THE PERSONAL CARE BRAND FOSTERS A LOVE OF NATURE IN KIDS AND FUNDS NEXT-GEN CLIMATE PROJECTS—NATURALLY. Tom's of Maine has been selling its natural and environmentally friendly personal care products for 50 years, always putting sustainability at the forefront of its efforts. Two of its signature programs—Get Into Nature and the Tom's of Maine Incubator—show the company's continued leadership on climate. Launched in September 2022, the incubator supports five fellows—whose work ranges from improving ocean health to connecting environmental justice with spiritual care—with a $20,000-apiece grant as well as mentorship. Cristiane Martini, the brand's general manager, says the scope of its fellows’ work shows how “lots of small projects together can make a big difference to the future of the planet.” The ColgatePalmolive brand is also two…

3 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

MAKING REAL IMPACT

ONLY ONE THE PLATFORM MAKING CLIMATE ACTIVISM EASIER SHOWS SUPPORTERS WHERE EVERY CENT GOES. AMID ESCALATING climate and biodiversity crises, people want to take more action—but are unsure about where to start, or don't know if their contributions are making any tangible impact. Only One is channeling people's awareness into action through a combination of content, campaigns, and crowdfunding, while bringing transparency to its efforts. “To tackle climate change, the world really needs a global movement of people raising their voices to demand change,” says Jeremiah Kittredge, CEO of Only One. In the four years since it was founded, Only One has sought to build that movement, marshaling nearly 2 million people in 193 countries to use its platform, which makes signing climate-focused petitions or contacting legislators about climate issues…

3 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

Pinterest Wants to Be Your Happy Place

Pinterest is making me hungry. I'VE LOGGED ON TO THE SITE, AS I OFTEN have since buying my house, in search of furniture. Pinterest's recommendation systems have risen to the challenge, accurately clocking my recent saves of rugs and nightstands as signs I might be looking to furnish a bedroom. Pinterest, though, wants to go beyond showing me more of the same. It wants to inspire, as CEO Bill Ready tells me in a recent conversation. The platform pushes me to consider not only fabric swatches but also outfits and travel destinations and other things I might like, for as long as I feel like scrolling. On this day, interspersed among the bed frames and side tables, the feed also served up churro cheesecake bars, lemon ricotta pasta, and something…

15 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

THE REBRAND

BEFORE Nuclear Energy Neo AFTER NUCLEAR ENERGY HAS LONG HAD A PERCEPTION PROBLEM. Chernobyl and Three Mile Island still loom large in public consciousness, and the only nuclear plant worker most Americans can name is Homer Simpson. But nuclear is increasingly seen as a key clean energy source. In 2022, it accounted for 47% of U.S. carbon-free energy, and new Pew Research data shows that 57% of Americans favor opening additional nuclear plants. Fast Company asked agency Jones Knowles Ritchie to give nuclear energy a brand identity that frames it for the future. The result is Neo, whose name signals a new perspective on nuclear. The logo's doubled o's evoke the atomic splitting that fuels nuclear reactors. It's a framing that “positions nuclear energy as a fresh yet familiar solution…

1 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

Innovation from the lab to the world

For a leading research institution like Purdue University, it's one thing to make new discoveries in the lab, but it's another to use them to create realworld solutions. Purdue knows when discoveries remain within laboratory walls, the world misses out on the chance to progress. “At Purdue, we are driven by one thing, and that's outcomes that change the world,” says Brooke Beier, senior vice president of commercialization for Purdue Innovates, the university's resident commercialization and startup network. More than 400 invention disclosures have emerged from Purdue during the past year, illustrating the university's commitment to fostering innovations that have impact. From finding new ways to treat disease to discovering treatments for nonhealing wounds, Purdue's expertise in bringing world-changing ideas to life makes it a natural selection for Fast Company's…

3 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

Collaboration for a cure

Within hours of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital had begun a large-scale effort to evacuate Ukrainian children with cancer, moving them to countries where they could safely continue treatment. The effort, called SAFER Ukraine, relocated more than 1,100 patients and their families to 205 clinics across 29 countries. St. Jude itself welcomed 10 cancer patients and their family members to its campus in Memphis. To accomplish this complex logistical challenge, which required creating a registry of childhood cancer patients and translating medical records for more than 700 patients, St. Jude and its fundraising and awareness organization, ALSAC, worked with a network of partners across the region. The success St. Jude experienced with SAFER Ukraine illustrates its philosophy of large-scale collaboration in action. Entertainer…

3 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

A legacy of investing in its members

Inclusion, equity, and simply helping one another are core to one California credit union's purpose. Del Paso Heights, once a thriving neighborhood of Sacramento, has struggled since the 1970s with economic isolation, high levels of drug dependency, and widespread crime. Many residents struggle to get by financially, much less grow family wealth. Golden 1, the nation's sixth-largest credit union, is working to help. In July, the organization announced a five-year, $10-million initiative designed to break cycles of multigenerational poverty in this under-resourced neighborhood. The comprehensive investment focuses on helping residents help themselves and each other. Community organizations with deep roots in Del Paso Heights will use the funds to expand the impact and reach of existing programs supporting education, mental health services, and other efforts. In conjunction with this initiative,…

3 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

4 WORK LIFE

AT HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, TIRANA HASSAN OVERSEES A 500-strong team that brings to light abuses—from child trafficking to privacy violations by Big Tech—in countries across the globe. Here, she talks leaving a career in law to work in conflict zones, and taking up Muay Thai for stress relief. What's your best habit, and what's your worst one? I work out every day, and I lie to myself about my fitness. How do you exercise? When I was 45, I took up Muay Thai and never looked back … until I tore a ligament in my knee. What do you do when you're creatively stuck? I draw mind maps. Seeing a visual representation shifts my thinking. Is there a businessperson you admire? Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani. He uses…

2 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

FACE FORWARD

FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRLS don't want advice from their mothers. It's a truism as old as time, and yet for every parent, a bitter pill. When it comes to crafting and caring for their emergent selves, teenagers look to their phones, to brands, to celebrities. In this moment, they are finding all three in Selena Gomez, who, with 427 million followers, is the most followed woman on Instagram. This is despite the fact that she famously logged off social media for four years, returning only in the past year, because it was wreaking havoc on her mental health. When I ask my own teenager and her friends—musical-theater nerds, athletes, Black, brown, and white girls—to explain the singer, actor, and cosmetics founder's allure, one says succinctly, “Selena Gomez doesn't make me feel less-than.”…

19 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

STATE OF PLAY

BLUMHOUSE THE HORROR STUDIO KNOWS IT CAN DELIVER A HIT (AND VIRAL MOMENTS). NEXT STOP: WORLD DOMINATION. BLUMHOUSE, THE PROduction company that's become known for making big bets on lower-budget horror movies—like Paranormal Activity and The Purge—has been around since 2000. But in the past year, the company has laid the groundwork to put a monster under every bed by becoming the preeminent brand in horror across TV, live events, and theme parks. “We're taking, or about to take, the brand to all those places,” says Blumhouse president Abhijay Prakash. Part of the shift came last fall, ahead of the January premiere of M3gan. The marketing for the film—a campy blend of horror and humor, exemplified in a viral clip of its titular AI doll dancing menacingly down a hallway…

3 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

INDEX

AMERICAN EAGLE OUTFITTERS The teenfocused apparel retailer meets its customers on emerging social media apps and supports their mental health. AVEDA The haircare brand is setting sustainability standards through traceability initiatives and its 100% recycled packaging. BLAVITY The tech company focused on diverse millennials and Gen Z brought DE&I resources to employers and reached millions via its new media network. BOBBIE The formula company kept its customers stocked up during a shortage and engaged parents with its Milk Drunk podcast. BOMBAS The buy-one-give-one apparel brand brought transparency to its operations while donating a wider range of clothes in more sizes. BRANDLESS The e-commerce brand's Influence-as-a-Service concept offers customers a way to become affiliate influences no matter the size of their following. THE CITIZENRY With a dedication to ethically made, sustainable…

6 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

Shop Talk

2008 Ben Silbermann, a low-level Google employee, and Paul Sciarra, his college friend who'd worked at a VC firm, launch Cold Brew Labs, a “mobile shopping startup.” (The name sounded cool.) Its first app, Tote, touts that it's “the first woman's fashion catalog on the iPhone.” 2009 Tote isn't a hit, but users like the feature allowing them to save items. Silbermann, who collected bugs as a kid, realizes that they're sharing their taste with friends. He pivots to a “social commerce application” that would make “curating and sharing collections of products dead simple.” 2010 Pinterest—a portmanteau of “pinboards” and “interesting” dreamed up by Silbermann's nowwife Divya after she saw a “Most Interesting Man in the World” Dos Equis ad—starts to attract users after a “Pin It Forward” campaign by…

2 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

SECOND ACTS

JACK DORSEY The Twitter cofounder served as its first CEO until he was pushed out in 2008 for, among other things, being distracted by fashion shows and yoga classes. After cofounding Square, he grew that company into the payments behemoth Block, while also serving, from 2015 to 2021, as CEO of Twitter—a tenure marked by criticism of his divided attention. ADAM NEUMANN He famously charmed SoftBank's Masayoshi Son into pouring billions into WeWork, his coworking startup. In 2019, ahead of a failed attempt at an IPO, he was forced out of the company, but he reemerged three years later with a new residential real estate startup, Flow, and $350 million in backing from Andreessen Horowitz. JULIE WAINWRIGHT As the CEO of Pets.com, she oversaw its February 2000 IPO—which became a…

1 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

1 RETAIL

IN 2017, BLUE APRON BET THE FARM. With its valuation at $2 billion, its brand sizzling hot, and its IPO imminent, the meal-kit delivery startup snapped up BN Ranch, a network of sustainable meat producers founded by grass-fed-beef pioneer Bill Niman. BN Ranch had been providing Blue Apron with pork, beef, and poultry for dishes like Seared Hanger Steak with Rosemary Fingerling Potatoes and Green Bean Salad since 2015. The acquisition cemented their relationship, with Niman staff joining Blue Apron's fast—growing team. It also signaled Blue Apron's ambitions to cut out the middlemen from its operations, working closely with ranchers and growers. “We are furthering our vision to build a better food system,” Blue Apron cofounder Matt Wadiak said at the time. But Blue Apron's dreams to reimagine the industry,…

9 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

Blazing a trail in the entertainment industry

Hundreds of TV channels and nothing to watch? That might be true if you're looking for shows and movies featuring a cast of diverse actors. While the entertainment industry in recent years has made strides toward more diverse programming, studies show that women and minorities are still significantly underrepresented in the TV landscape. Starz is bridging that representation gap. The streaming service is taking innovative and ambitious steps to support more diversity and inclusion in front of the camera and behind the scenes. From internal initiatives to collaborative partnerships, Starz's efforts are having a direct impact at the company—and are contributing to a broader industrywide push toward more representation. Those efforts are one reason Starz has earned a place on Fast Company's 2023 list of Brands that Matter. “Starz's commitment…

3 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

3 MUSIC

•IN THE MID-2000S, amid declining revenues from slumping CD sales, the music industry was offered two possible futures. The first was created in 2006 by Daniel Ek, whose new product, Spotify, streamed music from the cloud instantly, as if the music had already been downloaded directly on your device. Users could pay a subscription price—today it's $10.99—and listen to as much music as they wanted. The second came courtesy of Radiohead, with the release of its album In Rainbows in 2007. Listeners could pay what they felt was a reasonable amount (the average was $5) to download the album, or they could purchase the physical album as a richly designed disc box including an LP, a bonus CD, and an art book—for $80. Ethan Diamond, an entrepreneur who had created…

7 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

Local solutions to global challenges

Marie Campbell developed a passion for flowers while growing up in Jamaica. As an adult, she put down roots in Albany, New York, where she worked as a registered nurse for 33 years, putting four kids through college as a single mom. Campbell always wanted to own her own business, and three years ago, she left nursing to pursue floral design full-time, opening Blooms by Marie. Early on, Campbell's profit potential was untapped. Then she met the team at Business for Good, a nonprofit that provides resources to people and organizations that are creating positive change in underserved communities in the Albany region. “We are focused on combining financial investment with social impact to create lasting change in local communities,” says Ed Mitzen, cofounder of Business for Good. “We're trying…

3 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

CULTURAL FORCES

PLAYSTATION FROM ITS BUZZY THE LAST OF US ADAPTATION TO ITS ACCESSIBLE CONTROLLER, THE CONSOLE MAKER IS SHOWING HOW VIDEO GAMES CAN BE FOR EVERYONE. PLAYSTATION HAS BEEN a brand to reckon with since its 1994 debut. In the ensuing decades, parent company Sony has sold more than half a billion consoles, and you'd need scientific notation to calculate the amount of time gamers have spent playing on its five iterations. The brand has long collaborated with high-wattage stars for marketing campaigns, but this year it achieved a whole new level of cultural resonance when HBO aired The Last of Us. A joint production with Sony Pictures and PlayStation, the series—based on the 2013 high-selling game developed by Naughty Dog—was an immediate hit. It built to an average weekly audience…

4 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

BUILDING THE FUTURE

GIRLS WHO CODE THE EDUCATION ORGANIZATION IS BREAKING DOWN THE TECH SECTOR'S GENDER DIVIDE. GIRLS WHO CODE HAS WORKED WITH more than 500,000 individuals in the decade since its inception in 2012, ensuring that women and nonbinary people recognize that their contributions to the tech sector are vital. Now, the organization is introducing new programs to meet the needs of students entering the workforce. Girls Who Code alumni earn computer science degrees at seven times the national average. Yet navigating the job-interview process has proved challenging. In response, the organization launched a Technical Interview Prep program and a Leadership Academy last year, with plans to run both programs on a school-year cycle. The Technical Interview Prep program has served 462 students as of August, while the four-month Leadership Academy has…

4 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

DESIGN

Under the leadership of its founder, Paula Wallace, the Savannah College of Art and Design has grown into a global brand. But is what's good for SCADgood for design? Paula Wallace has invited me to tea. The founder and president of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) recently returned to the school's coastal Georgia home after an extended visit to its campus in the South of France, and so on a humid July day, down a street lined with towering live oaks, I arrive at a redbrick Pfortresslike structure with green turrets and ornate wrought ironwork where we've agreed to meet. The building was constructed in 1892 as an armory for Savannah's volunteer army, but in 1979, the then-30year-old Wallace decided to buy it. For years, she'd been…

17 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

FROM THE GROUND UP

PAGE 82 FORMER PELOTON CEO JOHN FOLEY IS LAUNCHING HIS CHARM OFFENSIVE. I'VE JUST BEEN USHERED INTO THE MANHATTAN OFFICE OF HIS NEW STARTUP, THE RUG COMPANY ERNESTA, WHEN FOLEY APPEARS WITH A CRINKLED SMILE, SUMMER TAN, TIGHT-FITTING NAVY POLO, AND FIRM HANDSHAKE. FOR AN ERSTWHILE BILLIONAIRE FORCED TO EXIT THE COMPANY HE BUILT AMID A SHAREHOLDER REVOLT AND A SEA OF NEGATIVE PRESS, THE 52-YEAR-OLD SEEMS REMARKABLY UPBEAT, AS IF HE HAS SOMEHOW BOTTLED THE SUNSHINE OF HIS TEENAGE YEARS, WHEN HIS FAMILY LIVED IN FLORIDA (ON INSTAGRAM, HE'S @KEYLARGOJOHN). As we sit down, a picture-perfect August day unfolding outside a bank of windows, he insists that he's been a big rug guy for years. “I love this category. I love design. I love architecture,” he says. (His favorite…

18 min

Fast Company|Fall 2023

DISRUPTERS

INTRODUCING THE FCMICX INDEX This document is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be, nor should it be construed or used as, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of any offer to buy, any security. Additionally, the information herein is not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, legal advice or investment recommendations. You should make an independent investigation of the matters described herein, including consulting your own advisers on the matters discussed herein. Syntax and Affinity are trademarks or registered trademarks of Syntax LLC. Fast Company is a trademark of Mansueto Ventures LLC. Distribution of Syntax data and the use of Syntax or Mansueto Ventures indices to create financial products requires a license with Syntax or Mansueto Ventures, as applicable, and/or its…

1 min