Fenton Communications
As a founding member of Businesses for Social Responsibility, Fenton has long promoted ethical practices in the business world because we recognize that the way companies do business can have enormous repercussions for consumers, employees, the environment and our health. Over the years we’ve collaborated with some of the leading socially responsible companies in the country and worked with others to develop sustainable programs and initiatives that have a genuinely positive impact on our world.
Capabilities
Fenton Communications is a full-service firm. We offer the full toolbox, from advertising and new media to media relations. But more importantly, we understand how these pieces fit together. We cast a 360-degree lens on the communications nonprofits and issue campaigns need today to make an impact.
Partners/Clients
Ben & Jerry's, SodaStream, Patagonia, Born Free, The Body Shop, Kashi Cereal, Green Mountain Coffee, Rodale Press, Calvert Social Investment Fund and Working Assets Long Distance
Case Studies
Ben and Jerry’s: We’ve joined forces with the Vermont-based ice cream company to unveil the first-ever ice cream container made without chlorine and dioxin and named and marketed a new flavor – “Totally Nuts” – to raise the profile of founder Ben Cohen’s Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities’ campaign against excessive military spending.
The Body Shop: Over a period of three years, Fenton worked with The Body Shop to launch a number of cosmetic lines, including its popular “blue corn” moisturizer and beauty products that were fair-sourced from American Indians in the Southwest. We also launched a civic engagement campaign that involved in-store voter registration, promoted founder Anita Roddick’s book, Body and Soul and her “profits with principles” philosophy.
Kashi Cereal: Fenton led a publicity campaign for Kashi’s “Veri-Pure Seal,” which made them the first cereal and food company to voluntarily test for pesticide residue in their products. Fenton recruited Environmental Working Group to be a third party validator of this innovative health initiative.
Green Mountain Coffee: Vermont-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters hired Fenton to beef up sales in the Boston area. To increase market share for Green Mountain’s eight “fair trade” coffees, Fenton built a community-rooted campaign that tapped into the company’s brand as an independently-minded and owned business, including a campus-based program to alert college students to Green Mountain’s work on environmental and human rights issues, and coffee donations to more than 2,000 non-profits across Boston. Our efforts helped Green Mountain debut as number 8 on Business Ethics magazine’s 2003 list of the “100 Best Corporate Citizens.”
Rodale Press: Since 1980, Fenton has worked with Rodale to launch public health initiatives in coordination with their line of socially and environmentally minded books and magazines. These include our campaign to champion organic gardening over gardening with chemical insecticides and an anti-smoking campaign targeting youth featuring Brooks Shields and the tagline, “Smoking Spoils Your Looks.” We also masterminded Rodale’s influential benchmark standard, the “Prevention Index,” which took a national survey rating Americans’ health against a set of behaviors for preventing disease, such as drinking and exercise.
Working Assets Long Distance: Fenton created the concept for Working Assets’ popular “free calls for free speech” activist line, which enables their customers to call targeted decision-makers free of charge on a broad range of issues, from increasing federal dollars for family planning to supporting the passage of hate crime legislation. In 1998 alone, Working Assets customers generated more than a million letters and calls, making the company’s Citizen Action program one of the most formidable grassroots progressive forces in the country.
Calvert Social Investment Fund: When Calvert burst on the investment scene in 1981, it was the first such mutual fund to ethically screen its investments so that investors could develop portfolios that reflect their values. Fenton was instrumental in positioning this unusual venture as a safe bet for the pocketbook and easy on the conscience. Today, Calvert manages $188 million in assets and is one of a number of successful social investment funds worldwide.
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