Consumers in Sweden and Finland place the outdoor retailers Naturkompaniet and Partioaitta as the highest ranked brands when it comes to sustainability within the category “Clothes & Fashion – Stores”.

The results are from Sustainable Brand Index, Europe’s largest brand survey focused on sustainability. More than 70 000 consumers and 1 000 decision-makers across 8 countries give their answers about over 1 500 selected brands. The results are presented per country in a yearly ranking and official report, released in the end of March.

Both retailers have been at the top of this category for several years. On the overall national ranking, Naturkompaniet (Sweden) is in 18^th and Partioaitta (Finland) in 17^th place.

“Our customer magazine 365, produced in collaboration with NORR Agency, is an important channel to communicate how we work around sustainability and CSR. Through 365, we get the possibility to inform in greater detail and to inspire our readers to take action in positive ways for the environment”, says Sofie Saberski, Marketing Manager at Naturkompaniet.

More and more outdoor products are labelled as sustainable. But what do we actually know about the materials they are produced from? In 2019, we published the first Material Issue from Suston Magazine. This fall, our second guide was published, with deep dives into over ten textiles, such as eco-cotton, leather, and nylon. We also look at the evolution of shell jackets, retailer systems for sustainability evaluations and other important industry insights.

The print version of the magazine was distributed to over 1 500 retailers and VIP-professionals around Europe. You can find the online version here and the materials guide here.

Who do we need to convince to create positive change in society – and how should we do it? Gabriel Arthur, Editor-in-Chief for Suston Magazine and CEO of NORR Agency, hosted a digital presentation about sustainability communication for Scandinavian Outdoor Group (SOG), where some of the topics covered in the presentation were:  Why is transparency critical? Can messaging still be emotional? What are “sustainability personas” and how do you adapt your messages towards these different personas?

As a journalist and editor, Gabriel Arthur has over 25 years of experience covering environmental and CSR issues.

“Another key question with sustainability is of course ‘what is our motivation’? Is it simply about finding new ways to sell more gear? Or can your company become a driving, positive force in a transition towards a more sustainable society? For the latter group – which I think is growing – there are several ways to create engaging communication that is at the same time transparent”, says Gabriel.

Scandinavian Outdoor Group is an industry association for the leading outdoor brands from the Nordic countries, with over 70 member companies.

Naturkompaniet’s customer magazine 365 is celebrating ten years this year and continues to grow rapidly. During 2020, the magazine reached a total of 225,000 readers – an 11.4 percent increase! Since 2016, the magazine has increased by 108 percent, which is the highest growth of all Swedish magazines in the national media survey Orvesto Konsument, published February 16.

The strong outdoor trend and Naturkompaniet’s clear focus on quality and sustainability are three success factors behind 365, says Sofie Saberski, Marketing Manager at Naturkompaniet.

“Our ambition with 365 is to share our knowledge and passion for outdoor life and nature, and to equip people who want to go out. At the same time, we guide readers on how they can take care of both nature and gadgets.”

“The Orvesto figures also show that 365 has very loyal readers. A contributing reason is Naturkompaniet’s focus on quality, which also characterizes the magazine. Our readers demand really good quality in everything from hiking pants to journalism.”

The Swedes’ interest in sustainability and environmental issues also contributes to the success, says Sofie Saberski. Naturkompaniet has guided its customers to more sustainable choices since the 1990s and in 2019 was ranked as Sweden’s most sustainable clothing brand. Every year, its loyalty club 365 donates 1 percent of sales to non-profit projects for the environment and nature around Sweden.

“This subject is a central part of the magazine. In 365, we highlight everything from research expeditions on the climate at the North Pole, to tips on how to repair your shell jacket. ”

The magazine is made in collaboration with NORR Agency.

“We clearly see that the interest in outdoor is also increasing internationally, albeit not as much as in Sweden. And that pioneers in sustainability – companies such as Patagonia, Vaude, Houdini and Naturkompaniet – are favored today. Credibility takes a long time to build up and is a reason for the great response from the 365 readers”, says Gabriel Arthur, CEO of NORR Agency.

NORR Agency is the first Swedish communications agency to be certified by Climate Neutral. The certification involves step by step reducing our carbon dioxide emissions in accordance with the UN’s climate goals.

Climate Neutral is a fast-growing non-profit organization that measures and reviews companies’ climate work. More than 300 companies and organizations have undergone the Climate Neutral process and become certified climate neutral. Our operations have been 80-90 percent climate neutral for several years. We have now taken the final steps and, above all, received approval from a third party. A major advantage of Climate Neutral is that they require a reduction in their emissions every year. This means it’s not just about climate compensation, although it is also an important part. All companies undertake to work towards “NetZero.”

An example of how we as an agency can make a difference is in the procurement of paper and printing for magazines. We produce the customer magazine Naturkompaniet 365, for example, with over 200,000 subscribers. For several years, we have required a certificate from the printing house confirming their use of renewable electricity and ensure that emissions throughout the value chain-paper production, printing and distribution-are reported and climate compensated.

The next step for NORR Agency is to try to reduce our emissions in digital services, and to reduce and climate compensate emissions from freelancers who work on behalf of us. While taking climate responsibility is important to us, we don’t only do so for our own sake. Several of our clients, such as the outdoor retailer Naturkompaniet, have ambitious goals in sustainability and climate impact.

As subcontractors, we are part of their value chain. In parallel with the Climate Neutral process, we also work with other climate projects. NORR Agency has donated more than 25,000 Euro to protect Swedish old-growth forest-an important so-called carbon sink-and we also seek to influence through the content we produce. If you want to know more about the Climate Neutral process itself, you can read Suston Magazine’s interview with our project manager Victoria Reim.

We are very happy to introduce three new members of our team. Andreas Björkman recently started as editor and project manager at the office in Stockholm. He will be responsible for Naturkompaniet’s magazine 365, and its digital content, as well as other projects. Taina Ahtela also joined us recently in Helsinki, taking care of the Finnish version of 365, that we produce for the retailer chain Partioaitta. Christiane Eckhardt is the new Art Director for our own title NORR Magazin. With our representative in Oslo, Jonathan Fraenkel-Eidse, we are also glad that our network in Northern Europe is growing with even more highly skilled people.

Just as sustainability was becoming the defining trend of the outdoor industry, the pandemic showed up and canceled its most important forums. We decided to help keep the fire alive and held a 2-day digital event hosted by Suston and EOG: Sustain the Momentum. We gathered sustainability-minded actors from brands, retailers, suppliers and NGOs for presentations, panel discussions and brainstorming. Find out what we learned in our Event Recap.

 

Although we love writing long feature stories, we can also keep it short. We have produced copy texts with a creative twist for Naturkompaniet since 2019, in collaboration with the marketing team. Sustainability and responsibility have been two overarching themes. The texts have been used for multi-channel communication: advertising, billboards, POS material and the company website.

These are uncertain times in which we live that in many ways call for new solutions. We at NORR Agency asked ourselves how we can continue to see each other and work together without always being alone at home? Our answer is “Green Office” instead of Home Office. Check out this trailer about our new favorite coworking space in the nature.

On June 8 – World Oceans Day – five of us kayaked out to the tiny island Rotholmen in Lake Mälaren. When we from NORR Agency first went here together some years ago, there was plastic litter and other garbage everywhere. We collected six large bags with trash for recycling, one mattress and even a fridge(!). Each year, storms, winds and visitors will continue to bring new litter. But this time around, it was not quite as bad. Just five semi-large bags – one for each kayak – and the added bonus of a beautiful evening spent paddling there from the island Långholmen in central Stockholm.