KEEN’s newest campaign, Better Takes Action, threads through the brands DNA, tapping into the company’s long-standing philosophy that doing good, giving back and reducing impact through actions big and small can make a better world, also known as the “KEEN.Effect.”
Striving to make the world a better place, the brand campaign will be pro-actively implemented through three key directives; giving back, taking action and reducing impact.
When the tsunami hit the Indian Ocean in 2004, KEEN pulled their entire $1M advertising budget, diverting it to disaster relief and causes that are important to the brand. This pivotal moment in the brands history has shaped a brand culture of giving back, doing the right thing and understanding inherently that just making shoes is not good enough.
Since the brands inception in 2003, KEEN have supported many initiatives around the globe through their KEEN.Effect scheme, supporting grassroots not for profits partners though grants, shoe donations and other support mechanisms, from hands on employee activities that have included river clean ups and reef conservation.
Since 2013 KEEN have worked with 72 not for profit organisations in 12 Countries through their grants program alone. Beneficiaries and partners KEEN continue to work with include the European Outdoor Group, Mercy Corps global disaster relief, EOCA and the WeForest co-operation. In total, since 2004, 17 million US dollars have been donated by KEEN to ‘giving back’ causes.
In 2019 and beyond KEEN will take action to protect and preserve the places where people live, work and explore and to activate communities to do the same, fostering the next generation of planet stewards.
By continuing to work with core partners through grant efforts, strategic partnerships with like-minded organisations and ambassadors that promote healthy outdoor lifestyles and a variety of hands on core projects within both traditional outdoor and urban landscapes, KEEN will seek to protect open spaces tied to these environments.
With 66% of the global population predicted to be living in cities by 2025, KEEN believes it is especially important to move to protect the open spaces in the urban areas communities live in too. As urban outdoor globally shifts towards being the ‘new’ outdoor’, in addition to their traditional outdoor partnerships, KEEN also will move to collaborate with different associations to see how they can protect important open spaces in urban landscapes.
Partners already supported during 2018 include Plastic Whale (an Amsterdam-based social enterprise with a mission to make the world’s waters plastic-free by creating value from plastic waste), Trees For Cities (tree planting charity based in the United Kingdom that works on an international scale to create greener cities) and the Banda Aceh Mangrove restoration project in association with EOCA.
Beyond ‘giving back’ KEEN strive to make things better through a wide range of initiatives and this extends to transparency and a commitment to owned, local production to limit and reduce the impact of long haul logistics and distribution, with an entire company team focusing on reducing impact in the supply chain.
Striving for being 95 per cent PFC free, KEEN have eliminated the use of DWR on their non-waterproof styles, which is about a 67% decrease in their annual usage of this chemical, and treat PFC-free DWR on their waterproof styles only.
KEEN’s goal is to exceed the highest levels of social and environmental standards and while there may not be a clear finish line, KEEN commit themselves daily to taking steps in the right direction.
Perry Laukens, Marketing Director EMEA said: “Change is our only constant and we believe as a brand, by leading with our actions we can inspire people to be a part of the narrative and be a force for change. Better Takes Action is set to be our values bedrock, long term platform and grounding message to engage communities that through action we can make a better world.”
For more information on Better Takes Action visit https://www.keenfootwear.com/our-purpose.html
