Host Universal is an ethical brand strategy and communications network founded in 1997 by Robin Smith. Host works with clients on projects that seek to achieve social or environmental impact.
An article
Campaign (magazine)
''Campaign'' is a global business magazine covering advertising, media, marketing and commercial creativity. Headquartered in the UK, it also has editions in the US, Asia-Pacific, India, the Middle East and Turkey.
''Campaign'' is published by H ...
Host has a core team in London, UK, and creates specialist teams for digital, print, video, film, brand identity, and live events, worldwide.
History
Host was set up in 1997 to work with Anita Roddick
Dame Anita Lucia Roddick (23 October 1942 – 10 September 2007) was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner, best known as the founder of the British version of The Body Shop, now The Body Shop Internationa ...
at The Body Shop
The Body Shop International Limited, trading as The Body Shop, is a British cosmetics, skin care and perfume company.
Founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick, the company currently has a range of 1,000 products sold in about 3,000 stores, divided b ...
International. The partnership created a global Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
strategy and creative campaign featuring Ruby, a size 16 doll, who was presented to be a role model
A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term ''role model'' is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compare themselves ...
for women. The campaign aimed to bring attention to the issue of the media waif and skeletal supermodels, particularly for eating disorder
An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that negatively affect a person's physical or mental health. Only one eating disorder can be diagnosed at a given time. Types of eating disorders include binge eating d ...
s and extreme diets that develop due to negative self-image. Roddick posited that fashion stereotypes did nothing for a woman’s self-esteem and, in the long term, are seriously damaging for society, stating “once upon a time we cut a suit to fit a body, now we cut bodies to fit suits”. The global Self Esteem strategy was later picked up and utilized by Dove.
Projects
Host has been involved with Cafédirect
Cafédirect is a UK-based alternative trading organization.
History
Cafédirect was founded in 1991 by Oxfam, Traidcraft, Equal Exchange Trading and Twin Trading as a response to the 1989 global collapse in coffee prices. Its aims was to "g ...
instant coffee
Instant coffee is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans that enables people to quickly prepare hot coffee by adding hot water or milk to coffee solids in powdered or crystallized form and stirring. Instant coffee solids (also called sol ...
product 5065 and the 5065 Lift Theatre group.Dale Vince
Dale Vince (born 29 August 1961) is a British "green energy" industrialist. A former New Age traveller, he is the owner of the electricity company Ecotricity.
Early life and career
Vince was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Leaving school at ...
, the founder and CEO of Ecotricity
Ecotricity is a British energy company based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England, specialising in selling green energy to consumers that it primarily generates from its 87.2 megawatt wind power portfoliothe company prefers the term windmill rat ...
.
One of the projects for Host in 2008 was starting a company called the United Bank of Carbon (UBoC), in partnership with Jonathan Wild, the Chairman of Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate
Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, also known as Bettys and Taylors Group Limited, is a family company based in Yorkshire, England. The company's brands are Bettys (with no apostrophe), Taylors of Harrogate (also with no possessive apostrophe), a ...
. UBoC aims to develop sustainable investment opportunities for businesses and brands within the world’s remaining rainforest.
In 2009, Host worked on a rebranding project with the World Fair Trade Organization
The World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), is a global association of 401 organizations who are committed to improving the livelihoods of economically marginalised producers. WFTO has members in 76 countries. Members are primarily fair trade enterpr ...
(WFTO). Also in 2009, Host created the World Fair Trade Day website that was the hub for 1,000 events in 70 countries.
In 2010, Host was developing strategy and communications for social finance.
See also
*Business ethics
Business ethics (also known as Corporate Ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics, that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business co ...
References
External links
*{{Official website, www.hostuniversal.com
The background of Cafedirect
British companies established in 1997
1997 establishments in England
Social enterprises