Building a global sustainability movement for business leaders

Challenge

How do you create a movement where businesses of all sizes come together to make a real impact on climate change?

Context

Purpose: Build a global sustainability movement for SMBs and business leaders

Climate change is the defining issue of our time and businesses of all sizes have a role to play in protecting our planet and our communities today and in the future.

While enterprise businesses have entire divisions dedicated to sustainability and inclusive growth, small and medium businesses, who have the biggest combined impact on the global economy, are left to fend for themselves without resources or trusted partners.

For over a century, TIME has guided people’s response to a changing world. They recognized the unique challenges facing SMBs in this space and decided to help.

In 2022, they came to co: to launch a new, independent unit of TIME Media, with the goal of reimagining climate finance to aggregate the full power of SMBs to drive change.

Introducing CO2.com, a resource that will play the role of Chief Sustainability Officer for SMBs.

A movement where businesses of all sizes come together to make a real impact on climate change. No longer limited by resources, but liberated for action.

Action

Breathing new life into climate action

Working directly with its founders and senior leadership, co: developed the logo, visual identity and tone of voice of the new brand helping TIME realize its ambition to deliver the “easy button” for companies of all sizes to decarbonize their own business but also support net zero and nature positive solutions.

As a pre-launch partner, we iterated in real-time with the core team to design a brand system that showcases the uniqueness of the TIME CO2 POV and provided strategic guidance into how to structure and message the product offering to appeal to the SMB community, an audience traditionally overlooked and underserved in the complex, greenwashed world of offsets.

We designed the initial TIME CO2 logo to represent the brand’s unique perspective on climate action, expanding the O to give focus reminiscent of a viewfinder – highlighting solutions over problems and seeing people, not just the planet.

We crafted the brands tone of voice, aligning it with TIME editorial’s straightforward and confident style while adding in optimistic and empathic elements unique to CO2.

Since launch, CO2.com has enabled customers of all sizes to achieve carbon-neutral operations through their climate action portfolio – a collection of projects that represent what the world needs to address climate change.

The team has now launched editorial initiatives like the TIME CO2 Leadership Report which offers SMBs fresh perspectives and insights on the intersection of climate and business, finance, and markets.

This year TIME launched the TIME CO2 Earth Awards, honoring some of the most influential leaders in the fight against climate change, including Mark Ruffalo, António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General and Vanessa Nakate, a young climate activist from Africa and founder of the Rise Up Movement.

Impact

CO2.com has become a gamechanging climate action platform.

Since launch, CO2.com has enabled customers of all sizes to achieve carbon-neutral operations through their climate action portfolio – a collection of projects that represent what the world needs to address climate change. It continues to grow with editorial coverage, live events and partnerships with leading cross category voices on climate.