More Than Saving a Buck

Triple Pundit's Nick Aster wrote yesterday about Groupon's controversial Super Bowl Ads. He wonders whether Groupon has alienated a large subset of their customers because of the stunt? It's titled, "Does Groupon Think Its Customers Are Mindless?" If you haven't seen it yet, it's a great piece from Nick. Check it out here.

Nick's inclusion of Bolder in his post got us thinking (naturally), and we wanted to write up a quick response on 2 points:

1. First, he mentions "Groupon competitor, Bolder." We get that comparison a lot, which is kinda cool, since Groupon happens to be the fastest growing company ever. To us, the only similarity is that we both offer discounts. Beyond that, we are fundamentally different.

We're still figuring out the exact language around this concept, as it's still in the visionary phase. But here's how we like to think about Bolder long-term-

We're the rewards card for your life

Kind of like your Southwest Airlines Visa. With one major difference - you don't have to spend money to get rewards from companies on Bolder. You just have to do good stuff and strive for a better life. Turns out, you're already doing these things everyday!

With credit card rewards, the action of swiping the card facilitates the reward. With Bolder, your "card swipe" is you recording your great life moments on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Email, actbolder.com, etc). You're already doing this too! Think about the last post you made on any of these mediums.... probably something you were proud of or passionate about?

2. Second, Nick says, "Saving money is great, but saving money and influencing something positive in your community, or in the way a company works, is much more powerful – and will result in far greater customer loyalty in the long run."

This resonates more than anything with the Bolder Team. We're all at the beginning of something special right now. The recession has impacted us all in various ways, but at its core, a return to values is underway. An era of transparency, accountability, and real value will define which companies win and which ones lose.

We're working hard to be a big piece in that values tidal wave. Our contribution is to help you connect in a deeper and more valuable way to companies you care about. And in return, we hope you feel a deeper sense of loyalty to them, because you've connected over more than just saving a buck. You've connected on the most important level of all- your life.

How to Matter (You Already Do)

by Robin Cangie

When I was 11, my teacher showed me an adaptation of Loren Eiseley’s famous essay The Star Thrower. “I thought you would like this,” she said, pulling me aside before recess. I never forgot the story, nor that my teacher had thought to share it with me. I still think of it when I begin to feel that the world is too big, and that I am too small to make a difference.

The story goes like this (full adaptation here): A wise man was walking along the beach and saw a young man throwing small objects into the ocean. He approached the young man and asked him what he was doing. The young man replied,

"Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one.”

We live in a time of great uncertainty, and this has always been the case. The Great Recession may have thrown this fact into starker relief than usual, but we humans have never had as much control over our own destinies as we like to believe.

It doesn’t mean you can’t make a difference. It means, in fact, that you must. Whatever action you can take – whether it’s volunteering time, donating money, or even something as simple as taking your lunch to work in a reusable bag, it will matter, even if it doesn’t seem like enough.

The truth is, it will never be enough. There will always be more work to do, so if that’s the only thing holding you back, let it go right now. Recognize that you matter, that what you do matters, and act. In a world where our largest institutions have continually shown themselves unable or unwilling to do the same, individuals acting boldly might just be the best chance we have.

Bolder 2010 Year in Review

We embarked in January of 2010 with a simple idea: People's good actions should be recognized. A year later, we reflect on Bolder’s first anniversary. What progress did we make together on that idea? Does it matter? How do we take this idea to the next level in 2011? First, let us be clear: there is no way we could do any of this without YOU. Thank you, every one of you! YOU provide our inspiration.

We know that you don’t pick up litter, go for a run or help a friend just to get a reward from the businesses on Bolder. You do these things because you believe that each small action makes a difference. You are the innovators- the people pushing the envelope of change.

So, what is Bolder good at?

This year, we’ve realized Bolder works best as a platform for communities to mobilize to do something good. Not an easy lesson. It came after many mistakes, false starts, and sleepless nights:). Rather than create our own community, we focused our energies on helping mobilize the communities that all brands have assembled. There’s a good chance you heard of Bolder through your favorite brand’s Facebook page, Twitter account, or email list. Great effort has been made to assemble these online communities, and our goal is to empower them to take action.

Through Bolder, companies rewarded you for the good things you do everyday (and for the ones you’re still working on). Businesses also matched your donations to local causes.

We worked to provide creative challenges and rewards from brands and organizations you care about. Successful challenges came from small clothing companies, local non-profits, and national brands alike – and rewards included discounts, donations, and even free apples. Yum! Your actions and photographs inspired more actions, and we all witnessed the combined results.

2010 Results

Given the massive scale available on the social web, we acknowledge that Bolder is still relatively small. However, we are incredibly proud of the results from 2010!

In 2010, you completed 7972 actions, including cold loads of laundry, bike rides, high fives, homemade meals, compliments, hikes, sweaty workouts, clothing donations, carpools, visits to farmers’ markets and impossibly short showers. Highlights:

-- Nearly 300 people stepped up to take a day off from drinking bottled water in September. If these 300 people make a permanent switch to reusable water bottles, they will keep 109,000 bottles out of landfills each year. Not bad!

-- 596 people washed their clothes on the cold/cold cycle in August. This single, collective act was equivalent to taking 5,364 car miles off the road (a load of laundry on a hot/warm cycle is equal to driving about 9 miles in a car). OR look at it this way: each individual runs 392 loads of laundry a year. By flicking a simple switch you can take 3,528 miles off the road each year, greater than the distance from San Francisco to New York! All 596 people together could save 2,102,688 miles. The math gets absurd very quickly.

The point here is yes, these are still relatively small numbers, but they matter, and what's most exciting - they can scale incredibly quickly. Big change can only happen with small steps.

Real People. Real Stories.

Your stories and photographs inspired us every day. And you voted for the boldest actions, which have been featured on our blog. Some of our favorites include:

“One day while I was cooking, trying to remake a healthier breakfast omelet, it dawned on me that life is about choices.” -Nova R. [full post]

“The girl at the checkout counter at Safeway was so happy I said no to plastic that she announced it over the intercom.” -Jesse M. [full post]

“It actually takes us about twice as long to drive a car to their school as it does to bike there, so it is truly a practical solution!” -Stefan R. [full post]

Does this all matter?

This year, we also tackled the difficult questions posed by skeptics: does all of this really make a difference? We are realistic and think about this question all the time, and while we are convinced that every action matters, it's especially exciting to hear it from you.

- "Since the cold/cold challenge, every time I do my laundry, I switch to the cold/cold cycle. I had no idea that it made such a difference" - Noah

- "Before the 4 minute shower challenge, I was spending 10 minutes relaxing in the shower. Now I'm down to 4-5 minutes. I can look for my leisure time elsewhere." - Scott

So what's new for 2011?

In 2011, we will continue challenging – and rewarding – you in creative ways. We're pushing to make the Bolder experience as rich as possible:

1. Take action from outside of Bolder: We are making it easier to share your actions from different devices and locations. Meaning, you should be able to take action for a challenge where you hear about it. If you hear about a challenge on a brand's Facebook page, we want you to be able to complete the challenge there.

2. Deeper relationships: We are working to help the companies and organizations on Bolder continue to develop deeper relationships with you – and we don’t just mean giving you better rewards.

It helps us to think about the Bolder experience this way. Let's say your favorite airline is Southwest Airlines. Chances are, you have their credit card. Every time you spend money, even when you aren't traveling, you know you are earning rewards for Southwest. Awesome! Now imagine being able to earn those same rewards for your actions- all the great things you're doing in your life.

How is this different? It means getting more brands you care about and keeping them around perpetually. It means working with these brands to support more of your actions. We think these things will help build an even deeper relationship based on your actions.

We cannot do it without you. You can help by continuing to take action and sending us feedback. And if you work somewhere that thinks what we're doing is a remotely good idea, let's talk! We always welcome your thoughts, comments, and questions in the comments section below or at ideas@actbolder.com.

Social Change on the Social Web

by Robin Cangie

In October 2010, Malcolm Gladwell famously argued that social media would not bring about a revolution in social activism. And as he no doubt intended, the Twitterati, blogosphere and other social media elites immediately responded with all the reasons why he was “wrong, wrong, wrong.”

Actually, both sides are right; they’re looking at the same issue from two different angles. The social web is powerful in that it connects us instantaneously across time and physical space, but without authentically engaged human beings to make those connections meaningful, it becomes a bunch of real-time, self-absorbed drivel (see 10 Things You Need to Stop Tweeting About). When you look at it this way, the social web is a way to extend and amplify our fickle, flawed humanity.

And that’s a beautiful thing, because it means that every time we choose to be significant rather than mediocre, meaningful rather than merely profitable, and open to life rather than fearful of it, we can harness the power of our highly connected world to amplify our actions 1,000-fold. It’s wonderful when individuals do this on their own, but when we act boldly together, just imagine what’s possible!

This is why I love companies like Bolder. They’ve found ways to successfully harness the power of group behavior across the social web in the name of a common purpose. For the first time in history, the physical barriers to collective, powerful action have been torn down, and Bolder gives you – yes, you, reading this blog, right now – the opportunity to enact real change by focusing that power into a single, common goal of sustainable living. That’s incredibly powerful!

One small action will make one small difference. That matters. And when you take all those small actions and put them together, not only will you make an even bigger difference; you just might impact real, lasting change.

That’s the promise of Bolder, and of the social web more broadly – to empower, uplift and inspire. Or, you know, you could just Tweet about what you had for lunch.

- Robin Cangie is very excited to contribute to the Bolder blog. She writes about 21st-century prosperity, institutional transformation and whatever is on her mind at robinoula.com. Follow her on Twitter at @robinoula.

[Link to Bubblegeneration post]

Getting Called Out

I just read this article recently. Proctor & Gamble spends $9 Billion a year on advertising. That number blew my mind - $9 Billion? I read it again, yep, still $9 Billion! To put that in perspective, let's look at Twitter. They just closed a financing round with a valuation of $3.7 Billion. P&G spends nearly 3 times more on advertising per year than the valuation that had all of Silicon Valley, well, tweeting. That's size.
With the size of ad budgets, come ads...everywhere. Jeez, I passed three Apple ads crossing the Bay bridge this weekend! Take a second to think about the last ad that you saw. Was it a banner ad browsing the New York Times? A Google AdWord or promoted tweet? Was it a sponsored ad on Facebook? Perhaps the same Apple billboard that caught my eye in SF?
At its core, advertising is action-oriented. When you see that iPad ad on the freeway, you may not realize it, but that ad is challenging you. It's calling you to action. "Hey friend, over here. Buy the iPad. You'll be as hip as me - lounging in my slippers and consuming all kinds of digital information with ease." Take your interpretation, but the call to action from Apple is definitely to "buy an iPad."
But what if that call to action motivated the consumer to do an action in the real-world? What if that action was good? Wouldn't it make that person feel good to do that action? Wouldn't completing that action raise the position of the brand in the eye of the consumer? Would it not make the world a better place? We're pushing for a change in that call to action. Starting now.

What the heck is the point of Bolder??

This post comes from an interview we did with Jeff McIntire-Strasburg from Sustainablog. The interview is focused on the environment, but the themes hold constant across our four key focuses: environment, health and fitness, community, and education issues. We thought it would be fun to share and would love your thoughts in the comments section below.

1. Sustainablog: I'll start off with the tough one: is rewarding people with incentives to consume sustainable? Why (or why not)? Or is the question totally off base?

Bolder: The question is definitely not off base. It's a question we've definitely struggled with as founders. The idealist side of our brains thinks Bolder can succeed just by asking people to do good - no reward required. We actually see this in the data: 90% of people are requesting the rewards, but 35% of those people redeem them. So there's a gap, which means people aren't just doing it for the reward.

The realist side of our brain sees a huge opportunity to have massive impact by attaching an incentive to challenges. The reward allows us to start a conversation with people that might scoff at just being told to do good. AND it allows us to reach out to the business community and begin to convert the promotion into a vehicle for positive change. This is the fundamental reason we started Bolder.

We saw all these coupons being thrown around and snatched up by the masses. We asked ourselves, why can't these promos actually accomplish something? Why can't brands ask for something in return? A small something that makes the world a little better and highlights what the brand cares about; what's really in their DNA. As we all know, brands are struggling to connect with their customers on a meaningful level. Bolder was founded as a means to create that connection over real-world positive action. We're also experimenting with non-consumption based rewards, like donations for actions taken.

Finally, promotions are going to exist forever (or at least it seems). If Bolder's existence can convert a portion of those promos into awareness for world issues and inspire positive action, well then…we've won.

2. Sustainablog: On the flip side, a number of business models have succeeded by offering rewards for eco-friendly action: Recyclebank comes to mind immediately. Do those of us who push environmental action for its own sake and benefits simply expect too much of people? Again, why or why not?

Bolder: We think this depends on who you ask, and at the end of the day, it's really a subjective answer. So here's our opinion: we're all human, we'll never be perfect. We have a long way to go as a society to surmount some of the problems we've gotten ourselves into- environmental degradation being one of them. It's extremely important that we push hard to solve them, but it's even more important that what we're pushing works.

Our sense is pushing environmentalism for the environment's sake isn't going to work right now. Unfortunately, the planet is not a high enough priority in most people's day-to-day existence in the U.S. Caring for the planet requires real change, some of which is admittedly hard to make.

Adding to the problem, the macro environmental costs and consequences caused by our actions are incredibly disconnected from our lives (think "I can't feel it getting warmer"). Humans aren't inherently good at changing behavior when there's little perceived cost/benefit for doing so. So forcing environmental action on people can not only be polarizing, but can work in the opposite direction, and actually make people less likely to care. Or even worse, people begin to justify crapping on the planet.

Our hope is that in the future, the environmental choice is not only the easy choice, but the most beneficial choice (think natural lighting: easy on the pocketbook and shown to have positive psychological effects). In the meantime, as a society, we'll go through many iterations figuring out what actually motivates people to care at scale. We haven't figured it out yet.

3. Sustainablog: You use user-generated content as a means of judging and verifying action taken on particular challenges: stories and photos seem to be the norm now. How do you see this element of your model expanding? Do you foresee partnerships with larger, more established players in the user-generated content space, such as Flickr and Youtube?

Bolder: Absolutely. We're excited about all kinds of partnerships, especially with large content sources like the ones you mention. We've built Bolder as the platform to help any community mobilize to do something good. Whether that community is a business and its customers, a college, a non-profit or corporation, a large media company, celebrity fans, or a consumer product (i.e. YouTube). It's exciting to think about all these enormous communities that are already build and just waiting to be mobilized. We don't want a community, we just want to help existing communities accomplish something meaningful (and fun!).

Imagine a Flickr challenge to the Flickr community to "post a picture of something good happening." Wouldn't that be cool? Same for Nikon, Canon, etc. Bolder could power that challenge today and build a community of people showcasing what good is happening in the world. You want to go tell them about our idea :)

4. Jeff: I know that you don't limit “challengers” to green businesses. What are the advantages and disadvantages of allowing a wide range of companies to make eco-challenges to your users? Any fears that you could become a platform for greenwashing?

We decided from day one that we weren't in the business to decide which companies are good and bad. We just wouldn't get anything done during the day if we debated the good/bad merits of each company! Trust us, we love to sit around and talk :) Rather, we wanted to provide a platform that allowed anyone to mobilize a community to do something good.

While the platform has been fairly self-selecting so far, we see the net opening wider in the future. It's up to consumers, not Bolder, to determine whether the businesses they interact with are greenwashing. As was said in 2), we have a long way to go as a society. Limiting participation on the platform would defeat the purpose and lessen the impact we can all have together.

5. Sustainablog: You challenge your users to take green actions; what kinds of green actions does the company take in day-to-day operations and other facets of the business?

Bolder: Cool, so now you get to decide if we're faking it :) We're just going to list some ways that we live, so we'll inevitably miss something. First and foremost though, we complete every challenge (at least so far), so we're constantly thinking about and living the actions on the site. In general, our mantra is embracing change. Always questioning what we're doing, can we be doing it better? Gives life some variety. So listing some things we do everyday:

- commute: we're all bike commuters/public transit users. Everyday, even in the rain.
- paper: we don't print in the office unless our lawyer/payroll company makes us
- waste: we don't use throwaway coffee cups. We each have our own mugs on our desks. If you get caught with a paper cup, you do 30 pullups on the spot (we have a cool park next to our office). waterbottles: do plastic bottles even exist anymore? Thanks MiiR!
- litter: we're constantly picking up trash on our neighborhood "stress walks" (we circle the block when we're stressed)
- lunch: waste free, as often as possible. The data is mixed on the exact benefits of not eating meat, but very little meat is consumed at Bolder (thanks Rob!).
- energy: lights off (who likes fluorescent anyway), until our loft mates make us turn them on. Always unplug everything after working.
- clothing: we dress casual & strive to reduce our wardrobe by donating and buying from thrift stores. Benefit: super hip clothes!
- consumption: we're pretty poor from starting Bolder, so we don't shop much, except for outdoor gear :)

Guilty pleasure: we draw much of our energy to pour into Bolder from our experiences in the outdoors. Since we live in San Francisco and are avid mountain folk, our winters involve a decent amount of driving. But we assure you, it's always 4 packed in the Subie. Gotta complete the "carpool" challenge on the way to Tahoe :)

Thanks everyone. It's been fun so far and we're looking forward to growing with all of you! We'd love to hear what you think in the comments section below. Thanks!

A new kind of team. Hint: it's not a bunch sweaty athletes

When flipping through the news in the morning (whatever your medium), do you get the 'geez' moment? It's the moment where you feel a little overwhelmed; as if the world is incapable of producing good news. Obviously, this feeling is completely reasonable given the spin of the media, but factually untrue. We like to focus on a different story. The one where people all over the world engage everyday in the pursuit of betterment. This is inspiring.

It's intriguing to watch this pursuit by people and businesses. People care deeply about living a fulfilling life and providing for the future. All of us care about influence, progress, and being better (why do we exercise, care about career advancement, and volunteer?).

Businesses care about providing value to customers, shareholders, employees, and society at-large. More and more, businesses are focusing on ways that their operations can create good for society at-large. Sometimes this good is inherent to their business model (like TOMS shoes), and other times it bubbles up as a cool experiment (think Disney's Give a Day, Get a Day program). Both are equally awesome and should be applauded. Both represent people and businesses teaming up to create good. TOMS uses purchasing power, while Disney focuses on people's real-world action.

The potential power in people teaming up with businesses to create good is immense. We believe this relationship has to be facilitated in an easy, replicable way if the true power is to be realized. In the future, people and businesses will think about each other differently. Not as separate, but as one, with a common mission - making a positive impact on the world. What do you think?

Bolder values: our thoughts on consumerism

We received feedback that Bolder challenges may feed consumerism. We got a few comments during our prAna challenge, so we wanted to be honest and upfront with our thoughts related to consumerism. For an example of the feedback we received, please click on the screenshot (to the right) of the discussion from a rock climbing forum.

At a high level, Bolder helps great businesses inspire actions that benefit society. We provide a platform where a business can challenge people to do something good, and then reward people who complete the challenge with discounted products or services.

We understand that businesses produce products, and people consume them. People consume to meet basic needs and also to achieve certain life experiences (If I want to do a bike race, I'll certainly need a bike). To sell products, businesses run discount marketing campaigns, and they will continue to do so, regardless of Bolder. We want to be the platform that turns these campaigns into good actions that benefit society. We are focused on driving positive action, and we believe we can increase the overall positive impact on society by providing rewards for good actions. Even the best of us out there can use a little nudge to do something good (we sure do!).

In an effort to do what we can to encourage consciousness, we give you a choice of whether you would like to accept the rewards you earn. When you take action to complete a challenge, you earn a reward. You can choose to accept the reward as a 'thank you!' for contributing positively to society. What you may not be aware of is that some people who complete the challenge do not accept the reward. This choice that you have to accept the reward is important to us. Don't like the challenge? Cool, don't do it. Like the challenge, but not the reward? Complete the challenge with the Bolder Team, but don't accept the reward!

If you agree, disagree, or just have something to say about this topic, please send us your ideas (ideas@actbolder.com). We're very excited to hear from you, and in general just love to talk ;)

If you're realllly concerned about consumerism, you could also just do what a member of the climbing forum says, "grow your own food and get naked." Yeah we really like that idea, too.