Julie Oxberry discusses Iceland's palm oil controversy with The Drum.
Following a viral Christmas campaign that highlighted the devastation Palm Oil brings to Orangutangs’ natural habitat and a pledge to ban all palm oil in own brand products, Iceland made headlines again this week. It came to light that to meet the promised timeline, the brand removed Iceland branding on certain products containing palm oil, rather than the ingredient itself.
Household Managing Director and co-founder Julie Oxberry discussed the ramifications of Iceland’s palm oil promise with The Drum. She explained that customers are more likely to question the reality of what a brand actually stands for in our post-truth society and will interrogate the truth of brand promises rather than accepting them at face value.
As Julie highlighted, “The recent news about Iceland proves that it’s no longer enough for a brand to simply ‘clean up’ its external image. In order to survive it must build and maintain a unified presence and strong purpose. It is vital that a brand’s identity is consistent at every touchpoint and must deepen to include internal culture and processes too.”
You can read the full article in The Drum here.
