Medinge Group

The Medinge Group is an international think-tank of marketing and branding experts that meets annually at Medinge, Sweden, founded by authors and consultants Thomas Gad and Anette Rosencreutz in 2001. The meetings are attended by consultants, authors and thinkers from the United States, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, New Zealand and Russia. The Group examines the future of branding as a discipline and profession, providing leading thinking and research.

There have been meetings in Amsterdam in January 2003 and January 2004 under the Medinge banner hosted by Dutch author Sicco van Gelder. A London meeting took the place of the Amsterdam one in 2005. Paris was the last non-Swedish host city in 2006 and 2007.

Brands with a Conscience award

Every year since November 2003, the Group has named companies for its 'Brands with a Conscience' award for the following year. This is regarded as a sign that a company has achieved humanitarian, social or environmental aims while being successful at the commercial elements of branding.

In December 2006, the Group announced the Colin Morley Award, named after a colleague and member who was killed in the London Underground terrorist bombings of July 7, 2005. The Award recognizes excellence by an NGO.

2004 winners

* CaféDirect (UK)
* Infosys Technologies Ltd. (India)
* Kiehl's (USA)
* Max Havelaar Foundation (the Netherlands)
* Natures & Découvertes (France)
* Patagonia (USA)
* Sanrio (Japan)

2005 winners

* Dilmah Teas (Sri Lanka)
* [http://www.flexcar.com Flexcar] (USA)
* Grameen Phone (Bangladesh)
* John Lewis Partnership (UK)
* Paolo Soleri (USA)
* ROMP (UK)
* Semco (Brazil)
* Working Assets (USA)

2006 winners

* ABN AMRO/Banco/Banco Real (the Netherlands/Brazil/Sweden)
* BP (UK)
* Dr Hauschka (Germany)
* First Mile Solutions (USA)
* Interface Carpet/Interface Inc. (USA)
* Slow Food Movement (Italy)
* Sovereign Global Investment (UAE)
* Toyota Prius (Japan)
* Watabaran (Nepal)

2007 winners

* Adnams (UK)
* Ecover (Belgium)
* Fetzer Vineyards (USA)
* Freeplay (South Africa)
* IKEA (Sweden)
* Product Red (USA)
* Virgin Group/Virgin Fuels (UK)
* Whole Foods Market (USA)The Colin Morley Award for Excellence by an NGO: Shakespeare's Globe (UK)

External links

* [http://medinge.org Official site]
* [http://www.beyond-branding.com/ Site and blog for "Beyond Branding", book authored by Medinge Group members]