How one man’s frustration with the system sparked a global movement to make marketing a force for good.

When the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit collapsed, the world sighed in disappointment — and one man’s life changed forever. Thomas Kolster, then a creative in advertising, watched as political promises dissolved into inaction. The city buzzed with hope one day and fell silent the next. For Thomas, that silence wasn’t just political — it was personal.

“If governments couldn’t move fast enough, maybe brands could. Creativity moves culture — and culture moves the world.”

That realization became the seed of what he would later call Goodvertising — a movement that reimagines marketing as a tool for progress, not persuasion. “I wanted to explore how we could use the same creativity that sells a soda to instead inspire people to recycle it,” he says with a smile. “It wasn’t about making nice ads — it was about rethinking the role of marketing altogether: from manipulation to meaningful contribution.”

You’re known as the man who started the Goodvertising movement. What first inspired you to connect advertising with doing good? 

When the climate summit in Copenhagen collapsed back in 2009, it really hit me. I remember the city being full of energy and hope people genuinely believed something big was about to change. And then… nothing. Just political stalemate and disappointment. At the time, I was working in advertising, and it forced me to ask some uncomfortable questions about the role of our industry. If governments couldn’t move fast enough, maybe brands with their creativity, reach, and cultural influence could actually help drive the change we need. That frustration, that sense of wasted opportunity, became the spark for Goodvertising. I wanted to explore how we could use the power of marketing not to sell more products, but to sell progress. I was struck by how much creativity was being wasted on selling more stuff we didn’t need. The same energy that convinced people to buy a soda could be used to inspire them to recycle it.. It wasn’t about making “nice ads,” it was about rethinking the role of marketing altogether: from manipulation to meaningful contribution. 

You’ve said that people don’t buy a brand’s purpose — they buy who that brand can help them become. Can you explain what that means in simple terms? 

Purpose has become a vanity project for brands. Everyone wants to be the hero saving the planet. But people don’t wake up wanting to join your purpose parade they wake up wanting to live their own values. 

So the real question is: How does your brand make me better? Not “How do I make your brand look good?” 

If you’re Nike, don’t talk about your commitment to empowerment; show me how you empower me when I lace up your shoes. The shift is subtle but powerful: it’s about turning your marketing mirror outward from “Look how good we are” to “Look who you can become with us.” 

Think about how you can make people live healthier lives? More fulfilling lives? Maybe more climate conscious lives? The oatmilk brand Oatly encourage people to live a plant-based lifestyle. Like a coach they nudge you – they don’t preach. 

Many brands talk about purpose, but few make a real impact. What do you think separates the ones that truly walk the talk?

What separates the brands that truly walk the talk from those that don’t is authenticity and consistency and you can see that difference in how people actually feel the brand in their own lives. 

Authenticity is about helping people make a real, positive change for themselves not about big words or saving the world. As I write in The Hero Trap, people don’t buy into your purpose, they buy into who you can help them become. When a brand like IKEA helps you create a better everyday life at home, or L’Oréal empowers you to feel worth it, that’s purpose grounded in real human experience. It’s authentic because it starts with people, not the brand’s ego. 

Then there’s consistency and this is where most brands fall down. In research I did with WARC, we found that the majority of so-called “purpose-driven” campaigns actually fail to deliver measurable business or behavioral impact. Why? Because they treat purpose like a short-term campaign, not a long-term commitment. It’s not consistent across the company’s actions, products, or internal culture. 

The brands that do walk the talk are the ones that live it every day. They don’t shout about purpose they show it through what they make, how they act, and how they help people grow. 

At the end of the day, walking the talk means this: people should be able to feel the difference your brand makes in their own lives. If they can’t, it’s just marketing. 

You’ve worked with big names like Meta, adidas, and IKEA. What’s one lesson you’ve learned from helping these global brands become more responsible? 

That scale is both a privilege and a responsibility. 

Big brands can change industries overnight, but only if they align profit with progress. 

The best ones treat responsibility not as a “nice to have,” but as a business advantage. For example, when IKEA started designing for circularity, it wasn’t charity; it was foresight. They saw a world running out of resources and asked, “How do we stay relevant?” That’s the mindset shift: sustainability not as sacrifice, but as strategy. 

Your method, The Arrow, has been adopted all over the world. How does it help companies stay true to their values? 

The Arrow is really about clarity and focus helping companies move from lofty words about purpose to something that’s actionable, human, and real.

In The Hero Trap, I argue that too many brands get stuck asking “Why are we here?” and end up with a grand mission statement that often sounds like everyone else’s. The Arrow flips that question on its head and asks instead: “Who can you help people become?” That simple shift grounds everything a company does in people’s transformation, not the brand’s ego. 

When you define your brand through that lens, your values stop being abstract. They start to live in the way you design products, how you communicate, how you treat employees it all lines up. I’ve seen companies from Latin America to Scandinavia use The Arrow to align leadership, culture, and marketing around one clear promise of who they help their customers become. 

And that’s what keeps them true to their values. Because when you build from the “who,” your decisions become a lot more consistent. You can ask at every turn: Does this action actually help people become who we said we’d help them be? That question becomes your compass. 

So The Arrow isn’t just a branding tool it’s a way to build authenticity through accountability. It forces brands to live their values through behavior, not just messaging. 

You’ve spoken in over 80 countries. What’s one story or experience that really stayed with you on this journey? 

In Mozambique, I met a group of young entrepreneurs who were using solar lamps to replace kerosene. They told me, “We don’t sell lamps, we sell light for studying, safety, and hope.” That stuck with me. 

Because it reminded me that marketing at its best isn’t about selling products, it’s about transforming lives, however small the impact. That’s the energy we need back in the boardroom: seeing people not as consumers, but as changemakers in their own right. 

Greenwashing is still a big problem. What advice would you give to companies who want to make real change, not just good headlines? 

If your sustainability story starts with your PR team, it’s already too late. The best communication is demonstration. My advice is simple: do the hard work first. Pick one area your supply chain, your packaging, your energy use and commit to measurable, transparent progress. Don’t talk in future tense; talk in numbers and results. 

But I’d also say this: real change isn’t just about how your company behaves it’s about how you help people change too. That’s where The Arrow comes in. It’s not about shouting your “why,” it’s about defining who you help people become. 

If you’re a food brand, maybe you help people live healthier. If you’re in mobility, maybe you help people move more freely or sustainably. When you focus on your customers’ transformation, not your own hero story, everything becomes more genuine and much harder to greenwash. 

In the end, people don’t want you to save the world for them; they want you to help them make a difference in their own lives. That’s what builds real impact and lasting trust.

You often talk about “post-purpose.” What does that mean for how we think about marketing today? 

Post-purpose is about moving beyond brand heroism. 

We’ve reached a point where every brand claims to have a “purpose” to save the planet, empower communities, end world hunger. But when everyone is trying to be a hero, no one really is. We’ve romanticized purpose to the point of paralysis. 

Post-purpose is the evolution it’s about moving from what you stand for to who you help people become. Instead of trying to lead grand movements, brands should focus on enabling movement in people’s lives. 

It’s not about preaching your beliefs; it’s about giving people the tools, choices, and confidence to act on theirs. Think less “join our cause,” more “here’s how you can make a difference.” 

The brands of the future won’t be the ones shouting the loudest about purpose they’ll be the ones that help people live it, every day. 

What gives you hope about the future of business and sustainability? 

When things get black and white like a U.S. president openly defending fossil fuels we finally know what we’re up against. You can’t fight fog, but you can fight something clear. And that’s when change happens. 

We can’t go back in a time machine to when oil was cheaper than renewables or when white men ruled the world. The future is already moving toward diversity, clean energy, and progress. 

We’re past the age of “saving the world.” The future belongs to those who help people build a better one.

If you could leave one message to young marketers and entrepreneurs, what would it be? 

Don’t chase meaning. Create it. If I could tell young marketers one thing, it’s this: stop trying to sell change start enabling it. Everyone wants to “make a difference,” but the real power lies in helping people make a difference in their own lives. 

It’s like quitting cigarettes everyone can tell you to stop, your doctor, your friends, your family but until you decide, nothing happens. The same goes for marketing. You can’t force change on people; you can only give them the motivation and tools to choose it themselves. 

So be the change, yes but more importantly, help others become it. 

Marketing has incredible power to shape behavior. Use that power to make people’s lives tangibly better not just to make your brand sound clever. 

Be bold. Be useful. And remember: the best story you can tell is the one you help others live.