TWM 226: How Plastic Bank Is Creating Value for Stakeholders Around the World w/ Saleem Ahamed
Release Date: 12/11/2021
TWM 239: How to Give International Visitors to Your Website a Great Experience w/ John Yunker
The Worldly Marketer Podcast
John Yunker is a well-known pioneer in the field of web and software globalization, and, by now, one of the perennial contributors to this podcast. I've featured him on three previous episodes: #059, #182 and, most recently, #221. He is the Co-Founder & President of Byte Level Research, an agency that specializes in researching, promoting, and advising on best practices in website globalization. Based in Ashland, Oregon, John has been helping companies improve their global content, websites, and software since 2000. He has worked with many of the world’s biggest multinational...
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TWM 238: How CEA Is Helping Clients Deploy Solar and Storage Solutions Worldwide w/ Andy Klump
The Worldly Marketer Podcast
Andy Klump is a renewable energy executive with nearly two decades of experience living and working in Asia. He is the founder, owner, and CEO of Clean Energy Associates (CEA), a solar energy and storage advisory firm that specializes in technical due diligence and engineering services. Established in 2008, CEAnow employs over 175 professionals around the world, and has completed solar energy and storage projects in more than 65 countries so far. Originally from the U.S., Andy has a background in Economics and an MBA from the Harvard Business...
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TWM 237: How ev.energy Is Scaling Cheaper, Greener, Smarter EV Charging Globally w/ Kathleen MacLean
The Worldly Marketer Podcast
Kathleen MacLean is the Head of Growth at ev.energy, a London-based Cleantech startup that empowers electric vehicle owners to charge their EV in a simpler, cheaper, and greener way. Launched in 2018, ev.energy’s innovative app keeps track of when energy is least expensive and carbon-intensive, and balances user demand on the energy grid at peak times. As a Certified B Corporation, ev.energy is part of a global community of over 5,000 companies (and counting) that are reinventing business by pursuing purpose as well as profit. In early 2022, ev.energy extended its Series A funding to $12.8...
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TWM 236: How Sonnedix Is Building Engagement in Solar Power on a Global Scale w/ María González-Calvo de Miguel
The Worldly Marketer Podcast
María González-Calvo de Miguel is the Global Lead for Marketing and Communications at Sonnedix, a multi-national Independent Power Producer (IPP) that develops, finances, builds, owns, and operates solar power plants around the globe. Founded in 2009, the company's purpose is to harness the power of the sun to build a bright future. Today, Sonnedix has 400 photovoltaic power plants in operation, construction or under development around the world, with a total production capacity of more than six GW of power. The company has over 400 employees across a dozen global offices, including in the...
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TWM 235: Kathrin Bussmann on The International Business Podcast
The Worldly Marketer Podcast
This episode is a special cross-post. As the producer & host of The Worldly Marketer Podcast, Kathrin Bussmann is usually the one asking the questions. But in early 2022, she was invited to be a guest on The International Business Podcast, and found herself on other side of the interview process. In conversation with Audrey Wagner, one of the podcast’s co-hosts, Kathrin talks about her definition of ‘branding’, the importance of having a global brand strategy in today's digital economy, how localization contributes to global business success, and why she chose to focus her consulting...
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TWM 234: A Personal Tribute to Prof. Dr. Max G. Krell
The Worldly Marketer Podcast
This week, instead of bringing you a podcast interview, I’d like to share something a bit more personal. I’d like tell you about my father, Prof. Dr. Max G. Krell. In so many ways, he’s the reason I’m the person I am today. My father was a nuclear physicist. He was born in 1935 in Lower Silesia, a region that was part of Germany before the Second World War and is now part of Poland. He studied Physics at the university of Erlangen, in Bavaria, which is where he met my mother. As newlyweds, they moved to Karlsruhe, another German university town, so that my father could pursue his...
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TWM 233: Who Knew? What the Data Tells Us About Global Digital Behaviours in 2022 w/ Simon Kemp
The Worldly Marketer Podcast
Simon Kemp is a global authority on how people use the Internet. As Founder & CEO at Kepios, a strategy consultancy, he helps organizations all over the world to make sense of what people are really doing online, to identify changes in digital behaviour, and to understand how these trends will impact their success. Originally from Scotland, Simon has been based in Singapore since 2007. In parallel to his work at Kepios, he is also the Chief Analyst at DataReportal, an online reference library of up-to-date reports that explore people's digital behaviours globally, regionally, and by...
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TWM 232: How the Sustainable Marketing Movement Is Becoming a Global Force for Good w/ Michelle Carvill
The Worldly Marketer Podcast
Michelle Carvill is a strategic marketer and entrepreneur, as well as a successful speaker, podcaster, and author. Her latest book, published in 2021, is called Sustainable Marketing – How to Drive Profits with Purpose. In parallel to the book, which she co-authored with Gemma Butler and Geraint Evans, she has developed training programs for the Chartered Institute of Marketing to ensure that sustainability is firmly on the marketing education agenda. Michelle has also developed a certified "Carbon Literacy Training for Marketers", and she is creating conversations around sustainable...
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TWM 231: How GlobeScan Works with Brands to Create a More Sustainable World w/ Chris Coulter
The Worldly Marketer Podcast
Chris Coulter is the CEO at GlobeScan, an international insights and advisory consultancy that works at the intersection of brand purpose, sustainability, and trust. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, GlobeScan’s purpose is to co-create a sustainable and equitable future. It partners with leading businesses, NGOs, and governmental organizations to deliver insights that guide decision-making, and to build strategies that contribute to a sustainable and equitable world. More than three decades into its mission, GlobeScan now has a global network of experts, as well as...
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TWM 230: How Alder & Co. Is Driving the Growth of Climate Tech Companies w/ Bettina Grab
The Worldly Marketer Podcast
Bettina Grab has over 15 years of experience in global B2B tech marketing. She is the President at Alder & Co., a leading marketing agency that works exclusively with cleantech and climate-tech companies. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Alder & Co.'s mission is to advance the adoption of climate technologies until they become universal. Originally from Germany, Bettina has a background in communication sciences, international relations, and journalism. She began her marketing career in 2004, and worked at some large German IT & media enterprises, before...
info_outlineSaleem Ahamed is the Chief Marketing Officer at Plastic Bank, an organization that is helping the world to stop ocean plastic, while improving the lives of those who help collect it. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Plastic Bank’s mission is to empower the regenerative society by building ethical recycling ecosystems in coastal communities and reprocessing the materials for reintroduction into the global manufacturing supply chain.
Currently, the company operates in Haiti, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Egypt, and works with over 17,000 collectors. So far, Plastic Bank has stopped over one billion plastic bottles from entering our oceans. That's over 20 million kilograms of plastic waste.
With a background in business and marketing, Saleem began his career over 25 years ago, working for Procter & Gamble in Europe. After more than a decade with Procter & Gamble, he joined Johnson & Johnson, where he eventually became Worldwide Director of Global Strategic Marketing.
In 2012, he decided to launch a business of his own, as Co-Founder and CEO of Silver Health Systems, a valet dental care company. After four years of this entrepreneurial hiatus, he rejoined Johnson & Johnson to take on a series of senior leadership roles – including that of Global CMO – in the company's Diabetes Care division.
In 2019, Saleem transitioned into the Cleantech space, when he took on the role of Chief Marketing Officer at Terramera, a Vancouver-based AgTech company focused on applying AI solutions to agricultural problems. Finally, in early 2020, he joined the team at Plastic Bank in his current position of CMO.
In this interview, Saleem talks about why Plastic Bank set up its operations in the countries where it did, the importance of driving the value proposition through strategic brand management, and how the organization now creates value on multiple levels for different types of stakeholders – from local plastic collectors to multinational corporate partners.
Links:
- Plastic Bank website
- Plastic Bank on LinkedIn
- Plastic Bank on Facebook
- Plastic Bank on Instagram
- Plastic Bank on YouTube
- Plastic Bank on Twitter
- CEO David Katz’s TED Talk
- Saleem on LinkedIn
This epsiode was sponsored by the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA).