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This is a repost of the article, “Why Should My Business Help Protect the Ocean?,” originally published by Greenspark Have you ever considered how businesses and climate change affect the oceans? It's actually a big deal, not just for the water’s sensitive ecosystems and marine wildlife but also for humans and business! If we can continue to hurt the oceans and its wildlife at the rate we are right now, the damage could be irreversible. How Businesses Are Affecting The Ocean Today Businesses can negatively impact the ocean in several ways, whether or not the sea is an integral part of your company. This includes: Pollution: Industries like manufacturing, shipping, and agriculture can release pollutants like chemicals, plastics, and oil into the ocean, which can harm marine life and damage marine ecosystems. Overfishing: Overfishing by commercial fishing industries can lead to declines in fish populations, disrupting the food web and harming the ocean ecosystem. Coastal development: Building on coastlines can alter and destroy habitats, disrupt migration patterns of marine animals, and increase erosion and sedimentation. Climate change: Businesses contribute to climate change through the emissions of greenhouse gases, which can lead to ocean acidification, rising sea levels, and changes in ocean temperatures, which can disrupt marine ecosystems and threaten the survival of many species. Unsustainable tourism: The tourism industry can negatively impact the ocean through activities such as pollution from cruise ships, destruction of coral reefs and other marine habitats, and overfishing. So we spoke to Natalie and Brandyn of Tortuga Creative Studio, the world's first Ocean-Focused Brand Consultants, to find out what businesses can do to harness their collective power for good and reduce their impact on our oceans. Introducing Tortuga Creative Studios Seven years ago, Tortuga Creative Studios started its journey as a creative branding studio on a mission to change the world with its art. While the first six years of business were not solely ocean-focused, they consistently connected with the ocean-forward clients they worked with the most, thanks to their own personal love for the sea. In 2022, they committed to only working with ocean-focused clients. As the ocean sector grows, they recognise that businesses will need support from those who know the ins and outs of brand strategy, communication and creative services but also understand that a core piece of their work is about shaping a better future for the oceans. Now, through their one-of-a-kind approach to brand consulting, they help passionate ocean-focused businesses and organisations leverage their brands to create solid and sustainable growth while increasing their positive ocean impact. So who better to ask about ocean protection this Earth Day? Let’s get started… ‍ Why is it essential for a business to think about our waterways? Simply put, our waterways and oceans are essential to civilisation, the integrity of local and global ecosystems that support us, and all other life on the planet. Our customers, clients, communities, businesses, cities, rural areas, agriculture, natural areas, fish and wildlife - all rely on the health of our oceans and waterways. As business owners, consideration for our channels shows respect, responsibility and commitment that goes beyond the limited interests of our business. For many of us, water and waterways are essential business resources, and all companies need water to some degree. Water quality and quantity and the health of lakes, rivers, and marine ecosystems are directly connected to our business interests. Healthy and natural waterways and coastlines support businesses. And not least important is that our oceans and waterways hold deep ecological, psychological and spiritual significance beyond water and channels as a utilitarian resource. For all these reasons, businesses should consider their impact on water. “When we damage our water resources, we damage ourselves.” While we typically think of the damage big business and industry cause to the ocean, businesses of all sizes play a role, whether they mean to or not. For example, our founder Natalie recently spent some time in the Florida Keys and had a revealing experience with several beachside bars. While these businesses depend on clean and pristine oceans, she found they served their drinks from single-use plastic cups. Likewise, a snorkel boat tour that she participated in served thirsty guests from plastic water bottles while floating above a designated marine sanctuary. These practices didn’t seem intentional but just something that could be improved upon and leveraged as part of their brand. In this instance, and so many others, there’s a significant opportunity for these ocean-focused businesses to take stock of what they’re doing and innovate ways they could lessen their impact on the ocean. Could the beachside bar reduce its impact (and increase its beachy vibe) by swapping plastic straws for wheat grass ones? Could the snorkel boat share awareness of how plastic can threaten the reef they’re snorkelling on by providing their guests with a water bottle refill station at the dock? Absolutely!” What can businesses do to reduce their impact on the ocean? Reducing your business's damage to the ocean doesn’t have to involve significant and overwhelming changes. Like the beachside bars and snorkel boat tours in the Keys, many companies don’t even realise their actions are damaging the ocean. So starting with an awareness of what your business is doing, alongside the resolve to make the necessary changes, is a significant first step. When looking for where within your business you may be able to increase your positive impact on the oceans, consider what’s going on with your product, how you deliver it to your customers, your team, the environments you work in and what you communicate. Let’s imagine you’re that snorkel boat tour operator we mentioned, and you’re keen to start finding ways to make your business more ocean-friendly: Look at your product or service - in this case, the 2x daily snorkel boat tours you provide to your guests. Your service is what you know best, so there are bound to be some easy-to-spot opportunities to do more for the ocean here. Perhaps there’s an alternative fuel available for your boat, or maybe you can start printing your guest's tickets on sugar sheet paper (yup, it’s a real thing!) Dive into the experience that guests have when they join your snorkelling tour. Could you require that guests use reef-safe sunscreen or have your tour operators trained in interpretation techniques so that they can share ocean issues on the boat ride out to the site? Curate an experience for them that shares your passion and respect for the ocean. Understand your team and vendors. Are your trip operators making ocean-positive changes? If they are, you could leverage their skills and talents to develop ways to make their role more ocean-friendly. Add a passion for the oceans to your hiring criteria! Consider your environment - the physical and virtual spaces your business operates in and its impact on the oceans. Could the neon starfish that glows all night to advertise your business be turned off at 10 pm, or the outdated blogs on your website be cleaned up so your site uses less energy? Analyse your communications' role and how they could be adjusted to support a more ocean-positive mission. Could you start to share inspirational stories about what the ocean means to your business over social media or consider a marketing collaboration with a nearby local company that’s also ocean-focused? Making a lot of changes at once isn’t going to be realistic for most businesses (unless you happen to have a huge team and a lot of resources at your disposal - in which case go crazy), and that's okay. "The first step in increasing your positive ocean impact is simply knowing what’s going on with your business and starting to explore ways that you can make adjustments that work for you as you move forward." The Remora Approach™ To help make it easier for you to make changes in the future, you can use The Remora Approach™ methodology - a simple way of thinking that allows you to consider both the business and ocean element within your business. To use The Remora Approach™, take any element of your business - current or future - and ask yourself: How can I make this work for business growth? AND How can I make this positively impact the ocean? If you've got many answers for business growth but not for ocean impact, you have the opportunity to innovate ways to adjust your ideas to do more for the ocean and vice versa. The key with The Remora Approach™ is that, instead of separating business growth and ocean impact into boxes, it's essential to think of the two as intertwined and necessary to the success of each other. “Every business decision should consider both aspects, and the best actions for you to take will be the ones that balance growth and positive ocean impact in service of a better future.” ‍ How Greenspark is Taking Action For Our Oceans The theme this Earth Day is about investing in our planet, whether that’s your time, energy, money or knowledge. And Tortuga is not alone in its mission to use business as a powerful engine of positive change. Like Tortuga, there are over 300 Earth-positive businesses in the Greenspark community, and many of them are using impact this Earth Day to help make a difference. In fact, many of them are choosing to help protect the ocean and rescue ocean-bound plastic bottles through our partnership with The Plastic Bank. So far, we’ve rescued nearly two million plastic bottles from entering our oceans! And we are just getting started! Are you taking action this Earth Day? If you’re not part of the Greenspark community and want to join hundreds of other earth-positive companies turning their businesses into agents of change, book a demo here! Already part of the community but want to do more? Head to your dashboard, where you can easily manage your impact settings. Simply add or increase the number of plastic bottles you will rescue from our oceans for any use cases! ‍ Want To Know More About Tortuga Creative Studios? "Tortuga Creative Studio helps passionate ocean-focused entrepreneurs leverage their brands to build resilient businesses that do more for the oceans. Through a one-of-a-kind approach based on the perspective that business growth + positive ocean impact = a better future, Tortuga combines brand consulting, creativity and ocean-forward thinking to innovate solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing us business owners and ocean lovers. Learn more about our work at www.madebytortuga.ca or get in touch at hello@madebytortuga.ca"

"I feel like I'm competing with so many similar companies..." "How will I ever be able to stand out in the crowd enough to secure the investment I need?" Does this sound familiar? It does to us! We’ve certainly been there before... in fact, we spent the last seven years there (the struggle is real!) But, after seven years of striving to stand out with minimal success, we finally figured out how to change things. The key? Go all in on niching down and defining a small target audience you care about passionately and can serve better than anyone else. For us, these are all you amazing ocean-focused business owners out there who need branding support to grow and do more for the ocean. Another great example is Emily Charry Tissier of Whale Seeker, who's using her AI technology to focus specifically on detecting marine mammals through imagery. Or Kira Coley, who scoped down her freelance science writing business to specifically help ocean scientists communicate and tell their stories in a way that connects meaningfully with non-scientists. The key to differentiation is committing to as narrow a niche as is realistic for you. Why? Because when you speak to everyone, you speak to no one. But when you speak directly to a small and specific group of people and offer them something that no one else can offer, they will choose you every time. So, don't be afraid to be specific. To think narrowly. To speak to fewer people, but in doing so, to be more relevant to them. If you niche...they will come.

The most impactful designs don't only look good on the surface; they stand for something more profound. They tell a story, communicate a message, and set the stage for growth. Take the new Ocean Knowledge Action Network logo we designed last month. Ready to grow and increase their positive ocean impact, Linwood Pendleton and Stella Alexandroff of the Ocean KAN realized their need for a more professional and impactful brand identity. They were looking for something that would successfully represent their mission of "The coming together of global & diverse groups of people to co-design science for a sustainable ocean, " be easy to recognize and give their members a strong sense of identity. The Ocean KAN proposed a design contest to find their new identity and invited the creative world to submit their concepts. Seeing the opportunity to support a values-aligned organization in its ocean-positive mission while increasing our visibility within the ocean community we'd recently become official members of, Tortuga answered the call and put our 7.5 years of experience in strategic creative services to work. Our goal? To successfully capture what the Ocean KAN represents and create an identity that would serve a dual purpose: supporting the organization's growth and helping increase its positive ocean impact. Thanks to our ability to tell an impactful story with our designs, our experience in portraying complex ideas through simple visuals and our shared love for the ocean, Tortuga's design was selected as the winner. Now, the Ocean KAN has a brand identity that truly represents its mission, is unique and easy to recognize, and is something all its members can be proud to be associated with. On top of that, the design communicates to a broader audience a strong message about Ocean KAN and their belief that a better future depends upon global collaboration and harmony between humanity and the oceans. With this identity, the stage is set for the Ocean KAN to reach further, grow stronger and achieve more. _ To see everything incorporated in the new Ocean KAN logo, take a look below: // The Squoval The squoval (square + oval) shape from the original Ocean KAN logo was retained but modified for the new identity, allowing for some continuity with the original brand and smoothing the transition into the new. // Diversity At the centre of the design are two human figures swimming together, reaching toward each and representing knowledge sharing, co-design, diversity and a global, inclusive approach. // Ocean The ocean elements of the logo design represent the four coastal habitats that sustain ocean life and mitigate climate change, as well as two crucial areas of ocean science & sustainability - blue carbon and the high seas.

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Features Podcast Why Do You Need a Strong Brand to Save the Ocean? A company's branding is about so much more than just a logo, right? Your branding should tell a story and evoke an emotion in your audience. If you are an ocean entrepreneurs, a strong branding can also help you increase your positive impact on the ocean and bring awareness to the public. In this episode, we talk with Natalie Gilson and Brandyn Hansen from Tortuga Creative Studio. They share how important it is to invest into a strong branding right at the start of every entrepreneurs journey, and how that can affect the success of every businesses, from building connection with the community to raising funding. Seaze Listen to Podcast Directory Listing Tidal Pages - Sustainable Business Directory Listing Tidal Pages is a searchable online directory that’s changing how businesses create a bigger impact by building connections that inspire purposeful and collective action. ​ View Listing Panel Oceannovation: Why Building a World Class Company Culture is Crucial for Your Success Getting your company's culture right is crucial for nailing your business strategy. Join this immersive discussion to understand how your company culture can help you settle and scale your business efficiently and secure the right partners for your journey. Oceannovation Learn More Article Why Should My Business Help Protect The Oceans? We spoke to Natalie and Brandyn of Tortuga Creative Studio, the world's first Ocean-Focused Brand Consultants, to find out what businesses can do to harness their collective power for good and reduce their impact on our oceans. Greenspark Read Article Feature Lead Generation & Team Empowerment Through Fighting Plastic Pollution. Tortuga Creative Studio received a 15% increase in engagement on posts that promoted their lead generation quiz along with an impact incentive. Greenspark Read Feature

Your future is in the ocean. The oceans future is in your hands. We use creativity to help ocean-focused entrepreneurs leverage their brands to amplify their positive ocean impact and grow strong, sustainable businesses. BOOK DISCOVERY CALL About Gallery Services Business Growth + Positive Ocean Impact = A Better Future Make waves with your business We help passionate ocean-focused entrepreneurs leverage their brands to build resilient businesses that do more for our oceans. Through our one-of-a-kind programs and consulting services, we combine brand consulting and ocean-forward thinking to innovate solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing business owners and ocean lovers. BOOK DISCOVERY CALL NORM HANN EXPEDITIONS "Sustainability and protecting our oceans brings value to our environment and to the clients who paddle with us..." "I have to thank Tortuga Creative Studio for taking my business to the next level of sustainability with a focus on protecting and conserving our oceans. Tortuga has sourced numerous print and marketing materials for us that are not as harmful to our oceans as traditional methods, and they connected me with a sustainable apparel company whose aim is to protect our oceans. Sustainability and protecting our oceans bring value to our environment and to the clients who paddle with us. With Tortuga's help, we continue to lead the way in our industry with a commitment to conservation, and together we will look for more ways to have less impact on these special places we paddle in." Norm Hann Our Flagship Programs Arribada Brand & Ocean Impact Group Program Overcome your biggest challenge to supercharge your business and boost your positive ocean impact. ​ LEARN ABOUT ARRIBADA Hey, we're Natalie and Brandyn Brand Changemakers and passionate ocean-focused business owners ourselves, we're no strangers to the ebbs and flows of owning and growing a business. Sometimes it's just plain hard, and adding positive ocean impact into the equation makes everything more challenging. ​ This is why we developed The Remora Approach™ - a simple and strategic way of building brands that allow positive ocean impact and business growth to work in a symbiotic relationship where they support, nurture and empower each other. ​ Supported by years of branding experience, a passion for helping businesses grow, and the pursuit of a better future for our oceans, we’re bringing The Remora Approach™ to ocean-focused entrepreneurs worldwide through our flagship programs. BOOK DISCOVERY CALL I absolutely feel that I have gained clarity as to next steps for my brand. I am able to see where my business is at now, what we are doing right and where the gaps are. I have never felt more understood. Blue Jellyfish StandUp Paddle Adventures Pam Martin 01 Business Growth Build a sustainable and resilient business that's strong enough to support your dreams. 02 Ocean Impact Take care of the oceans by amplifying your positive ocean impact. 03 A Better Future Create the future you want and the one the ocean needs. BOOK DISCOVERY CALL Helping sea turtles & removing ocean plastics 9 Sea turtles adopted for our clients & team 17,320 Plastic bottles removed from the oceans 82.8 Tonnes of carbon offset 5 Years 1% for the Planet Member 1,250 Mangrove Trees Planted 22 Corals Planted in French Polynesia Greenspark Earth Positive Business badge Ready to amplify your positive ocean impact and grow a strong, sustainable business? BOOK DISCOVERY CALL ESTELLE HAKNER COPYWRITING "If you have a business and you're passionate about the ocean, you won't regret taking the time to ideate and innovate with Tortuga. Guaranteed you'll come away with cool ideas to make your business even more aligned with your love of our beautiful blue planet. Estelle Hakner Our Blog May 1 7 min Why Should My Business Help Protect The Oceans? We chatted with Greenspark to share what businesses can do to harness their collective power for good and reduce their impact on our oceans. Mar 29 2 min New Brand Identity for the Ocean Knowledge Action Network The most impactful designs don't only look good on the surface; they stand for something more profound. They tell a story, communicate a... Feb 21 2 min Three important vision statement characteristics to help your ocean-focused business stand out These three essential characteristics of a vision statement will help your ocean-focused business stand out (and secure funding, intrigue...