Ci: it’s more than a name, it’s what we stand for
Ci stands for Conscientious Innovation. The name came from the first series of salon style focus groups that Ci founder Kierstin De West conducted in her living room in Chelsea, NYC in 2000 with innovators and thought leaders in fashion, art, media, marketing and business . From this research, it was clear that something interesting was going on culturally and there was an imminent shift in people’s relationship with lifestyle choices, brand relationships and purchase decisions. We were redefining the criteria upon which we made those choices to values based on integrity, social responsibility, authenticity, community, and consciousness. From this early research conducted with thought leaders and we uncovered two distinct qualities that defined these trend setters:
1) They lived and died on innovation.
2) Being conscientious was increasingly important to them and reflected in their lifestyle choices, purchase decisions and brand relationships from family, career and community to automotive, energy, health and food choices.
CI was founded in 2002 by Kierstin De West
Kierstin is the CEO and founder of Ci and she is the creator of Ci’s proprietary market research and analytics tool, The SHIFT Report™. In 2002, she founded Ci with the launch of a white paper titled “Integrity: The New Brand Currency that Can’t be Bought or Spun” forecasting the shift to sustainability and the rise of Integrity Brands®.
With 12 years of focus on the cultural shift to sustainability and CSR, Kierstin has unique expertise and knowledge in this space as it relates to people, culture and brands, how to uncover relevant insights, and translate this insight into business and innovation opportunities for leading brands. This perspective informs the focus and constant evolution of The SHIFT Report which Kierstin continues to lead.
Prior to Ci Kierstin was a strategic planner in the advertising agency business where she focused on consumer packaged goods, youth culture, and digital.
Kierstin is passionate about the relationship between people, culture, brands and leveraging that understanding to drive innovation, business success and a better world.
She speaks regularly on consumers and social responsibility, sustainability, shifting consumer and cultural values, and the opportunities this represents for business at conferences and to corporations. Engagements include The United Nations Environment Program, Net Impact, AIGA, Compost Modern, Sustainable Brands and more. Kierstin is the creator and host of Experts Behind the Experts Sustainable Innovators series on Sustainable Life Media. She hosted a weekly live on-air segment on Global TV, Canada’s highest rated network morning news program and has been featured in Greenbiz, Brandweek, Adweek, Sustainable Life Media, PSFK, Environmental Leader, Dwell, Core 77 and more.