Should Advertising be trying to save the planet? - Media http://www.media.asia/print.php?

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Should Advertising be trying to save the planet?

by Michael O'Neill 03-Dec-09, 10:16

Given its abilility to influence consumer behaviour, is the advertising industry doing enough to help
alleviate global warming?

This month’s meeting of world leaders in Copenhagen to discuss climate change and the future of the Kyoto
protocol is expected to be a somewhat technical exchange between politicians,industry leaders and
non-governmental organisations. On the face of it, a long way from the day to day concerns of the
advertising industry in Asia.

But with several agencies running high profile global campaigns that aim to increase public awareness of the
Copenhagen conference, the link between the two becomes less tenuous. Added to this is the broader
angle, namely advertising’s ability - and to some extent the industry’s responsibility - to help drive and
influence environmentally responsible behaviour in Asia, both with consumers and its clients.

“Our industry is great at changing people’s behaviour, both in terms of purchasing and also behaviour on
wider issue,” says David Jones, global CEO, Havas Worldwide and Euro RSCG Worldwide. “Look at the
amount of advertising and communications around road safety, obesity, stopping smoking - we have the
creativity and communications to really change people’s behaviour for the better.”

Jones has been the driving force behind the ‘Tck, tck, tck’ climate change campaign, launched globally by
Havas at the 2009 Cannes Advertising Festival, with local roll-outs introduced in Asia later in the year. The
campaign aims to create the world’s largest petition for the climate justice category with the objective of
putting pressure on the world’s political leaders to deliver in Copenhagen, something Jones sees as more of
a movement than a campaign.

At the same time, Ogilvy has been making its own contribution to Copenhagen through the ‘Hopehagen’
initiative, a campaign that was created in direct response to an appeal to the advertising industry by UN Sec
retary-General Ban Ki-moon for assistance in achieving a positive outcome at the climate change
conference. The campaign has run across online,TV, print and OOH, including outdoor ads that ran during
the recent APEC summit in Singapore and a Chinese-language version of the Hopenhagen website.

“Hopenhagen allows citizens of the world to become vocal and active participants in the climate change
dialogue,” says Danny Phan, regional director, global sustainability practice at Ogilvy Asia-Pacific.“The
campaign strengthens and grows each day with every new signature signing onto the Secpetition and with
every hope shared and vocalised.”

Also present at Copenhagen will be WWF’s Earth Hour project.The campaign to encourage homes and
businesses to turn off their lights to conserve energy, which originated in Australia but has since exploded
into a global movement, is now focusing on Copenhagen and will run a special Earth Hour in the city,
alongside related events.

But while these campaigns are focused specifically on building awareness around the climate change
conference, more telling will be how the sentiment of what gets discussed in Copenhagen eventually trickles
down to the space where brands and agencies operate their businesses.“Copenhagen is a political effort
rather than anything brand based, but out of Copenhagen,the communications industry needs to understand
what is going on and needs to be able to help its clients do the right thing,” says Patrick Stahle, president
and CEO at Aegis Asia-Pacific.

For one thing, the conference could revitalise a commitment to green marketing in the region. At the start of
2008, as in other parts of the world there was much optimism in Asia concerning the viability of green
communications.

In response to growing consumer awareness of sustainability, bringing green into the marketing mix was
seen as a genuine starter,with several agencies talking about opening specialist practices.But then came the
inancial downturn and environmental issues were put on hold.

“Pre-recession, socially responsible business and CSR were the fastest growing trends,”says Jones.
“Unfortunately, when people are losing jobs and houses, the focus moves away from the environment and
climate change.”

As an industry, advertising prioritises short-term actions, adds Stahle, which has meant green marketing has
been forced by economic realities to take a back seat.That said,the climate and sustainability issue could
soon be back on the table.“I believe it will recover in 2010 as business picks up, but we need to make sure
that we put it back on the agenda,”he says.

It could be argued that environmental concerns never really went away. For consumers, at least, the basic
principles were never in danger. “Clients always kept sustainability relatively high on their agendas and close
to their hearts,”explains Phan.“They realise that the world has changed and environmental responsibility is
no longer an option.”

Indeed, the longer-term impact of the recession could actually have furthered the core values of socially
responsible consumption, with the financial downturn further alienating those companies that operate for the
pursuit of profit alone.“We ran a global survey in which 86 per cent of consumers said businesses should be
about more than just profit,” says Jones. “That was pre-recession. Now that figure would be closer to 96 per
cent.”

But as environmental concerns once again become more relevant to the marketing industry in Asia, what
role should agencies be playing in helping promote these issues?

“Agencies need to be aware of what consumers are asking for and make sure they are communicating that
with their clients,” says Jones, adding that agencies need to help find the balance between what is a credible
role for the brand and the real issues that consumers care about.

Stahle takes it one step further,arguing that the agency’s responsibility is two-fold: helping clients
communicating a green message and stopping them from green washing. “Agencies per se cannot change
the carbon footprint, stop greenhouse gases or solve the water shortages,” he says. “But what we can do is
identify when our clients are greenwashing and stop them. None of us knows everything, but there are a
certain number of common principles we can all work with.”

However, Todd Sampson, chief executive at Leo Burnett Sydney and part of the team behind Earth Hour,
thinks agencies should not be in the role of educator.“The industry has an obligation to give back,”he
says.“But I don’t think we should be pushing clients. Most of our clients come to us with ideas and we are
helping with that. In fact, in most cases, a lot of the change is being made by clients.”

This is certainly being reflected in the global context, with Jones noting that some of the world’s most
successful companies - GE, Walmart and Toyota, to name a few - have pioneered and led in this space.On a

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more local level, however, there is perhaps still work to be done.

“The industry has a responsibility to ensure the highest degrees of integrity and transparency in the work that
it does on behalf of clients in regards to sustainability,”says Phan.“There is no room for greenwashing, for
creating more confusion in what is an already complex space.Communications professionals can use their
influence to work with clients to harness their communications programmes and invest in a sustainable future
for sound social and environmental impact.”

Sampson argues that agencies should stick to what they are best at. “Agencies are motivated by two things,
running in parallel - they want to use their creativity to make a difference difference and they want the
opportunity to do something original and pick up awards. Environmental issues provide the platform for that.”

But it is not just about helping to control the message. Equally important, of course, is being aware of the
environmental impact of how that message is delivered. “If you do not take into account every aspect of your
business spend,you cannot claim to be truly green.And that,I am sorry to say, includes advertising,” says
Christopher Sewell,business director at TrinityP3, which specialises in helping companies understand the
environmental impact of their marketing spend.

“Advertisers and their agencies have to understand that the very process of promoting goods and services
leaves a footprint,” he adds.“The choice should be appropriate - no skywriting the logo - and there must be a
focus on targeting and waste reduction.”

This is something that a number of agencies have been taking seriously, in-house at least. Aegis, for
example, runs its Green Bean project, which aims to make the network carbon neutral in Asia-Pacific by
2011,and which has already reduced the carbon footprint for all Aegis network agencies by 20 per cent.
Stahle says the programme was maintained throughout 2009, despite the recession. Similarly, Ogilvy has
established recycling policies and mobilised local office green teams, with the goal of shrinking its own
environmental footprint.

Meanwhile, at Havas,which was the first holding company to be declared carbon neutral, Jones says the
industry has made a strong start. “Could we be doing more? Of course we could. We could all do more. But
it is not about judging any industry in absolute terms. It is about identifying the starting point and seeing what
progress has been made.”

Sampson says that it remains important to maintain a grassroots-level engagement, such as was the case
with Earth Hour, which originally targeted individuals and families to make a personal contribution. This is
especially true in Australia, where “green fatigue” is becoming a genuine concern, as consumers grow tired
of the commoditisation of environmental issues.

“What I have learned from being involved over the last three years is that the big picture collective worry is
being used as an excuse to ignore individual responsibility,” he says. “We all as individuals need to do our
part. Turn off our lights more often, turn down the air conditioner. Not stare at the big picture and be
paralysed. The big picture is in the hands of the politicians.It is much better to do your own bit - at work and
at home with your family.”

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