“Advertising is going through a dramatic change…and a fundamental part of that is being challenged.” — Matt Bourn, Director of Communications, Advertising Association
Hello from Tuesday’s edition of the Havas Café! Today, our program is sustainability-heavy, with panels about greenwashing and our climate emergency – both in media and outside of it – with guests like Wolfgang Cramer of the IPCC who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
Be the Change. Stop Greenwashing
Is the advertising industry doomed to greenwash? At the Havas Café, we’re here to say NO to greenwashing! As an industry, we are aware of the power of our creative ideas and the influence of our campaigns. We believe that we can be the change and bring about positive outcomes in society — “clients and agencies need to work together, get to know each other, and understand the brand in order to avoid misleading consumers,” said Isabel Kurata. As communications experts, our role is to talk more about CSR, encourage sustainable lifestyles, and celebrate our clients’ achievements as they work towards a more sustainable future. How to address these booming topics without crossing the red line into greenwashing? As Thomas Kolster said during the panel, “How do we talk in a language that people across countries understand?” Today, we heard a discussion about greenwashing and its implications from our great panelists – Isa Kurata, Co-Founder, Act Responsible; Matt Bourn, Director of Communications, Advertising Association; and Thomas Kolster, Founder, Goodvertising Agency, Marketing Activist & Author – from the definition of greenwashing to some tips to avoid it in our ads (“the target is moving all the time,” said Thomas Koulster), be the change!
How do we solve digital media’s carbon emissions problem?
Digital media has become one of the largest contributors to advertising carbon emissions, and we must explore solutions to reboot the digital ecosystem to focus on attention metrics — as Jon Waite said, “human attention has a carbon cost.” Havas Media Group’s Ben Downing and Jon Waite met with Anne Coghlan, Co-Founder & Head of Product at Scope3 and Mike Follett, Managing Director at Lumen Research to explore how sustainable, lower emitting media experiences deliver not only better attention metrics but also better results for brands and consumers — and “If we can find a way to award publishers for producing less emissions so it’s in their economic interest, we can form a virtuous circle,” as Mike Follett said.
Havas Health & You Fellowship Event
Havas Health & You hosted students from around the world for a recruitment and information lunch at the Café on Tuesday. Leaders from across the business gave a session about opportunities across the Havas Health & You network and gave students a glimpse into what the fascinating world of a career in health and wellness advertising can look like.
“Advertising will save us” Podcast
The ad industry has not always had the best reputation, but across the world today, incredible creatives and marketers are stepping up to meet the challenges we face, from fighting disinformation and race inequality, to taking on debt and gun violence.
Havas Chief Creative Officers Myra Nussbaum and Dan Lucey spoke to people harnessing the power of advertising to help people and the planet – culturally, socially or technologically in their live podcast recorded earlier today and considered the question: in a world beset by problems, could advertising save us after all?
The Urgent Truth about the Climate Emergency: Talk to an Expert
“Behavioral change and systemic change need to happen simultaneously. What’s clear is that we must reduce our emissions faster than what we thought.”
The Havas Café was honored to receive expert Wolfgang Cramer, Climate & Biodiversity Scientist, lead author of the IPCC (the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Nobel Peace Prize 2007, to discuss the urgent truth about the climate emergency. Alarming observations, bleak scenarios, yet necessary discussion to understand why fighting against global warming can no longer wait and act together towards a positive and more environmentally-conscious future. As Wolfgang said, “Being part of the problem also means you can be part of the solution.”
