Start Today is the movement within the marketing community uniting big consumer brands to inspire the UK public to Do More, With Less, and so together create a more sustainable future. We’re doing it all together, on one day, which is fast approaching – it’s the 1st November this year.
Start is the public brand conceived by HRH The Prince of Wales to inspire and excite with great ideas for living a more sustainable lifestyle and a programme of events and activities throughout the year. The Start Today campaign provides a great ‘call to action’ that can tie it all together for consumers to understand.
Brands left right and centre are already signing up – P&G, EDF, Aviva, Birds Eye Iglo, B&Q, IBM, to name a few. They will all be designing a brand activity around 1st November that meets their brand goals and ties into the Start Today initiative. That means they will all carry a ‘Start Today’ logo as the call to action to consumers. Read the rest of this entry »
Giles Robertson, chairman of The Marketing Society’s Not For Profit group, says it’s a crying shame that George Osborne’s budget did nothing to help build the UK’s global position on sustainability.
Waitrose’s head of marketing communication was cornered by Maddie at the Influencing Consumer Behaviour panel discussion and drinks last week. Maddie asked her: “what and who do you think is driving the sustainability agenda in marketing?”
Last night the landscape of ‘green’ marketing changed dramatically with the launch of the ‘One Day’ initiative in collaboration with BITC and Start. Senior marketers gathered to share their perspectives and ambitions for 1.11.11, when they will unite to persuade consumers to ‘think about and do something sustainable today’.
Jo Kenrick, chief executive of Start and chair of the Marketing Society’s green network, gave a motivating and energising presentation focusing on collaboration, which emerged as the central driving force of the campaign; in Jo’s words a “convergence of view”.
We’re thrilled that MORE TH>N, EDF Energy and CBS Outdoor have already pledged their support. We want you to be part of it too. Please email Sarah Folley to get involved.
Here, Stephen Maher, CEO of MBA, sums up what the initiative means for him:
Giles Robertson, chairman of The Marketing Society’s Not For Profit group, asks whether environmental change is driven by charities or companies?
This question has been on my mind with the ‘Big Society’, using local leaders – whoever they are. Six years ago, Margaret Beckett, the then Secretary for the Environment, in her quest to accelerate emissions cuts from corporates, said: “We are at the foothills of dealing with the challenge of climate change and need business to take the lead.”
Businesses need frameworks and incentives to innovate. If they can make a difference that is distinctive, competitive and generates income then they’re on the right track. We’ve seen M&S Plan A, Walmart’s commitment to sustainable fish, The Co-Op’s ethical services and Cadbury’s commitment to fairtrade cocoa from Ghana. These are not having a large impact.
Environmental charities only have one agenda and that is to achieve change. They have passionate supporters – about 6.5 million. Charities are not afraid to campaign against environmental injustices like dangerous chemicals, drive real change with initiatives like the Marine Stewardship Council, or force new legislation like the Marine Bill and the Wildlife Trade Act.
But, perhaps more importantly, 7% of England (or 22,556,352 acres) is made up of charity-run land, managed by the National Trust, RSPB, Wildfowl and Wetlands and the Church of England. Collectively these spaces have inspired and changed many people’s views. You won’t hear about a Fizzy Drink Company stopping one of its Fizzy Drinks to enable it to fund a local beach clean up or to support a local wood. That’s because most company environmental policies are internally focused, short-term and about sorting out their own mess, rather than helping others.
Therefore the real powerhouse of environmental change has come from environmental charities, focused on long-term change, rather than the corporate big boys.
Jo Kenrick, marketing director, Start and the chair of The Marketing Society’s Green Network reviews the Prince of Wales’ book Harmony, which explores how technology and nature could build a sustainable future
Over Christmas I read The Prince of Wales’ book ‘Harmony’, written jointly with Tony Juniper and Ian Skelly. To be honest, had I not been doing the job I am, working for Start and for HRH, I probably wouldn’t have picked the book up, but given what I do it felt really relevant to have a look.
In retrospect I’m glad I did. It isn’t a light read, and it does lay out in no uncertain terms the conviction of the authors on just how serious and scary the situation is, which is always something I shy away from as I’ve never been very good at being frightened into acting.
What it also does however, is explain the underlying philosophy which connects such diverse things as architecture and agriculture in The Prince’s vision, and in a way which I found really fascinating. And it talks realistically and positively about a future which we could create for ourselves where we blend all the benefits that technology has brought us with all the wisdom that working closely in harmony with Nature creates.
I must confess that I enjoyed reading it and came away encouraged to carry on with what we’re trying to do. I’d be fascinated to hear from anyone else who’s had a look to see what they think – both good and bad, so do let me know. At the very least it should open up some options……
Giles Robertson, chairman of The Marketing Society’s Not For Profit group analyses the attack by ActionAid on SABMiller, a beer company that is broadly perceived to be trying its best in challenging times.
ActionAid has gone on the attack of SABMiller’s alleged tax dodging in Ghana. But a question has to be asked whether this campaigning is the best approach? Does it actually work?
ActionAid previously slipped secret messages into thousands of items of clothing at ASDA stores around the country to highlight the retailer’s poor record on paying poverty wages to factory workers in developing countries.
This week, Gillian Govan, CMO, Scottish Government Strategic Marketing delivered a Social Marketing Masterclass in Edinburgh.
Can you define social marketing for those new to the discipline in a few sentences?
SG Social marketing is about delivering results that profit the people of Scotland. We generally focus on two strands – public information (advising on legislation change, signposting services eg flu activity, organ donation, smoking legislation) and behaviour change (health behaviours, greener behaviours, road safety, knife crime.) For both of these we develop a Marketing brief to achieve our Policy objectives, and then use ROSMI techniques to evaluate the results. Social marketing utilises all the skill sets of the traditional marketer – advertising, PR, media, DM, digital, events- but for policy objectives.
Why should all marketers know about social marketing?
Several things – but fundamentally – don’t think sm is just social advertising: know your target audience: build partnerships to help you reach your target audience: remember it’s not enough to aim for ‘the social good’ – we must deliver cost effective results. Social marketing is often at the forefront of cutting edge skills and new approaches – I’m thinking insight gathering and evaluation, using psychological modelling and social norms. All are useful for today’s marketer.
What advice would you offer to marketers looking to embark on social marketing? Be clear on the objectives – are they realistic? Can marketing deliver these objectives? Remember in terms of behaviour change that there is rarely a eureka moment and change takes time. It is useful to break behaviour change down into stages for evaluation, and models such as Stages of Change can be useful.
You’ve been involved in the field of social marketing for some time. What is the most valuable learning you’ve had during your time working in this area? For a long time the holy grail was to be able to evaluate results. We’re getting better at this and evaluation/research techniques are increasingly more sophisticated. If I had to pick one valuable learning it would be about the importance of recognising the need to empower and enable behaviour change – this means being realistic with small step changes and supporting the target audience through services or bespoke resources – creating social marketing ‘product’ – that supports change.
Can marketers change the world? We can help people to self help. That could mean a better world.
That was the debate at the Marketing Society “Big Day”, part of the world’s first ever International Marketing Festival, held in Edinburgh in August.
Jo Kenrick, Start’s brand director, the Prince of Wales’ initiative on sustainability, and chair of the Marketing Society’s sustainability workstream proposed the motion with Peter Fisk, founder of The Genius Works, author, speaker and business advisor.
The Opposition side (or “Oh no we cannae” side) comprised of Gerry O’Donnell, director of The Famous Grouse, and leader of the Corporate Social Responsibility team at The Edrington Group, and me, described in the programme as a speaker and trainer in Creative Thinking with HeadSurfing.com (true) and stand up comedian (formerly true).
Jo and Peter set out the case for a world saved by marketing. No other discipline understands consumers in the way marketers do, and no-one knows better how to make consumers (and society) change their ways. Marketing has been successful so far, with changes in consumption driven by marketers, to make companies produce more sustainable products in more sustainable ways.
The opposition case was, perhaps, less confident in the powers of marketing, and perhaps, a little more cynical. The problem is three-fold, we felt. Making money while doing good is a laudable aim, but the fact is that the vast majority of businesses exist first of all, to make money. There is certainly a need to do good, but that’s not the key driver of most businesses.
Second, if we’re honest, marketing is rarely in any position to drive the business. Marketing is only represented at board level in a very few FTSE companies, and it is the board that decides strategy, priority, and activity. Marketing departments might be good at getting us to fill our cars with more sustainable fuels – but it’s someone else who decides to go ahead with deep water drilling.
The Marketing Society has been working closely with HRH The Prince of Wales’ initiative ‘Start’ during this year, and his garden is just part of the venue for the Start ‘Garden Party to make a Difference’. This event will run over 12 days, from 8 September, and offers the public a chance to see the rarely opened Royal Gardens but also and possibly more importantly, a chance to see exhibitions and installations, both large and small, simple and inspiring, all devoted to encouraging a more sustainable way of living. Over 100 companies, charities and different organisations will be showcasing the many simple steps all of us can take to make a positive difference, covering our homes, transport and travel, gardening, lifestyle, fashion and much more.
The Marketing Society is running a unique event as part of this, giving marketers the opportunity to come and visit the Garden Party and to see the exhibition and installations for themselves. This will be followed by a champagne drinks reception, in the iconic surroundings of Marlborough House. The event starts with entrance to the garden exhibition at 4pm promptly, and will finish by 7pm, attendees will also have the chance to learn more about Start and The Marketing Society’s collaboration with Start and Business in the Community on the Green Agenda.
Format of the evening – Start Garden Party and reception
This is an interactive event that will show you how to Start a more sustainable way of life.
Key Times
Registration and entrance to the gardens – 4pm
Drinks reception – 5.30pm – 7pm
Close 7pm
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#WLTM: Marketing Society Business Leader Paul Wilson, CMO, Sunguard http://t.co/xZYSkyovFebruary 3, 2012 2:39
@BrainJuicer: How Can Brands Show Us They Care? http://t.co/SoDI8XQnFebruary 3, 2012 12:13
@RobinHoughton Thanks for braving the cold last night and joining us @SohoHouse. We will send you another book to review for #bookclub soon.February 3, 2012 12:03
Start Today is the movement within the marketing community uniting big consumer brands to inspire the UK public to Do More, With Less, and so together create a more sustainable future. We’re doing it all together, on one day, which is fast approaching – it’s the 1st November this year.
Giles Robertson, chairman of The Marketing Society’s Not For Profit group, says it’s a crying shame that George Osborne’s budget did nothing to help build the UK’s global position on sustainability.
