Monday 8 September 2008

Brand Sustainability - Conference


I was asked by Don Carli, one of the organisers of the Green Media Show planned for the 1-2nd of October in Boston to check the site and share my opinion about the event, but I am in trouble - apart from the fact I understand the importance of green media, I am not really aware of its current situation!
The website sounds promising for any company:

'Attend The Green Media Show and Conference and avoid:

1. Loss of a major bid with green requirements.
2. Finding your brand damaged by people or the press calling your bluff on your stated sustainable practices.
3. The damage to your image when asked for your Sustainability Statement and you don’t have one.
4. The repercussions when a shareholder asks your CEO hard questions about the sustainability of your media choices and knowing he hasn’t a clue because you haven’t given him answers yet. Or her.
5. Printing your Sustainability Report in a totally non-sustainable way and posting the pdf on a website powered by coal-burning generators. Way to go.'
And the materials available are impressive. I was hoping to see a link to a blog or a feed where I can follow the event itself since I am rather grounded at the moment - but then I realized there is still time! No rush!
If I could, I would love to attend! I have found a bit info about green media here, but I would be careful saying 'green considerations have become a major factor in our decision-making' - I am not really sure it is happening. Not yet. For some companies it might sound relevant, for some completely out of scope...see this discussion on BrandRepublic...

I would like to have more time to learn where businesses are with green media in the US and in the UK, so I guess a conference is a good call - raising any type of awareness if positive. Good luck with it!:)

Update: I was just informed that the conference will have a Twitter feed and potentially live blogging. Great!:)
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4 comments:

Andy said...

I was also reading some things about green marketing in a magazine - there is this event on in London which looks slightly expensive perhaps. http://www.haymarketevents.com/conferenceBookNow/278/green-marketing

The guys in this article http://www.brandrepublic.com/Marketing/Analysis/Features/743161/Greenwash-brands-risk-reputation/ give brands a simple choice becoming completely sustainable or doing little bits around the edges.

I chat quite a lot about this area with my brother (http://www.stephenstretton.org.uk/) who is quite a prominent green campaigner and economist. He thinks that the three problems of energy reserves, the economic crisis and climate change policies need to all be tackled by one big interlinked set of solutions or we can't get anywhere.

GabK said...

Yes, I heard a few specialists expressing the same opinion and it is probably truth, but is it realistic if we still fight for human rights in some areas of the world, struggle with hunger and poverty or with ignorance in other places? I wonder - what really needs to happen (a catastrophe?) to shake the word leaders? Or maybe the evolving cultural-scientific-business establishment will grow stronger to push the green thinking?

Andy said...

We can look at health and safety regulations as an example of policy that gives a framework for improvement. When I worked in the chemical industry, managers would attend working parties with local companies declaring what they had done to improve safety and waste management. Small, positive and achievable changes were recognised and culture change encouraged.

If the IPPC could come up with a single set of universally recognised points system for small green initiatives then we could get somewhere. At the moment the sticks and carrots aren't organised at all.

GabK said...

I agree, but I also think its a question of mentality and general awareness which can be raised only by proper education and pressure from people in powerful positions. A common understanding of the importance of green thinking is a must.