So that was the question I was asked to give an opinion on when I stepped in to speak at this event last
week. It was a partnership event with Forum for the Future. There were some interesting discussions, personally I enjoyed Tim Brown from IDEO and Michael Pawlyn in particular.
I’ve been told they will be posting videos of the talks, so far there’s a short piece which includes a few seconds of each speaker.
You need to open up the notes on slideshare to read what I was talking about. Not sure how to do that on embedded link?
The 3 points I was trying to make were..
What do we really mean by creativity when it comes to sustainable futures?
There’s loads of creative thinking and doing happening at a grass roots level with small groups of people tackling sustainability issues and challenges.
There’s not much happening in brand world.
The creative industries have loads of smart talent, who could be amplifying and helping develop the grassroots stuff as well as bringing business and brands in to collaborate at this level.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I like it, but I’m still wary of how much we actually want to bring brands into this space. Yes, we want the people in creative industries to be thinking about it, but perhaps the role for brands and businesses shouldn’t be encouraged to be more than just providing what little stuff we do need, and the rest should happen in another realm. I have a nightmare vision in my head of the Amazon rainforest in 20 years time, intact but with a massive Coca Cola logo carved into it, an image of which appears on the front cover of their CSR report and a film of which is circulating around youtube…
I’m certainly not talking about branding nature.
I’m suggesting channeling marketing investment into collaborations which are restorative and regenerative in their purpose. Using assets, skills, technology, service and infrastructure to fix stuff. And to offer people (customers and beyond) opportunities to participate and get involved. To form alliances and partnerships. To do so with integrity.
The question I’m thinking about is ‘what does the marketing industry do?’ – I don’t see a radical transformation to ‘business providing the very little stuff’ as you say, it would be ace, but its going to be a transition, lets start by getting business/brands engaged in those innovating with conscience, building deeper awareness, exploring different ideas of what ‘engagement’ and purpose could look like.
Hmm. Two questions: 1) Why are you so confident that it’s a transition not a transformation? 2) How can you be so confident that, even if transition is what happens, that what you’re talking about is heading in the right direction not completely the wrong one?
Latter is more important really. Branding nature might sound like a dystopian nightmare, but it’s already happening. Check out CURB media. And what’s really telling is that they’re selling themselves as a green way to do marketing. In other words, precisely by trying to get brands and businesses directing their attentions into this space, monsters are being created by good intentions. For me, the question isn’t (or shouldn’t be) “what does the marketing industry do?”, it’s “what do the people in the marketing industry do?” Otherwise we risk making things worse.
I’m not confident in either Jon. We are trying to turn a tanker of monstrous proportions, and my sense is that without interventions like regulation, security, climate shocks etc, this in my opinion is going to take some time.
I’m not happy about that. But on the same note, right now at this moment in time I believe that experimentation within the marketing services world around sustainability is a good thing and way better than the status quo.
Only through exploring the issues, raising awareness of the huge problems and then perhaps developing partnerships, innovations and initiatives can we hope to engage more people in the industry in the urgent need for transformation and a life beyond marketing as we know it today.
And I’m not talking about branding snow or sand here. I’m talking about true innovation, not advertising or message based comms- I’m interested in services, partnerships, community programs – stuff that’s less about product itself and more about experience, learning and participation.
For me the catalyst for change and transformation is dependent on people in the industry getting closer to the issues. Feeling it, if you like. Truly reflecting on the status quo. Then maybe we will get acceleration.
Yeah, I guess I buy that. Get people experiencing the world differently, and the rest has to be over to them – you can’t command and control it after all, and wouldn’t want to. I guess I’m just massively nervous about the idea of community participation undertaken in the name of a brand… if everything we do becomes brand-associated (and therefore fundamentally linked to sales-driving, otherwise they won’t do it) as well as everything we buy, we could end up in an even worse state, where Consumerism expands even further. I do agree you have to start from where we are, but aren’t there other ways as well?
Havas have just launched a microsite closely related to this subject of brand sustainability, http://www.brandsustainablefutures.com/
Thanks
Richard.