Integrating
sustainability
25
Innovation
Sam Wilson of Syntiro Associates specialises in working with creative agencies to deliver an integrated approach to
sustainability. She shares her advice on how to innovate client briefs and deliver a unique point of difference
et aside what you think
you know about
sustainability. We are
about to look at it through
a much more exciting lens.
Experience tells me that many
agencies are still thinking that
sustainability is primarily about the
environmental impacts that we
generate as a result of our
activities: it is not.
What it is, however, is a fantastic
opportunity for creative agencies
to innovate the client brief and
deliver a unique point of difference
that is aligned with the client’s
brand purpose, that empowers
clients to be the agents of change
and leave a meaningful legacy
long after the last bit of kit has
been taken offsite.
How do we do this? We first
need to clearly communicate what
is meant by applying sustainability
in this context. This is the process
of evaluating our service-related
risks and opportunities across the
three overlapping dimensions of
People, Profit and Planet and then
act to make a positive difference.
It is as much about the creative
output as it is the transport
emissions.
Start by looking through a wider
lens at the client’s brand purpose
and what it is that they are trying
to achieve. The changing legal
landscape means that all the large
brands must make their
sustainability report public, so a
quick internet search will tell you
what their values and hotspots are
and where you can start to weave
sustainability throughout all
elements of the creative brief.
Start from the very first creative
kick-off and explore how these
values can be brought to life. How
can you seamlessly tell the story in
ways that engage and inspire the
audience?
Think about every element of
the brief through this new lens,
whether it is the selection of the
event location or the creative
Yes,
47%
content itself. Where can you
normalise these positive
behaviours? And don’t think you
always need to be a sustainability
expert to do this. It could be as
simple as choosing reusable video
props, showing someone recycling
or turning off lights or adapting the
script in ways that encourage
people to think about how they
could be more inclusive in their
lives. This is not about bolting-on,
this is about embedding meaning
into all your communication
touchpoints and all your
event-related activities. We have a
responsibility to bring something
to the brief that the client hasn’t
thought about and to
communicate it in a way that
excites them and will excite their
audience. Creatives are the
Internet users worldwide who have switched a product/service
because the company violated their personal values, Jan 2019
(% of respondents)
No,
32%
Can’t
remember,
21%
Reason why they switched
product/service
Protecting the environment 11%
Lack of transparency
9%
Climate change
5%
Corporate social responsibility 5%
Data security
5%
Ethnic discrimination and 5%
equality issues
Financial corruption
5%
LGBTQ discrimination and 5%
equality issues
Toxic workplace culture
5%
Hotwire 2019 – High Stakes Leadership in a
Post B2B World | Futerra 2018 – The Honest
Product Guide | Global Tolerance 2015
www.conference-news.co.uk