Environment

The last 18 months has seen a rapid emergence of environmental issues at the top of news agendas across the world. Stories about the effects of global warming, climate change, the polar ice caps melting, acid seas, deforestation, water shortages and flooding disasters on a catastrophic scale seem to appear on a daily basis in the newspapers we read and on the TV screens we watch.

This seemingly endless stream of ecocentric stories made us at Satellite see consumers in a completely new light. One thing became clear, consumer behavour will not change overnight if the public are still presented with advertising campaigns communicating wanton waste and mass consumerism. As marketing is the key driver of consumer growth, it is ideally placed to become a key driver of responsible growth and take lead in solving some of these issues in a creative way by persuading people to adopt greener lifestyles.

Some companies are already doing this. Take Toyota, where several campaigns have zoomed in on the issue of ‘zero emissions’ more than the brand in question. Of course it could be argued that these companies are just paying lipservice; merely jumping on the green bandwagon, but at least it’s a start.
Oil companies are perhaps at the other end of the spectrum, ploughing huge sums into self-congratulatory campaigns which generally don’t wash with the public and merely demonstrate how much money the oil companies have to blitz the media. These campaigns go a long way to salving oil executives’ consciences. But in the end, the public would be more interested in the money being invested in renewable energy projects.

The Green Awards were created to recognise excellent creative work that communicates the importance of corporate and social responsibility, sustainable development and ethical best practice. The awards aim to make brands and organisations aware of the importance of including corporate social responsibility as an integral part of the creative process, especially when briefing creative agencies. They also aim to generate debate within the media by putting some of the onus for change on companies and organisations as opposed to consumers. And finally to develop the notion of ‘reform’ advertising – advertising that includes environmental and social considerations during its planning and execution.

The Green Awards are the first of their kind. With more people claiming they are concerned about ethical and environmental issues, businesses that are pioneering sustainable development will want to receive recognition in these areas by demonstrating their CSR credentials.

There is also a strong business case for properly communicating the importance of CSR. According to Fast Forward Research 2002 among 200 chief executives and chief financial officers, 78% of respondents believed integrating responsible business practices make a company more competitive and 73% agreed that it could significantly improve profitability. Businesses are also starting to differentiate themselves from each other by their record in these areas as they themselves are forced to move towards sustainable procurement. Pressure is also mounting from employees and consumers who are becoming more vocal about how businesses operate and whether or not they are essentially ‘good citizen’ brands. The Green awards present an opportunity for brands to reach key opinion formers and environmental stakeholders and be seen to be leading the way in sustainable development.

The Green Awards
For further information on sponsorship opportunities please contact Iain Patton on 0207 239 4913 or visit www.greenawards.co.uk for details of categories, judges and how to enter.