Ogilvy on saving the world through advertising

By Eleftheria Parpis

In a testament to the belief that advertising can change the world, Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project, told an Adverting Week audience on Wednesday at a three-part discussion on climate change and corporate social responsibility: "If the 'Hopenhagen' campaign started a year ago, we might have a climate bill in Congress."
  The recently launched "Hopenhagen" campaign is a United Nations-driven global campaign created by Ogilvy Worldwide that aims to "create a people's movement," said Freya Williams, senior partner and planning director at Ogilvy. The multimedia effort urges people to get involved by becoming citizens of "Hopenhagen" at Hopenhagen.org and signing a petition urging politicians to "seal the deal" at the United Nation's Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, this summer.

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Published on September 23, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Environment

Starbucks, Walmart talk up green initiatives

By Elaine Wong

Monday night's "Team Earth" panel at Advertising Week, held at The Times Center and consisting of top execs from Starbucks and Walmart, was positioned as a gathering of green minds.
  Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, described how, on a recent trip to Rwanda, a female coffee farmer told him (through a translator) that all she wanted was a cow and some fresh milk for her children. Such insights, Schultz said, are helping the coffee giant sharpen its sustainability focus while improving how the company and its farmers cultivate and grow its coffee beans for consumers.
  Rob Walton, executive committee chairman and board member of Wal-Mart Stores, likewise spoke at length about reducing its environmental impact through recent measures like a "sustainability index" for packaged-goods consumers. (Similar to the nutritional labels, Walmart's new ratings system evaluates products based on their carbon footprint.) "When informed, customers will make good choices," Walton said.

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Published on September 22, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Environment