Deep Green - Day 2

Today is the first full day of our conference on the future of environmental marketing in Canada, and it's off to a great start.

“Deep Green”, the 47th annual conference of the Trans-Canada Advertising Agency Network (T-CAAN), kicked off with a presentation by Frank Palmer, CEO of DDB Canada and Chair of T-CAAN, talking about his agency's own efforts to reduce its environmental footprint.



DDB Echology is an alliance between DDB Canada and Junxion Strategy, to provide sustainability consulting for clients. To prove that they "walk the walk", DDB took its own advice and created programs for measuring their carbon footprint, improving procurement, reducing waste and building on sustainable community investments.

"Echo" stands for:

Environmental Footprint
Community Building
Human Resource Practices
Opportunities for Influence

Some of the programs Frank mentioned were providing millions of dollars in free advertising through a competition for related pro-bono clients, as well as a "dumpster dive" where DDB ad executives went through municipal trash to separate out all recyclables.

Following that presentation, John Westbrook (our V.P. Client Services) and I took the podium to map the landscape of environmental marketing challenges and opportunities. John took the audience through a timeline of environmental activism from 1962 (the publication of "Silent Spring") to the present, highlighting significant events, disasters, legislation, and cultural touchstones that brought "ecology" from a fringe movement to the mainstream.

I followed up with a discussion about today's "LOHAS" (Lifestyles of Health & Sustainability) consumers. Almost a quarter of Canadians fit into this category, and the LOHAS market is estimated to be worth up tp $209 Billion.



The challenge, of course, is to identify what consumers are really looking for, and whether companies can provide it credibly. "Green" can mean anything from low-carbon footprint, to local, to organic, to less packaging, to the internal practices of the company or manufacturer. Defining a client's green USP has become increasingly critical in an era where consumers get their information from a multitude of instant media, and as I said "are always talking about you behind your back".

Another key message was one of trade-offs. In energy, for example, wind power is "clean" to the air but deadly to birds and annoying to neighbours. Hydro destroys ecosystems, culture and history. Nuclear doesn't emit carbon or smog, but produces permanent radioactive byproducts. No environmental decision is easy.

As well, consumers may say they want a carbon tax in surveys, but then vote against it at the polls. They'll buy low-energy appliances, but are happy to be less-sustainable when it comes to luxury goods. The list goes on and on.

It will be interesting to see what conclusions our 30 Canadian ad agency heads come to in discussing these issues this week.

Deep Green

Acart is in full prep mode today, getting ready to host a conference on the future of environmental marketing in Canada.

Green is the new black — or so most marketers would have you believe. Everywhere you look, traditional products, services and brands are touting their environmental responsibility.

But what does it mean to be “green”? Is this a real shift of consumer perception and attitude, or just one more trend? Getting to the bottom of the green movement is the purpose of “Deep Green”, the 47th annual conference of the Trans-Canada Advertising Agency Network (T-CAAN).

T-CAAN is a team of leading ad agencies in Canada who pledge to work together and share information to give their clients a more complete national reach and insight. With a unique presence in every significant market across Canada, we believe we're "closer to the customer" than international firms with only big city presence.

Starting tonight, and into the weekend, agency heads from across Canada will gather in Ottawa to discuss and explore every aspect of environmental responsibility in marketing, in an effort to develop truly meaningful environmental messages and programs. The goal is to avoid the trap of “greenwashing” (using environmentalism as nothing more than a veneer on the same old way of doing business) and to help clients take a leadership position in preparing the way for real societal change.

Al Albania, our agency President, is serving an annual term as President of T-CAAN, a responsibility which includes hosting the annual conference. He saw that the opportunity to gather such a large advertising brain trust in the Nation’s Capital to show leadership in environmental marketing was too good to miss.

In addition to member presentations and discussions, Deep Green will host guest speakers representing thought leaders in environmental responsibility marketing, such as TerraChoice and Frank Palmer, CEO of DDB Canada, who is also Chair of T-CAAN.

I'll be blogging Deep Green for the rest of the week, so stay tuned!