Taking Care of Business
The fact that the advertising industry is suddenly competing, at least in part, on their green attributes strikes me as yet another milestone on the road to a greener economy.
As we report below, Grey New York has launched an initiative to promote its green cred, and to challenge its ad-agency brethren to follow suit.
I've seen it coming for the past several months. With just about every company, it seems, asking themselves some form of the question, "What's our green strategy" (even if they don't really understand what that means), they often find themselves turning to their tried-and-true partners: management consultants, strategy firms, public relations firms, market researchers, and all the rest. (I hear from a lot of these firms, seeking to jumpstart a newly formed green practice.)
That the ad agencies are also hearing from their big customers, and are inspired to "green up" their operations, is particularly significant, as they are the great storytellers of our time. As GreenBiz Editor at Large Christine Ervin
notes this week, telling those stories -- and making them clear and concise -- is seen as an increasingly critical part of companies' sustainability efforts.
I'm not starry-eyed about all this. The advertising world will always be focused on helping their clients sell more stuff, even stuff we never imagined needing, so it's unlikely that the creators of ads will be our green savior. But the fact that Madison Avenue is sitting up and taking notice increases the chances that some vital messages will be heard on Main Street, and even Wall Street.
-- Joel Makower, Executive Editor
P.S. I'll be keynoting
Good and Green, a conference this November focused on the greening of marketing and advertising. I hope you can join me there.
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