On 25th June I attended Reset Connect as part of London Climate Week at the London Excel. It wasn’t without irony that I listened to the keynote speech of ‘Why we need nature at the heart of decision making’ on one of the hottest days of the year so far in the UK and heard the constant drumbeat of the message throughout the day of, we are not doing enough, and nature is disappearing fast.
Another key message that came through in all the talks, was one of collaboration and a growing sense of the fact that resilience is critical. Organisations, leaders, teams and individuals all need to pull together and share a common goal or as Andrew Lever at the Carbon Trust put it “we all need to be part of the Acceleration, Collaboration and Innovation that needs to take place for societal change to occur. Fast”.
The final panel on day one was centered around ‘Customer Centric Brands & Propositions’ with a great panel of spokespeople from Lush Cosmetics, Abel & Cole, Green Element, Danone UK & Ireland and Antenna Group and was moderated by the ESG & Sustainability Partner at White & Case LLP. Discussion was varied and lively and agreement from the outset was had by all, that ‘brands are the new storytellers’ and that there is ‘a triple bottom line of people, planet and profit for all organisations’, with sustainability being key to that for any brand. There was agreement amongst the panellists that ‘there is a convergence of awareness & opportunity, with the public & private sector working together’ and that we (as storytellers) ‘need to help consumers feel they are making a difference to some of the really big issues’.
And that was a key takeout for me; which is that, if we don’t bring every aspect of an organisation or a community along on this journey, then we won’t succeed and ‘an incremental approach needs to be taken to ensure you don’t put your audiences off’. In these days of climate crisis awareness, before we reach that tipping point, those that tell stories and create narrative need to be bold, but not reckless or scaremongering.
It’s a fine balance, and one that can be walked, but educating our clients and organisations on how to do this well is an imperative part of how agencies can contribute to the needs of the planet.
My overall takeout from day one of Reset was one of positive action, togetherness and a shared goal, no matter if the organisations there were competitors – this call to regenerate nature is bigger than that. A spokesperson from Danone left the last panel of the day with the sentiment of ‘be braver, but have integrity and be humble’ which struck me as something we can all strive to take forward, as leaders, organisations, agencies and individuals, as we try to take measurable action towards the climate crisis we are facing.
Suzie Mills
As the CEO of Oxygen, I bring over 18 years of marketing expertise, combining a passion for purpose with a proven track record of creating impactful brand stories. Having worked across both in-house and agency environments, I’ve developed and executed transformative campaigns for global brands like P&G, Delta Airlines, Barclays, and Nissan. Since 2019, I’ve shifted my focus to the mission-driven sector, where I partner with organizations to understand their core values and craft communications strategies that accelerate the achievement of their objectives. I am driven by the opportunity to inspire, connect, and innovate, constantly seeking new ways to create meaningful impact for both clients and communities.
