Irish Marketing Leaders Recommend Industry-Wide, Collective Action on Climate

Leaders of Ireland’s marketing and advertising industry have gathered for a Roundtable discussion to explore the relationship between the industry and the climate crisis. The  Good Life 2030 Ireland Citizen Vision Report served as its inspiration. The report, which was published in April 2024, uncovers what Irish people believe a ‘good life’ looks like for them in the year 2030 and the role of advertising in supporting this. The project is led by Purpose Disruptors and THINKHOUSE and funded by Creative Ireland’s Creative Climate Action Fund. 

Featuring leaders from across the Irish marketing and advertising industry (Ciaran Reilly, managing director, Custodian; Aidan Greene, CEO, CORE, Charley Stoney, CEO, I.A.P.I. (Irish Advertising Practitioners of Ireland); Geraldine Jones, managing director, Publicis Dublin; Peter McPartlin, co-founder, The Indie List; John McGee, publisher and editor, Irish Marketing Journal and Adworld.ie; Jane McDaid, founder, THINKHOUSE), the Roundtable took place on 11th of October at MOLI on Dublin’s Stephen’s Green and is documented in a 77 minute film as well as a short highlights film. 

The Roundtable unlocked significant and timely insights that represent a shift in how we view leadership and embrace responsibility. The discussion explores how the industry can transform both itself, and society, to support Ireland’s climate action plan.

The major themes that emerged from the discussion included:

1. Responsibility: The responsibility of the industry and its leaders to take action, and the desire for the industry to make a positive impact through its work.

2. Less Harm, More Good: There’s a desire for the industry to do less harm, more good.

3. Collaboration: The scale change required, demands radical collaboration- between agencies, industry bodies, media and government. 

4. Values: Alignment around a set of values for the industry is needed. 

5. Policy: Policy support will drive focus and enable more rapid transformation eg. CSRD. 

Jonathan Wise, co-founder of Purpose Disruptors, host of the Roundtable said, "The roundtable provided the opportunity for key leaders within the Irish advertising community to come together and discuss, with candid honesty, how they felt about our climate emergency and what actions they could take to help address it. To reveal our humanity and complicity is in of itself an act of leadership. The group then arrived at clear action - how could they bring together their peers and co-create a clear ask to the Irish government. One that supports the Irish advertising industry's output to promote a different sort of Good Life in society. One that Irish citizens have said they want: where they are more connected to self, each other and the beauty of the Irish landscape. This is a wonderful, world-leading example of leadership, in any industry.

Tania Banotti, director, Creative Ireland, emphasised the significance of advertising’s role in creating a sustainable future, “Creative Ireland is delighted to support Good Life 2030 Ireland as part of the Creative Climate Action fund. The advertising industry faces significant challenges about how as an industry they, and their work for clients, respond to the climate and nature crisis. It‘s commendable they wish to be a force for change. Having C-Suite leaders engage with this effort is a first step; lending their knowledge and weight to the discussion around the marketing, media and advertising industry’s ability to drive positive change at scale”

The Leader’s Roundtable is part of Good Life 2030 Ireland; a year-long project that includes: nationally representative research and report, creative workshops with leaders from 10 x Irish agencies and industry-wide thought leadership. The project culminates with a disruptive advertising campaign, co-created by representatives from 10 Irish agencies (Bonfire, CORE, Droga5, Folk VML, Havas, Publicis Dublin, The Public House, THINKHOUSE, TBWA/Bolt and Verve/Showrunner). The campaign goes live this month to coincide with Black Friday across print, TV, cinema, outdoor, radio and digital media. 

The Good Life 2030 Citizen’s Vision report is here.

Full Leaders Roundtable Discussion can be watched here.