HUMOUR, EMOTION, PURPOSE
Chaka Sobhani, CCO of Leo Burnett London, concluded by sharing her insights into the power of moving images to create change. She observed that the pandemic pushed us to think in different ways about how we work, our connections to other people and ability to innovate. “I think we just started listening. Because everything was so up in the air and we had no idea what the hell was going on, we had to absolutely listen to the heartbeat of how people were really feeling... we’ve got to make sure we don’t slip back into bad habits.” The work of creatives is ultimately to evoke feelings. Humour, emotion and purpose were underlined as universally useful tools to engage
people. Sobhani showed effective examples of each, with three popular short TV spots – the Epic Strut Money Supermarket ad; BBC One Christmas ad The Supporting Act ; and Absolut Equal Love ad. “Humour is really tricky, as we all know, because it’s subjective. But if we’re trying to land on ideas that appeal to as many people as possible, it is such an incredible way to forge a connection.” Sobhani recognised that when advertising embraces a cause, it runs the risk of seeming disingenuous, or worse, cynically co-optive. “You have a choice. If you stand up for something you believe in that is true for your brand, and you back it in a real way... that can be an incredibly compelling reason for people to engage.”
REPRESENT Ally Owen discussed the importance of diversity in media spaces
as incorporating low- carbon strategies into daily operations. Fiona Ball is group director of Sky’s ‘Bigger Picture’ corporate responsibility initiative, and presented a snapshot of its sustainability mission.
Organisations like Sky, which engage with suppliers and partners worldwide – not to mention create content for millions of households – can have a dramatic impact on changing behaviour at scale. Ball said the company has ‘a target to be net zero carbon by 2030,’ claiming Sky has already cut its carbon footprint by 24% since last year. Sky has joined a global initiative called RE100, aiming to help big companies switch to renewable energy. MORAL RESPONSIBILITY Jake Dubbins, co-chair of the Conscious Advertising Network and MD of ethically driven creative agency Media Bounty,
urged advertisers to be aware of where their money is going. Dubbins cited stats from Newsguard and Comscore, claiming top brands were sending $2.6 billion to misinformation websites each year. “We are literally funding white supremacy,” said Dubbins, explaining that major brand names were ending up on questionable sites, or before YouTube videos promoting conspiracy theories. Illustrated by screenshots, Dubbins showed Lush ads running prior to climate denial videos on YouTube, with ads from charity Human Appeal alongside Breitbart News articles on the ‘global warming hoax.’ A website pushing for the overturn of Roe v. Wade was accompanied by a Spotify ad featuring Ed Sheeran. “Now, we can consciously choose where to put our money. We used to say ‘inadvertently funding,’ but we know this is happening and dividing society. We have to choose whether we sponsor division, or bring society together.”
WE HAVE TO CHOOSE WHETHER WE SPONSOR DIVISION, OR BRING SOCIETY TOGETHER
You can watch videos of all the Big Think conference presentations here: thinkbox.tv/ news-and-opinion/ events/big-think-at- bafta-2022
FOR THE FUTURE Sky has taken a leading role in the march towards sustainability in the industry, as Fiona Ball demonstrated
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