9 September 2004

The next generation of social activists?

What people are looking for the most is quite simply permission. Permission to kick start corporate creativity to tackle social issues; to stand for something; to team up with and engage with fellow workers, pool recourses and ideas and make a difference socially.

With consumer research saying 6 out of 10 of us now prefer to buy products that are associated with a worthy cause, that permission in terms of the hard currency of share holder value has arrived.

Doing good is good for business. Simple. So how do you do good strategically?

The Big Picture, a one day experience that is not a conference or an event but a full on day of interactive coaching that will shift participants leadership confidence and skill set in social responsibility about 3 gears forward.

The big news is one of the most intuitive and forward-thinking business minds on the planet Andy Law is flying in from the UK. Andy was Founder/Chairman of revolutionary advertising co-operative St Lukes – voted Campaign Agency of the Year, and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and winner of Business Ethics magazine’s Millennium Ethics Award.

‘Open Minds’, his account of the inception and early years of St Lukes became an international best-seller. His second book ‘Experiment at Work’ has been equally well-received. He’s a worldwide speaker on the topic of ‘consumer-related communications in an age of interconnectivity’. In-between flights, he’s now Chairman of new style London brand communications outfit BoyMeetsGirl S&J.

Joining Andy will be a Jude Mannion CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, presenting a toolkit of “getting it right “, Nick Jones GM Nielsen media , someone who understands how to read consumers’ minds and apply the findings where it matters, Rachel McInnes , previously a senior consultant for Howarth Consulting in London and Deloitte Consulting and most recently as a senior advisor with Robin Hood on taking a leadership stance, Jerry Beale ex Saatchi & Saatchi London as well as senior roles in Wellington and Auckland, Chicago, Melbourne and Singapore with major multi-national advertising and direct marketing agencies. Jerry Beale has seen how today’s consumers have caught onto marketing and are experts at sorting those brands who reflect their values from those who have no clear social positioning.

A day that promises to be challenging, push boundaries, kick start different kinds of creative thought processes, and give a new generation of social activists permission to lead .

The Big Picture October 28th St Mathews Auckland See www.robinhood.org.nz for details

ENDS

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