OgilvyEarth Works with The Climate Institute to Launch World First Initiatives

OgilvyEarth has been a proud Major Climate Partner of The Climate Institute (TCI) since March 2010, supporting TCI’s vision for Australia to lead the world in clean technology use and innovation. Part of our contribution to this partnership is supporting the TCI team with strategic communications planning and media outreach.

This year, OgilvyEarth has had the pleasure of being involved in the promotion of a number of world first initiatives led by TCI, including the launch of the Climate Advocacy Fund – a joint initiative with Australian Ethical Investment. The Fund works on the ‘power in numbers’ principle to influence Australia’s biggest companies to better manage climate change risk through constructive engagement and the provision of Australia’s first climate change shareholder resolutions. The Fund gives shareholders the opportunity to positively shape corporate behaviour in relation to sustainability. Media interest in the Fund has been positive, with stories reported by The AFR, The Age, SMH, Business Spectator and ABC News.

More recently, TCI in conjunction with Vivid Economics launched a pioneering research report that compares Australia’s efforts in driving carbon pricing within the electricity sector against its major trading partners China, US, UK, Japan and South Korea.

The report, titled “Putting a Price Tag on Pollution: Driving Competitiveness in the Clean Energy Economy”, revealed for the first time that Australia is lagging significantly behind its major trading partners in putting a price on carbon, therefore dispelling the myth Australia is at risk of leading the world and ‘acting too soon’ in making businesses responsible for pollution.

To maximise media coverage of the report, an interactive media release (IMR) was used in place of a traditional media release. The IMR featured the announcement of the report, links to an executive summary and the full report, an infographic, video interviews with two key spokespersons, and links to TCI social media platforms.

Media coverage of the report has been phenomenal with over 170 pieces of coverage appearing on the day of launch, including local stories in the AFR, SMH, ABC News and The Economist. The report has also attracted international coverage in the UK, US and China. The IMR drove a great response online, both from the media and international government staff and policy makers.  Numerous bloggers posted links to the IMR and infographic, there were over 1260 views of the infographic on Flickr and over 345 views of the YouTube videos.

The report has been recognised by industry experts as an important piece of work which uncovers where Australia really stands on the issue of carbon pricing:

Dr Martin Parkinson, Secretary of the Department of Climate Change: “Vivid and the Climate Institute are to be congratulated for attempting to quantify the implicit carbon price imposed by policies to reduce emissions”

Heather Ridout, CEO Australian Industry Group: “I think it really does attack that idea that Australia was going to go it alone, that was a straw man and it’s been shown to be one.”

Professor Ross Garnaut: “The Climate Institute analysis was a very good first step that probably underplayed how far Australia was behind China and the US.”

Our team at OgilvyEarth continues to support the great work TCI is doing to make clean and low carbon a part of our everyday life.

OgilvyEarth recognised as market leader

OgilvyEarth has been recognised in a recently released report on Sustainable Communications Agencies in the US. Verdantix, a sustainable business analyst firm, identified OgilvyEarth as one of two agencies that provide clients with market-leading approaches and breakthrough sustainability communications strategies.

OgilvyEarth was launched in Australia and now operates across the Ogilvy Worldwide network. Congratulations to our colleagues in the US!

IABC World Conference 2010 – Day Three

So to the last day.

But before I get to that, I must make mention of the very enjoyable gathering that happened last night. About 18 like-minded communications folk from Australia and NZ gathered for a quick bite and a few drinks. This posse included one lady from NZ who’d won a Gold Quill of Excellence for her media relations work with the NZ potato industry. In a clear, but unintentional bid to damage international affairs, I managed to call her Potato Woman as I was trying to introduce myself. Good work Tam.  At which point, to negate any damage to Aussie/NZ relations, I tell her I’m actually British as a reason for my bumbling. She’s happy.  We move on.

Potatoes aside, the chatter round the table did lead us all to one important conclusion.  From all the sessions/idea jams/keynotes we’d attended, and content we’d absorbed, we know our work is up there with the best strategic and creative campaigns we’d seen. Something not recognised enough by our industry. With Australia taking 15 Gold Quill awards of this year’s 103 awards  – that’s just shy of 15% of the total award haul of all international markets – it’s clear, we’re delivering the best there is to deliver.

So… back to the final day, well it was half a half day, but it did not disappoint.

I first attended a session entitled Pirates of the Intranet (Arrrr Jim Lad) led by UK publisher Marc Wright (he of www.simply-communicate.com fame – a useful case study resource for internal communicators).

We explored the challenge organisations face with the internet opening up opportunities for what he called ‘pirate sites’, as employees set up websites for employees. Marc’s most pertinent point being if you don’t invest in your own intranet, make sure your own internal communications are working, these pirate sites can become the source of truth, or ‘untruth’ for employees.

He also emphasised the vital and rising importance of developing and embedding guidelines around social media behaviour, something many of our Impact clients are investing in at the moment.

Conversely, he talked about the challenge brands face when passionate consumers start to ‘take over’ your brand online. Do you leave it, or do you do something about it? Case in point. Michael Werch, formerly known as @HJ_HEINZ on Twitter, was a big fan of Heinz Tomato Ketchup and was tweeting many sweet nothings about ketchup. However, the company decided he was violating their trademark policy.  They took a heavy handed approach and successfully had his Twitter feed changed to @notHJ-HEINZ. This back-fired for Heinz.

He was not harming the brand, but is no longer tweeting about the product.  Were they right or wrong to do this? Food for thought. For more – see http://www.culture-buzz.com/blog/Being-HJ-Heinz-Lessons-Learned-from-Brand-Squatting-2522.html

The conference closed with incoming IABC chair, Shelley Bird, committing to raising the visibility of the association to its 15,000 members worldwide and to ensuring it moved ahead of what is now a rapidly changing profession.

She introduced a great keynote speaker, entrepreneur and venture capitalist – Guy Kawasaki. Guy is ex-Apple, dynamic, engaging and presented his 11 points to innovation.

He emphasises something we in the internal communications world already know. Mission statements are too long and cited the following ‘mantras’ as strong, memorable and clear for employees – Nike – ‘Authentic athletic performance’; Wendys – ‘Healthy fast food’; Fedex – ‘Peace of mind’; Ebay – ‘Democratise commerce’.  This is not new, but important to remember.

Before I close, it’s also worth noting, particularly in light of our own passion for this space through our work with our OgilvyEarth brand, the IABC has done a really good job this year of expanding its environmentally and socially responsible practices. So, it warmed the cockles of my green heart that I did not see reams of paper everywhere. Participants were encouraged to download only the information they needed, recycling bins were prominent and most marketing materials from exhibitors were online. There was also the opportunity to take part in a local community program with the Evergreen Bricks Works.

And so I now head to New York for a few days to join other Ogilvy Impact colleagues.  I leave the conference with even more confidence (if that were possible) in the bottom line value our work brings to organisations, large and small.

Good work IABC.

Triple global recognition for Ogilvy PR’s employee communications consultancy

16 APRIL 2010.  Today Impact Employee Communications, Australia and Asia-Pacific’s leading employee communication consultancy, has been recognised on the world communication stage three times over.  The fifteen year old Sydney-based company, which is part of Ogilvy PR, has won two International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill Awards of Excellence and has been named best in show, winning the IABC’s annual 2010 Special Business Issue Award.  The awards are recognised as the most prestigious and highest level of professional acknowledgment within internal communication globally.

The first Gold Quill of Excellence and the 2010 Special Business Issue Award were won by Impact’s change communication team for its work for Ford Australia. The awards recognised what was a complex campaign for a company in an industry facing a challenging operating environment. The work ensured crucial public employee and union support for a difficult business announcement, contributing to an overwhelming raft of positive media articles across all media outlets.

Impact’s second Gold Quill was won together with client, Bayer Australia and New Zealand.  This award recognised communication excellence for the development and execution of Bayer’s B-Green project which drove and achieved measurable behaviour change across its Australian and New Zealand workforce around sustainability.  The project, steered by a specialist team operating under Ogilvy PR’s sustainability OgilvyEarth practice, led to a raft of energy, recycling and other initiatives and was also recently awarded the best internal communications program for all Bayer companies worldwide.

“These awards demonstrate Australia can compete on a world communication stage and recognise we’re delivering the highest possible level of strategic and creative counsel to gain vital employee support for business critical initiatives for companies in Australia,” says managing director, Tam Sandeman.

“This is the first time two top awards have been won by the same company in Australia and winning the overall Business Issues award was the icing on the cake.  More importantly, it showcases work in two areas gaining increasing importance on every Australian business’ agenda – sustainability and change,” she continues.

The awards will be given at the IABC’s international conference in Toronto in June 2010.

For further information:

Tam Sandeman

Impact Employee Communications

tam.sandeman@impact.com.au

02 8281 3205 / 0404 847 256

Creating big change for Bayer

There is an ever increasing demand from a diverse range of stakeholders for companies and their employees to go about business in an increasingly responsible manner. However engaging employees in an internal environmental sustainability strategy and maintaining momentum can be challenging. Organisations consistently face the same questions – how do you get employees to see the link between the company’s environmental performance and their individual actions? What needs to be done to make a difference? Who needs to be involved? Where do we start? How do we convince them this is not extra work, just a more responsible way of going about our business?

Bayer Australia and New Zealand is one organisation that, working in partnership with OgilvyEarth, has successfully designed and implemented an internal environmental sustainability communication program. Bayer’s employees are engaged, empowered and motivated to make a difference and are provided with the tools, resources and support required to be part of the solution to improving Bayer’s sustainability.

So how did they do it?

Made up of multiple elements, the B-Green program rollout inspired employees to make a difference, reinforcing throughout communication “lots of small changes x 850 employees + family + friends = big change”. There were three things Bayer wanted their employees to do – Consider the environment in everything they do, take personal responsibility for their actions and embed care for the environment as part of their every day. This led to the development of the B-Green charter – “Think.Act.Live.”

The B-Green program provided employees with educational tools and resources to understand what daily actions they can take not only at work but at home as well , such as printing smarter and considering what can be re-used even before recycling; and what positive effects this leads to in the bigger picture.

Initial research had identified the need for leadership to demonstrate their personal commitment and support, so Bayer’s leadership team were actively involved from day one and continue to play an important role in communicating sustainability as a business imperative.

Bayer set specific reduction targets for their Australia and New Zealand operations and regularly measures and informs employees of progress.

The result?

Bayer Australia and New Zealand’s environmental performance has significantly improved.

Employees have taken up the challenge to make a change, providing a comprehensive list of their own ideas on what could be done to improve sustainability based on their first hand experiences in their role and area of the business; and the program continues to be an ongoing part of life at Bayer.

As just reward for their efforts, the B-Green campaign has won a prestigious internal global award for Bayer Australia and New Zealand, the “Bayer Award for Excellence in Communications – Employee Communications”. This is an international award with more than 800 submissions.

Just goes to show that employees are a big part of the solution. Remember – lots of small changes x lots of people = big change!

Is sustainability and climate change still on the agenda?

While the planet continues to warm, Australian politicians are using the science around climate change as a political football. The question has to be asked, is this political “static” causing the issue to slip off the agenda in the world of C Level decision makers?

The Opposition leader in Australia , for example, says  that we  simply have to get used to a world with an average mean temperature 3 degrees hotter, despite the impact this will have on usable land for food production and water resources a. So is the issue still on the corporate agenda?

PWC’s 13^th Annual Global CEO survey released in January 2010 had some interesting feedback from major decision makers from companies in every region.

Their key concerns (those rated ‘somewhat concerned’ to ‘extremely concerned) on sustainability, were:

• Climate Change 2009 – 26% and 2010- 37% or a 42% increase in the level over  the previous year’s survey. So the issue is growing in importance and ranks even higher than terrorism.

• Energy Costs 2009- 50% and 2010- 54% or an increase of 8% on the previous year. A high level of concern. (Yet OgilvyEarth has created internal programs that have reduced companies’energy use by 8- 12% in twelve months with added benefits of high levels of employee engagement and improved employer brands. So why are companies fighting internal programs when there are both brand and cost saving benefits attached?) The same report showed that 75% of these CEOs saw employee engagement as a key issue after the GFC. So an easy win.

PWC’s report re-inforces our own OgilvyEarth research findings in which C-level executives link sustainability strongly to corporate reputation. The PWC report found corporate reputation as a key concern:  “ Participation in industry initiatives to improve the sectors reputation” at 64%, ‘Expansion of CSR programs ‘ at 50% and ‘Engagement with NGO’s that affect reputation” at 31%.

But back to the specific issue of climate change : The PWC report revealed that 60% of CEOs are making preparations for the impacts of climate change. An average of 48% of CEO’s in developed nations saw that climate change would lead to significant new products and services and for the same group 61% reported that acting would increase their reputation.

So the issue of sustainability is not only still well and truly on the agenda but is also going to have significant opportunities for those business leaders who have the vision to invest in a solution.

OgilvyEarth Communications Partner for Enviro 2010

The Enviro Conference and Exhibition will be held in Melbourne from 21 to 23 July 2010.  The main objective of Enviro 2010 is to provide networking opportunities for the leaders of the Australian environment industry and business and policy makers.

The Enviro Conference and 2010 Exhibition will run concurrently with the conference including speakers and workshops dealing with the sustainability issues facing governments, business and the public.  There will be over 100 exhibitions on display in the 2010 Exhibition, including OgilvyEarth, showcasing the latest in environmental and sustainability innovation.

To register for Enviro 2010 go to http://www.enviro2010.com.au/

Commendations for Ogilvy PR at this year’s PRIA Awards

Howorth’s campaigns for Telstra and Livewire and Impact’s campaign for Coca-Cola received commendations at this year’s NSW PRIA Awards held in Sydney in September.

The Howorth campaign for Telstra Enterprise & Government, Identifying Australia’s Productivity Gap, positioned Telstra as a thought leader in the area of business challenges and the supporting role of IT and telecommunications.  The PR driven idea led to an integrated campaign for the Telstra including events, above the line advertising and direct mail.

For Livewire, Howorth was engaged under a part-paid, part-pro bono contract to officially launch and drive awareness for a new online and social network for young Australians aged between 10 and 21 currently living with a serious illness, chronic health condition or disability.

With just three weeks to deliver the entire campaign and create talkability, Howorth created a launch campaign, which saw Livewire rated as the ‘most searched’ topic on Google. More than 50 media interviews were conducted with key Livewire spokespeople, resulting in 250 radio, print and online stories touching every state within the country. These stories created more than 37 million opportunities for Australians to see, read or hear about Livewire via online, newspapers, magazines and radio media coverage, effectively reaching all Australians over the age of ten at least twice.

Impact Employee Communications/OgilvyEarth was engaged to develop and implement a communication strategy to launch Live Positively within Coca-Cola South Pacific.  The strategy needed to kick-start the Live Positively journey by educating, inspiring and uniting associates.  The Coca-Cola community locally and globally has heralded this communication campaign as a great success.  Within Ogilvy PR Worldwide the event has also been recognised, with Ogilvy Earth’s global network requesting knowledge sharing to drive further work with Coca-Cola globally as Live Positively is rolled out.

Woolworths Eco Ambassador Program

Woolworths Limited wanted to enhance its existing sustainability strategy by engaging employees (across its 3,000 sites) to undertake positive behaviours that would reduce the company’s environmental impact. The communication challenge presented to OgilvyEarth was significant – 85% of Woolworth’s 188,000 employees had limited or no access to company intranet or email. A strategy session was held with key stakeholders around the creation of peer influencers, since named ‘Eco Ambassadors’, that could champion ideas and help develop a greater awareness of the everyday actions that could be taken. The Eco Ambassadors were trained via a half-day workshop, where they were equipped with everything they needed to make a difference. During the workshops, participants were taken through the challenges and engaged to play a part in delivering solutions. By highlighting Woolworths’ commitment to sustainability, the workshops equipped participants with tools and action plans to support their roles as mentors. Ultimately, this enabled them to act not only as a source of information and inspiration for other employees, but as a conduit for company-wide communication.

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