Several leading agencies have joined a new alliance established by global NGO Creatives for Climate to drive radical collaboration and new standard-setting across the industry.
Enviral, Fanclub PR, Kibbo Kift Agency, Leap Agency, Media Bounty and REVOLT are the first to join a new alliance established by NGO, Creatives for Climate, to create new standards for change. To launch, the founding members will collectively share tactics used to campaign for change in the alliance’s first free and open webinar on October 4 2023.
The alliance is a new dawn for purpose-driven agencies to share knowledge, explore collective challenges, and launch ideas to create new standards across the industry to use creativity to accelerate climate solutions and social justice. It follows months of interviews with founders on the challenges they face in pioneering new ethical agency models, such as functioning in silos, facing time challenges to network, and competing against agencies whose values are questionable.
To join, agencies must engage three out of every ten employees on a pathway action plan created by the NGO calling for radical collaboration, upskilling to tackle greenwashing, and an agency commitment to divest from representing the world’s worst polluters – fossil fuel companies.
Beginning in Europe, the Ethical Agency Alliance will launch soon across Asia-Pacific, where it will be led by newly appointed New Zealand chapter lead, Antonia Estall. By launching in The Global North and then the South, the alliance aims to facilitate knowledge across diverse regions through its global collaboration hub.
“It’s no secret that running an agency is hard work, and running an ethical agency is even harder. Saying no to promoting harmful clients comes with a cost, and we want to support the agencies raising the bar so that we can inspire and provoke the whole industry to do the same,” stated Lucy von Sturmer, Creatives for Climate initiator.
“The world’s leading climate scientists at the IPCC have named PR and advertisers as standing in the way of solutions to climate change. If our industries continue to do so, we’re staring down the barrel of planetary catastrophe. This alliance unites agencies that are pioneering a more responsible use of their powers to influence, experiment, collaborate, and combine our talents to save the planet we call home,” added Adrian Ma, managing firector, Fanclub PR.
“From awards shows to lacklustre accreditation to greenwashing, hypocrisy in the industry is rife. It’s often infuriating and lonely as a small agency to be self-governed by your own ethics and morals in a sector that’s so influential yet lags so considerably on progress for climate and social justice. I’m incredibly grateful to be part of a like-minded network of agencies guided by a fully transparent framework to achieve action and create change,” commented Sam Narr, chief executive officer and founder, Kibbo Kift Agency
“They say if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together. And right now, we need to go as far as possible to ignite the creative change our planet needs. Climate action can’t be a niche, and Leap is incredibly excited to join the alliance. Creatives have always been ahead of the game, and now it’s time to bring people with us. Enough talk, enough buzzwords, enough empty policy and greenwashing. Let’s change the industry, empower positive change in our clients, and work together to redefine what ‘creative agency’ means,” stated Nathan Lance, creative director, LEAP.
To launch the Ethical Agency Alliance, a global webinar will occur on October 4 at 4 p.m. GMT. It will be a 60-minute session aimed at transcending borders, allowing attendees worldwide to learn from the ethical agencies. A link to register for the event is here.
