Arnold on ethical marketing

Does MacDonald’s advertising corrupt our children?

2008-10-30T05:23:00Z

In North London a small minority of the local community is demanding that McDonalds takes down an ad on a railway bridge because, “they feel they don’t want their children exposed to advertising for McDonalds.” There’s no rational reasoning for this, if there was they’d see that McDonald's food is way down the list of bad things a parent can give a kid.

I doubt those over emotive parents had stopped to think about what they are giving their kids as an alternative. Crisps, biscuits, cakes, chocolates, sweets, pasties, pies, ice cream or fish & chips. Shock horror, Britain’s traditional fast food is really bad for you. Then add Indian, Chinese, pizza and kebabs – all highly calorific and full of dubious processed food, additives and saturated fats. Compared to that list, McDonalds is a healthy option. The real irony of this local groups demand to rip down a McDonald’s ad on a train bridge is that the road is full of kebab shops.

Of course they don’t consider all the benefits McDonalds provides – fair wages for local people, they buy all their beef and milk (and most of their eggs) from British & Irish farmers, they have strong eco policies – the list goes on. Compare that to any local café, bar or take-a-way. Pity over emotive parents can’t get their facts right before they complain. KFC Naked women running through the streets with a banner declaring ‘NAKED TRUTH: KFC TORTURES CHICKS’ is not a bad way to get attention. PETA has launched a ‘boycott KFC’ campaign against it’s unethical treatment of chickens.

PETA claim that “More than 850 million chickens are tortured and killed each year for KFC“ and have produced a horror video, though they quote just 750 million chickens in it (not sure what happened to the other 100m). In Canada KFC has backed down and agreed to more humane treatment of chickens and to provide vegan chicken – seems a bit odd that a vegan would even go into a KFC. Bottle your own water I’ve written a lot about bottled water and tap water in my blogs, but now you can package up your own. This is already going on in the food services industry but now Belu have launched a ‘do it yourself kit of labels’.

The elegantly designed labels are the work of the ethical design & communications agency Provokateur and is short listed in the Green Awards, as is their very fun ACME website. Their own website is one of the nicest I’ve see in a while, check it out. Channel 4 new series. Having got involved in the new Channel 4 series, Battlefront (along with a few other people from the ad business) I’d recommend people have a look at their website 20 young campaigners with 20 campaigns.

This is one of Channel 4’s first multi platform programmes and is also being run on Facebook and Bebo. One of the campaigns wants to promote the use of a coffee cup for life option (like the carrier bags) Starbucks already offer a discount if you bring in your own cup. Another wants to promote ‘random acts of kindness’. The Esquires chain of fair trade coffee houses have came up with a clever solution to the loyalty card, they have adapted the cardboard sleeves into one. It’s the usual deal, buy 9 get one free. A bit big to put in your wallet though, but a worthy idea (http://www.esquirescoffee.co.uk/). Nutella Seems Ferrero, producers of Nutella (who also make Ferrero Rocher ) are the latest brand to get criticized for using palm oil which is responsible for deforestation in south-east Asia.

Unilever were attacked earlier this year when a group of protestors sat outside the Unilver office dressed as Orangutans. Greenpeace have launched a cyber action against Nutella. In February A TV ad for Nutella promoting the spread as good for children for breakfast was banned following 53 complaints to the ASA, arguing that it was misleading to say Nutella was a slow-release energy product because it had high sugar and oil content.

After Greenpeace whipped up a lot of support, Ferrero has now agreed to support the Unilever led moratorium on converting forest and peatland into oil palm plantations. Canadians ban ‘green’ and ‘eco’ words. Feed up with greenwash, the Canadians have banned labels and ads that use ‘green’ and ‘eco’ unless the company can prove it. Something we desperately need in the UK as complaints increase. Meanwhile in Australia, Goodyear has been condemned for claiming their Eagle tyres had little environmental impact. Well they do.

When will brands learn that greenwashing is a one way ticket to public condemnation. Worse for Goodyear, they actually had to pay out compensation to customer who were misled. Och! Tune in Finally, seems according to a survey in the States we are tuning back into radio and tuning out of iTunes. Consumers are getting bored listening to their current collection and in desperation to seek new material going back to good old radio. Much of this listening is taking place while surfing the web. For a really good radio station I recommend (digital and web only)

Passion for the Planet. Great music, no DJs and lots of really interesting interviews around health, ethics and the environment.

Is Facebook the new age model business?

2008-10-21T01:45:00Z

Is social need replacing greed? Given Mark Zuckerberg’s recent comments it seems it is. Mark has stunned City folk and ‘greedmunsters’ across the world with his reply to the question “how and when will Facebook make money?” He isn’t really interested in making money, he openly admits money isn’t high on his agenda, as long as he has enough to get by. What drives him is a personal ethos to connect people.

The idea that the man behind one of the most successful ideas of the last decade isn’t driven by money is a good thing. It shows that greed isn’t always a driving factor. His supporters would probably put his success down to this very factor. Mark wants to build a great social site. His motivation is to bring people together – so far he’s got 110 million and growing. Half of the internet population of Chile are on Facebook. Spanish sites are exploding across Latin America. Sites are springing up across the globe, in part to it’s clever design, local people can set up their own language version.

Teenagers are abandoning emails (due to too much spam) and only using Facebook to talk to their friends. In the UK over 12 million (1/5 of the population) are on Facebook. Facebook is the best thing since…well there isn’t anything to compare it to. At just 24, Mark is one of the youngest CEO’s in the world and powerful with it. If he decided to get a God complex he could use Facebook against anyone with devastating effect.

That’s the power of social networking. Thank God he doesn’t. Mark likes to keep it simple (using an open platform means others do a lot of the work). And simple means being focused on people and values not shareholder value. Mark is probably one of the most eco-ethical leaders about. The basis of any great business is putting its ethos and values first. Without compromise. That’s what creates reputation and makes it a success. Look at Innocent, Body Shop or Green & Black. Then of course, inevitably, it gets bought. The ethos is replaced with different values –make more money, feed the shareholders – and it evaporates. Everything is about cost not quality or values. Craik Jones being an example.

As soon as any business loses its ethos it loses its focus and success. There’s two great business quotes that come to mind, “cutting costs is not the same as making money” and “If you set out to do something well you’ll make money. If you just set out to make money, nothing great will happen.” Brands in trouble (or Blands – brands who have lost their core identity) should get back to their ethos, not spend fortunes on ad campaigns or worse still, rebranding agencies. Nice graphics isn’t the solution.

Abbey was nicknamed ’Shabby National’ because of its poor staff. Millions of pounds later it had a new logo (even if it was a crap one), a new ad campaign and even a new retail environment. But the people were the same. The public wasn’t fooled. The reputation remained the same because it hadn’t really changed. Ethos is what drives us all. It encompasses our values, our emotions and our purpose. It defines WHAT we do, it’s the WHY we do it. It dictates our behavour. And that’s where so many brands fail. When they lose their ethos they start to behave badly and soon get a bad reputation and the customers flies away. If your only value is make a quick buck you son start to exploit people.

You don’t care what damage you do. “People? Planet? Screw them just give me the profit.” The current recession has stimulated much debate about ethics and money. The triple bottom line is people, planet and profit, but most shareholders just want the one. One politician commented on Radio 4 recently, “the problem in the City started when people got so seduced by bonuses they left their morals at home”. “Greed is good” was Thatcher’s slogan. Now it’s a damnation. “”Need is good” is the new slogan.

The need to look after people and the planet. We are about to enter an era where ‘greed’ is fast becoming an anti-social word and ‘profit’ just means profiteering. Now we ask not HOW much did you make but HOW did you make it? At what cost? All of us are asking what price are we going to pay for the reckless City types who gambled billions, expecting to profit in good times and expect us to pick up the tab in bad.

Making money was seen as successful, but not anymore. Success in the future will be about values and ethos. Winning over 110 million people to an idea is success at the highest level. How much Facebook makes in money terms is irrelevant, it’s just a number. What difference it makes in the world is worth far more. Those brands that like to brag about their profits, especially the daily sum they make, will be well advised to stay silent.

They may think it’s a measure of success but profit is not a measure the public respects anymore. Brand reputation is built on WHAT you do, WHAT positive difference you make. Not WHAT you make. I for one would give Mark Zuckerberg my vote for man of the decade. Not because he has created an amazing socially empowering idea but because he has stayed true to his values and not been corrupted by money.

Somehow, we all know that he’ll be still around when all those City kids have vanished, and long term he’ll do well. It doesn’t matter if he ends up as rich as Bill Gates, you can only spend so much in a lifetime. His real riches are the people he connects. The difference he’s already made in the world – many social campaigns have started on Facebook like ColaLife. As the Beatles said, money can’t buy you love. It also doesn’t pay to have it as your only value. Does money make the world go around? No it doesn’t, people do.

Data for sale, even if you have a criminal record.

2008-10-06T23:13:00Z

One of the biggest scandals relating to data is the fact the DVLA are selling open access to their database (that your's and mine information). Anyone can buy it if they can provide a good reason. When everyone else has to abide by the Data Protection Act the DVLA is abusing the regulations and possibly human rights. We live in an age of data protection paranoia – remember that story about the retailer who would only speak to the person who owned the clothes and demanded to talk to kids as young as 6, they claimed the data protection act was to blame. How difficult is it to get an information these days because “it may infringe the data protection act 1998’? Unless you are a dubious second hand car dealer with a criminal record who manages a pub car park. Yep, this really is true and no it’s not an April Fool joke. Even Liberty and many consumer groups are concerned. What has been called a “massive betrayal of public trust” and highly unethical should concern us all. Free access to our data – users just have to type in your number plate and they have your full details – to use honestly or dishonestly. Yet trying to get the DVLA to reveal who has access at first proved difficult – no doubt they quoted the data protection act. On the list are many financial services companies, bailiffs, debt collection agencies and numerous clampers! So no one respectable and trustworthy then. One company they sold our data to is Aquarius Security, the management were found guilty of blackmail and given prison sentences. According to a piece in the Times On Line, “Even the Department for Constitutional Affairs, when consulted, told the Mail on Sunday that it was illegal.” After the clamping scams of the 90’s government and authorities had to clamp down on the dodgy traders who saw a chance to make a quick buck. This has opened the door to a number of very legitimate companies who manage car parks using number plate reading technology and thanks to the DVLA, can now grab our data without our consent and send us parking fines. One such company is ParkingEye. They turn up a lot on blogs and the web and aren’t very popular. If using DVLA data is illegal then by default then it’s them that might be getting a fine. Parking Eye take the Big Brother concept to the car parks of many supermarkets like Aldi, Morrisons, Co-op and Tesco. Parking Eye and a number of other organisations manage a lot of car parks for supermarkets and retailers. You may have noticed signs in these car parks warning you about fines for parking over a limit. Or maybe not, as some seem to be hidden or fallen down. If you are just a minute over the time, wham! You get an £80 fine. While one part of the supermarket are trying to win customers and get loyalty the other side is upsetting customer on mass and losing them. Parking Eye turns up on a lot of websites and those supermarkets that contract them would do well to consider the damage they are doing to their customer relationship. It seems that no matter how well managed a business is there’s always some idiot in it who is the weak link. You spend millions on marketing, customer loyalty campaigns, good service and someone in another department blows it. My advice to those in large supermarkets who manage the brand – manage the idiots who employ parking control companies like Parking Eye. I would say to any shareholder in a supermarket ask this simple questions – if every customer you upset with an £80 fine departs your store, given an average spend of £4000, how much are you losing as a shareholder? It’s a lot. According to one website, one club lost 30 members. I know of a case in Wood Green where one customer has dumped Morrisons over a fine from Parking Eye. Cost, potentially £3000. Is it worth it? Several years ago I wrote to all the major supermarkets proposing a clamp to be put on anti-social drivers who park in disabled parking bays. On the clamp was HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE DISABLED? The fines would go to disability charities. How many took up the idea? None. The common reply was “it may upset our customers.” As always it’s the disabled who suffer the most, there are many reports of disabled people being fined. Seems supermarkets are happy to fine disabled shoppers but not those that park in their bay. How ethical is that? Disability charities may like to take this issue up with them. What is going on? Supermarkets may suffer from the odd parking abusers but it’s a small price to pay to keep the bulk of customer happy. And one unhappy customer soon becomes several and then many. So angry were some locals they have started a local boycott of their supermarket. One woman in a store got so upset by the unreasonable fine police had to be called. One driver was fined £80 for being 12 minutes late when shopping with his disabled mum. "My mother has always shopped in the Co-op – it's disgusting. It takes a few minutes to get the wheelchair out of the car and get the chair back in so even going down for bread and milk can take over half an hour." This surprises me of the Co-op as they are so strongly community based. But the reality is that probably no one at the Co-op who’s responsible for the brand knows this is going on. If they did they’d stop it as it’s outside their ethos. Parking Eye may seem like a good idea at the time and I doubt any sensible person in the marketing department would ever hire them, but alas it’s those who don’t understand the importance of keeping customers happy, who do. They try to claim a financial advantage for customers - I can’t see any advantage in fining a loyal customer and then loosing them. An £80 fine vs £3000 a year of shopping? Do the maths. If I was a shareholder in any supermarket I’d be asked some serious questions. As for the public, it’s time they started to ask the DVLA some serious questions too. On the direct.gov website it says about the DVLA, “The law requires the Agency to protect the privacy of individual motorists and to ensure that personal data is used fairly and lawfully”. It isn’t.

Is the ad industry about to sink without trace?

2008-09-30T03:03:00Z

Will WPP collapse like a stack of cards? Will the industry fall and rise like a phoenix? Or will it muddle through? Has the industry lost its values and value to clients in the pursuit of shareholder value? These were just some of the discussions I’ve had over three amazing days spent on the Aurora boat at the Marketing Forum.

On a more upbeat note I had a great three days speaking on ‘ethical marketing & the new consumer’ and networking. The event is certainly the best one of the year for meeting all sides of our industry. It’s always good to discuss hot issues with people that have different view points. And enjoy great food and a few beers ‘til the early hours of the morning – it’s also one of the year’s best parties. It was a great opportunity to be able to hear the opinions of clients, agencies and business experts like Robert Shaw and Andrew Marsden.

One subject that came up constantly was the effect of the credit crunch on the industry. There’s few who cannot be worried, and I’m sure Martin Sorrell is sipping diet Coke rather than champagne (unlike the fat cats from the banks who were in Monte Carlo last week). Sorrell is a pragmatic realist when it comes to making agencies make money. Few cannot respect him and his ability to build a very successful media group but he’s an accountant not a visionary and could learn a lot from understanding the value of creativity as WPP goes forward. I’d love to spend a lunchtime with Sorrell and change his thinking.

The big issue is values, agencies were traditionally built on values not value to shareholders. And with the current economic climate we, the masses, are all paying the price for an economy that is driven the few. Even the Sun has fuelled anti-capitalism attitudes towards the City. Revolution seems to be in the air. One way or another the ad industry could be in for one of the most dramatic changes since the 60s.

The industry – both clients and agencies – have moved from longevity to short term thinking. The average clients stays in his job about 2 years, agency staff aren’t much better. When once we thought in campaigns over years we now think in weeks. Is it any wonder many big brands have lost their way? The industry has moved its focus from great work that worked, to shareholder value. It has been on a path of cost cutting and in the process it’s cut planning, creative and other value dominated areas.

“Cutting costs is not the same as making money” was my father’s favourite saying. Replacing talent with time focused low level staff is short sighted. “Bubble wrap’ is the term being used by some clients to describe many agencies – “20% substance, 80% air”. One client put it bluntly, “why would I buy an agency just made up of suits? I want to pay for talent – creativity and thinking - and that’s coming harder to find.” Other clients were nodding in agreement.

No disrespect to account handlers, but clients don’t think you are strategic thinkers and therefore no replacement for planners. I‘ve only met a few who could be both planner and account handling. And the idea that account handler led agencies can buy in freelance talent is pointless. So can clients. On a business level, it was felt that agencies are not aligned with client’s business needs. Robert Shaw in his lecture commented that agencies and clients need to stop thinking of budget as pocket money. Clients and agencies need to work closer together as business partners rather than supplier and master. Both need to adopt more professionalism and financial accountability.

So what will the future of the ad industry look like? This is yet to be decided, but change is in the air, so if you are not planning a new model you may be a looser rather than a winner. We have gone from an agricultural economy to a manufacturing economy and beyond - now more people work in Indian restaurants than car and boat manufacturing. We are now in the Creative Economy where it’s intellectual capital that is up for sale. It’s called the Creative Economy by governments and economists for a reason. By contrast, some developing nations are stuck in a Service Economy, when your people is your greatest resource.

So why are agencies not getting this? They need to invest in brain power, yet as an industry we employ more account handlers than planners and creatives. It seems the ad industry wants to work in the service economy. “Agencies are like restaurants,” was the thought of one great adman, Roy Williams. People go for great food, for that you need a great chef (creatives). They expect excellent service (account handling). Which one do they pay more for? Clients also need to review their position. "It takes good clients to make a good advertising agency. Regardless of how much talent an ad agency may have, it is ineffective without good products and services to advertise." - Morris Hite Personally I think those agencies who focus on value – creativity & strategy – will become the new winners.

Greater efficiency, better understanding of clients (because clients can talk to the thinkers) and more effectiveness. Clients will see greater return for their budget because more will be spent on talent. It’s common sense. There will also be the development of a new breed of logistic based agencies that just deal with execution to support the previous types. And the role of account handlers will move to more project management – so goodbye to lots of meetings, long Powerpoints and waffle. Of course many will disagree but that’s the beauty of predictions – everyone can have an opinion but only time will tell. On a more cheerful note, a few days on the Aurora generated some good gossip. I met a couple of great journalists from both Marketing Week and Marketing, but alas I promised not to write any stories about them in my blog, in exchange for none about me! That was one great night!

Excuse me why I just slip into my organic fair trade fashion wear.

2008-09-17T00:50:00Z

This week all eyes are on ethical fashion and organic everything. And despite a credit crunch we could all be getting greener as a consequence according to Alice Thomson of the Times. Also this week I’m working late hours writing a book for a major publisher on Ethical Marketing & the New Consumer (due to be published in Feb 09).

If anyone wishes to contribute case studies, research data or some really great stories please contact me via this blog or email me at book site - chris@ethicalmarketing.plus.com.

This week is organic fortnight and the Soil Association are running events and activities all over the UK with the Scottish Organic Food Festival on September 20-21st. While the supermarkets offer us discounts and incentives to buy greener greens a recent survey suggest that organics is leveling off – the credit crunching is crunching organics.

A piece in the Times by Alice Thomson ‘Suddenly being green isn’t green anymore’ reflects on how ironically the economic downturn is making us all greener – we drive less, waste less energy, food and therefore packaging. She thinks the salads days are over (quoting the MORI and Organic Monitor polls). She had an amusing pop at Julie Burchill, commenting “she thinks all environmentalists are po-faced, unsexy, public school alumni who drivel on about the end of the world because they don't want the working classes to have any fun, go on foreign holidays or buy cheap clothes.” It’s also London Fashion Week – exciting for some, amusing for others.

However, it's good to see that many ethical fashion brands are getting noticed. Can I make a plea that people stop equating hemp to sack cloth. Few people seem to be aware that hemp t-shirts are softer then cotton and use half as much water to produce, unfortunately they cost twice as much. The London Fashion Week has seen a growing number of ethical fashion brands, designers and events year on year encourage by groups like estethica. Ironically, the credit crunch could also encourage people to look at clothes differently.

Primark (and other cheap fashion shops) are loving the credit crunch and stand to dominate the high street with there 'fast fashion' approach, providing credit crunched consumers with clothes that are so disposable it’s not work washing and as a consequence causing a landfill problem. And the government is worried about direct mail (only 2% of household waste)! But while some buy cheap tat, others actually look for longer term value – clothes that last – and most ethical fashion is well made. Or they learn to recycle or remake – a popular trend in Australia.

Ethical fashion – or ‘eco-sustainable fashion as it’s now called - has grown up a lot over the last few years and designs have got hotter. Adili sponsored the Make Your Mark In Fashion event to find young designers. The winner was a girl who’d been working at Junky Styling (a winner at this years’ Observer Ethical Awards). Junky also sponsor a young designers event. Even though the ridiculous prices to get on the cartwalks may be a barrier to small ethical fashion producers it could also keep it one step away from the pompous and stupid end of the fashion market.

Personally I’d rather see an Edinburgh Fringe style of event, it feels more honest. In a dog eat dog world, RSPCA has dumped Crufts because they are not happy about the ethics of some dog breeders and concerns over the high rate of inherited genetic disease among pedigree dogs. Good on them. Now there’s pressure on the BBC to pull out too, who started the issue with a programme they made called Pedigree Dogs Exposed. The discussion between the RSPCA and a representative from the Kennel Club on the radio got very heated – she lost the plot and did themselves no favors. Meoow

Pervert Penguins save the planet

2008-09-12T01:32:00Z

There are some amazing stories around and some that just make you laugh. None more than the case of the two environmental campaigners who dressed up as penguins and were seen as being potential paedophiles.

If you thought they were nuts, meet Telford Council! This story comes straight out of the ‘Barmy Britain’ category. Telford & Wrekin Council have managed to reinforce the idea that people who become councillors are probably the last people on the earth who should be councillors. And certainly not let near children! They obviously have little else to do than panic.

Having been reading too many stories about Gary Glitter in the News of the World, they fear that Telford’s children are being preyed upon by dirty old men, so they have started targeting any single men in the local parks. They claim they are trying to prevent paedophiles and perverts preying on kids and womenn. No doubt they’ll also evict Arabs and muslims (who may be terrorists), anyone with a hood (could be a mugger) or any large red people with horns (could be Hellboy).

So when Rachel Whittaker and her friend (note, not a man) were spotted dressed in penguin suits giving out leaflets to educate kids about climate change, a pair of fascist park keepers moved in and moved them on. Not surprisingly, the penguins got the last laugh with lots of publicity, meanwhile Telford got egg on their face.

For great fun in the ethical arena pop The Gruen Transfer into YouTube and enjoy. You find some great ads promoting child labour and the benefits of global warming. Yes, that’s right. The former ads points out that kids in the third world earn money, learn about responsibility and the value of work young. Stay health and learn skills. By contrast, kids in the West are spoilt, get fat, watch TV all day and corrupt their minds with violent video games. They have a point.

Global warming is helping people who live on the streets. So every time you drive you car you can feel good that you’re helping people not freeze in winter. There are a few of many very funny ads from this Australian TV programme The Gruen Transfer that likes to take the mick out of advertising, the world and especially New Zealand – “lets invade New Zealand” is the cry of one ad. They especially like to tackle subjects that others wouldn’t dare. And finally, take a trip to the world of SPAM “it’s a big world out there, and it’s full of meat.” What a great slogan It may not be organic or vegetarian, but the US site is kitsch to the point of art.

There’s even a museum “sure beats an art museum and it’s free”. Or check out the merchandise – SPAM costumes, boxer shirts, ties and everything you could want for Christmas presents. You can even join their fan club. We once set SPAM as a brief for a D&AD workshop – after all, who better to sell it to than students – they’ll eat anything. The best lines were “All meat no greens” and “If you want greens, leave it out on a plate for a week.”. Nothing like truth in advertising.

BBC launches Mr Riley’s meaty & sweety pie range

2008-09-02T01:25:00Z

Those watching Mischief on BBC last night (Britain’s Really Disgusting Foods) hopefully weren’t eating their evening meal in front of the TV. Mr Riley’s Pies may well come packaged to look tasty but when you discover what’s in them, even given the marketing spin, they are not so appetizing. The show that featured Steve Phillips (Spring Research), Brooke Dalton-Brewer (Spinnaker) and myself was actually great fun to make.

There’s nothing like a light hearted look at the darker side of marketing. Though I’m sure many packaging agencies are livid that advertising people exposing some of their devious techniques. Give it a personal identity, old fashion packaging for a traditional look, farm images for credibility and the master stroke – dolphin friendly. Northern comedian and anarchist, Alex Riley may not be to everyone’s taste (just like his dad’s pies – yes that is his dad on the packaging) but he makes it lot more interesting that those old stuffy BBC presenters who take it all too seriously.

Dressing up in a wet suit and filling it with water certainly makes the point about how much water is added to chicken! The programme format was simple - Alex goes in search of the most disgusting thing that can be legally sold as food. He discovers manufacturers have ingenious ways of transforming poor ingredients into something that looks and tastes like good food. Corn starch (wallpaper paste) is one common ingredient. He unearths hidden horrors, from substitute cheese to beef connective tissue and many other horrors. And that’s the legal stuff, imagine what’s not legal that gets sold? The programme set out to expose just how crap some food we’re sold can be.

What actually goes into those pies is disgusting though we all ate them and strangely they actually tasted ok. I had some in my office for weeks and as a sign of just how little real food was in them it took that long for them to go moldy. It was inevitable that the programme would set up big names and Brooker certainly got a pasting. Though I do think they were unfair to one of the big agencies (no names as I’m sure they’d prefer no further publicity).

Asda, by contrast, I thought came our really well. Thankfully, we were in on the humour rather than the victim and I do think that humour is a great way to make a point. However, there is a serious ethical and moral point – as an industry how do we cope with selling products we know are crap? Not so bad when everyone knows it - no one is trying to pretend KFC uses the finest quality freedom farm chickens. We buy it knowing exactly what it is so at least there’s an honesty about it.

But some of those pies and pasties sold as authentic quality foods aren’t. Sweets with chemicals in. Foods packed full of water or other substances. Kids snacks with e numbers? Apparently, Kellogg’s artificial Maple Syrup had the greatest number of e numbers in. Where do we draw the line? When is it acceptable and when isn’t it? Should we have a moral code in the ad business? Some agencies refuse to work on cigarette accounts (AMV), others on oil companies. With the great debate about marketing to kids, is there an ad agency who is prepared to say no to marketing crap snack food? When we did a research group with kids we asked them who are the bad brands - Coke, Pepsi, McDonalds, Burger King, petrol companies and a few others were mentioned.

Although it’s easy to take pot shots at these ethically demonised brands (I could write a lot about the good work that McDonalds, Coke and Pepsi are doing) there are many worse ones that look like angels, selling us hidden horrors. Why are chocolate, biscuit and crisp manufacturers not demonised? The programme, like advertising will be tomorrow’s chip paper - no one questions how crap fish and chips are do they? It’ll have its 15 minutes of fame around the water cooler and then a few hours later we’ll all be eating Cornish pasties again and diving into a kebab after the pub.

It’s ironic that with the credit crunch sales of McDonalds has gone up – so much for the health conscious consumer. But more frightening than the revelation about ingredients (or the fact there’s a glass full of fat in every kebab) is the ad they made themselves. It’s a lesson in why you should never do it yourself and should always get experts to write your ads!!

There’s another episode that features a few adland faces in too – look out for the one on data – Your Identity For Sale (BBC Three Sept 11th). Rebecca Wilcox, who’s a lot more attractive than Alex Riley, clocks up over 1500 ads she’s exposed to in one day and reveals the abuse of data and a few revealing facts about Facebook.

Woolies – is it worth it anymore?

2008-08-21T12:41:00Z

Well the share price certainly isn’t – at less than 10p, its one discount they weren’t bargaining for. When I first started in advertising, it was at McCann’s, and the first account I worked on was Woolworth. Yep, it was no fun at all. Then it was going through a major refocus and needed to get in shape having lost its way.

Many years later it’s back in the same old hole. No focus, no direction, a flagging brand and one with no definition or meaning to most consumers. When I visit my local one in Crouch End I usually leave with nothing. It’s full of tat. I’m not attracted to the ‘Worth It’ values brands (though the names good) because they look too cheap and you’d have to question their ethical source.

The only thing I do rate are the digital, radios they sell – I have bought 3 from them. Woolworth may still be one of the biggest retailers in sweets – hardly ethical in these health conscious time but what else? It must have lost out big time on music sales to the internet – once its most profitable product range. It’s format, look and approach now seem out dated. I couldn’t find one ethical product in their store. No attempt to win over the new consumer, even Argos have made the effort.

You have to question what planet the management are on - were they away on a conference when Stuart Rose announced Plan A? Currently they have over 800 stores and despite most of us visiting one at least once a year, annual profits are falling with the share price falling 70%. Not surprising that there’s a take over bid hovering around.

In desperation, and maybe too late, they’ve hired a new CEO, Steve Johnson (ex Focus DIY) to try and turn the place around. He has a tough challenge. Woolworth’s may simply had its day, despite the consumer’s affection for it and a credit crunch that could help it. Whatever Johnson does it’ll need to be revolutionary not evolutionary. And maybe a bit greener too.

Could Coke be a live saver in the Third World?

2008-08-06T00:08:00Z

There’s an amusing story that one of Coke’s great straplines, when translated into one of the Chinese languages read ‘bring your dead back to life’. Now, more seriously, brands like Coke, Pepsi and many other mass distributed products could be the new saviour of millions dying from water related illnesses.

Campaigner Simon Berry has been trying to get Coke to use their vast distribution network to help deliver life-saving medications and information in developing countries. This concept, ColaLife, could help save hundreds of thousands of people. (see www.colalife.org.)

According to WaterAid, one billion people lack access to clean water, every day, 5,000 children die as a result of drinking dirty water. In many regions of the world people have to walk miles to get water that can be dirty, polluted or infected with disease as it’s often shared with animals.

Quoting Simon Berry, “Our idea is that Coca-Cola could use their distribution channels (which are amazing in developing countries) to distribute rehydration salts to the people that need them desperately. Maybe by dedicating one compartment in every 10 crates as 'the life saving' compartment?”

Gives new meaning to Coke’s famous straplines, Life tastes good and Coke adds life.

WaterAid is not a great fan of distributing rehydration salts for treating diarrhea (it’s a short term solution) preferring to educate people about hygiene and putting in proper sanitation and clean water supplies. But Simon’s campaign is gathering a mass of supporters by using the power of Web 2.0 and social networking to spread the word and create a digital community of activists (almost 4,000 have joined the open group on Facebook - see http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18947780476).

This case points out how one person can very quickly gain enough momentum to be as powerful as a major charity in applying pressure to large corporations. A new concept of David and Gloiath. Whereas, the old model was for charities to be the champions of a particular issue or cause, now any passionate driven member of the public can soon gather a force behind them and force change. There is some evidence that issue sites are gaining more followers than traditional charity sites in the States. Could common causes replace charitiable organisations as the main influencers in the future?

I know of an innovative new site launching soon that will encourage and empower creative people to use their talents to make social comment – I’ll reveal all soon. Personally, I think by tapping into a pool of often frustrated talent (most creatives in agencies are very restricted) there is a great force for good to be had. Why after all do you need a charity to endorse your poster idea about poverty? With no client (or suit) to get in the way – “we can’t do that in case we upset one of our donors” - pure creative can flourish and maybe because it’s always braver, change the world. In this day and age ‘NO LOGO’ means power to the people, less to corporations and organisations.

Another idea that’s coming out of adland is H2O, Walk for Water, Walk for Life. This is a new campaign that is planning to launch later this year. It will be encouraging Londoners (and all those in adland) to make a sponsored walk between two places, one begining with H and one with O to raise money for water projects in developing countries. So adland can get off at Holborn tube and walk to Oxford Circus (or late in the evening walk from the Harrington Arms to the Oxford Tavern). Maybe Martin Sorrell can walk from his place in Hampstead to Ogilvy (they don’t have an agency beginning with H in London yet).

http://beamends.typepad.com/simons_blog/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73509998@N00/sets/72157594299144032/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18947780476
www.colalife.org/
http://www.wateraid.org/documents/tacking_the_silent_killer_the_case_for_sanitation.pdf

The easy way to customer relationship management, not.

2008-07-29T01:22:00Z

When you fly on a cheap airline you can expect to be travelling cattle class but that doesn't mean that brands like EasyJet and Ryanair (especially given their profit warnings) can afford to treat customers like cattle. In today's consumer dominated marketplace and credit crunching times, the customer may want cheap prices but still expects to be treated well.

Our railway system may be one of the worse in Europe but it could still teach brands like EasyJet a few things about customer service. I don't usually use blogging as a way to publicly moan but then this piece is all about customer experience and my recent joyless trip on EasyJet wasn't a good one. If I were Andy Harrison (Chief Executive of EasyJet) I'd get a team of customer relationship consultants in very quick.

This is one area they are failing at, given my experience and almost 200 passengers who travelled from Madrid recently. I've always wondered in this modern age why check in desks are so slow? Why have technology if you can't use it? If McDonalds ran check-ins we'd all be through them in seconds not hours. If there's two thing that many pieces of research have told brands it's queuing and lack of information really upsets customers. Especially when they are waiting in stressful situations.

It was this customer insight that motivated the Underground to install the dot matrix system to inform passengers of train arrivals and got Tesco's to put more check outs in. It often pays just to have someone walking about reassuring customers and keeping them informed. Yet with this wisdom freely available, why do so many airlines go one step worse - even their own staff haven't a clue what's going on. Instead you get rumour and passengers soon start to voice their frustrations to each other, just adding fuel to the fire.

I'd planned to use the waiting area to do a survey into attitudes towards flying and the environment but instead all I got was a lot of moaning about customer service. After several hours of having my ear bent all I'd established was that most people agreed that we needed to fly less but somehow they didn't feel part of the problem. Finally, almost 4 hours later, we were on the plane. It's that point when you think, "oh well at least we're on our way home." But there was another problem.

We had one too many passengers. How can that happen with modern computers you may well ask? Well the staff didn't know either. I suspect human error. Now there's a saying that ‘it's not how hard you fall buy how high you bounce'. When a Virgin customer complained that a bag had fallen on his head (through no fault of the airline) Branson rang him up personally and offered him a pair of free flights anywhere in the world. You can imagine the situation in the office, "John, there's a call for you and it's some guy called Richard."

Even if that was a PR stunt it worked, many punters know the story and it's one that gives Virgin a good image. We probably all suspect BA's response would have been less than friendly, whereas Rynair would probably have found a way to charge the customer for the pleasure of getting bashed. Having worked on several airline marketing accounts, including BA, the one thing that makes or breaks a brand is not the advertising or the lure of cheap prices but the customer experience.

A brand isn't a nice colour scheme, typeface and slogan, a brand is what people feel and say about it - reputation is all. And in these times of social networking and blogging, word travels fast (the fact I'm writing to a potential audience of 300,000 proves it). It was Branson who said (referring to BA's big ad spend) "instead of spending millions trying to tell people I have a better airline, I spend my money on making it a better airline. My satisfied customers do the rest."

Branson has always put his customers first - value the customer and they'll value you. It's a good warning to all brands that in these credit crunching times you need to keep focused on the customer. Now with the extra passenger problem solved (no one knew what happened to him) we finally take off. Surprisingly we aren't offered free drinks or food, unlike GNER or National Express who give it free after any major delay (and a refund on your fair).

After much wrangling I finally got a free coffee but having missed my evening meal the only way I was going to get a bite was by paying for it. That option didn't last long. A short while later we're told all the sandwiches have run out so no food. Thank goodness I'd packed an Eat Natural bar, always a life saver. I can't say that there was a lot of enthusiasm from many passengers I spoke to after we landed for flying EasyJet again.

"Easy? it was anything but," commented one irate passenger. The few parents on board were especially frustrated. Yet it would have been so easy to have made them happy customers. In my free copy of the EasyJet in-flight magazine Andy Harrison invites his passengers to write in with suggestions. So I did. That was over a week ago (you can't say I didn't give them a chance to reply). I waited. Two days passed. Four. Six. Eight days...no reply. So much for customer relationship marketing.

Will the credit crunch kill off organics? How will other ethical brands fair in a recession?

2008-07-23T01:53:00Z

Recession or no recession, greening up your marketing is still hot on the agenda of most businesses. Marketing magazine (front cover last week) may be predicting organics will be suffering as a consequence of overpricing in a price sensitive market but everything else ethical could actually thrive in a recession.

This may sound like an idea that swims against the tide but when things get tighter community values increase, caring for others becomes more important. Hard times brings us together, Government based research has shown that community is high on our agenda of wants. Charity giving is far more common within poorer communities than rich ones. And many ethical brands are people based – fair trade being the prime one.

I don’t disagree that organics, having taken the position of being overpriced, could be a victim of the recession but even when times are tight people still care. I believe that environmental brands will continue to thrive, though slower, because recession or no recession there’s too much media force forcing social change. A majority thought politicians and corporations should be responsible for sorting out environmental issues.

Leaving people to help people. The Ethical Price Index, a national survey into how much extra people will pay for ethical goods, is soon to be released. It makes for fascinating reading, and even given the credit crunch, shows that people are prepared to pay more for most ethical value based products and brands. Prior to a recent debate I was chairing, ‘People vs Planet, a survey of almost 400 people was conducted to see if people had a preference.

When confronted with a choice, the vast majority – 2/3rds - picked people first. Also revealing, 2/3rds don’t trust green ads but only 1/3 distrust green claims on packaging. However, overall there’s a strong drift towards ethical consumerism and people like to embrace new eco ideas. The latest to catch my attention (even before Treehugger got it) are Green Rewards. A great yet simple loyalty programme and a brilliant idea - reward your customers for buying the right things and then with the points they can trade them in for eco products, services and experiences. Or even donate them to a charity.

Why hasn’t anyone thought of it before? It’s already been signed up by a number of retailers, including Abel & Cole, and seems a simple way for them to show just how committed they are to ethical issues. Further more, by using a simple incentive scheme people are encouraged to change buying behaviour, as psychologists will tell you, you need to change cognitive behaviour before you get mind change. www.greenrewards.co.uk As a regular speaker at marketing events on creativity and more recently ethical marketing I have to say “told you so” to Richmond Events (who run the Oriana marketing seminars).

Most of us have probably been on the Oriana – though now it’s the Aurora (bigger, better boat) and every year they survey clients to establish top issues. No surprise this year that one is green & ethical marketing. What marketers want is to navigate this complicated area and avoid the greenwash. Their research panel revealed that over half support buying local and the majority thought climate change was one of the most important environmental issues of today. Mark Price of Waitrose is the keynote speaker at this year’s Marketing Forum and talking on educating children about the values of quality food.

Waitrose have been busy behind the scenes working with schools and have sent education packs to almost half of all secondary schools in the UK in the battle against poor diet. It’s shocking that that many children think eggs come from cows and 90% have no idea what animal ham comes from. Last year I had a great time mixing with agencies and clients, then I was doing a series of creative workshops.

This year I’m going back in September to talk on ethical marketing and the new consumer and with an impressive list of top brands present, let’s hope we see less greenwash and more honesty ethical marketing as a result.

The DMA will also have a presence on board, no doubt the number one question will be about the government’s targets on reducing landfill - 55% of direct mail has to be recycled by the end of 2009. Seems a bit unbalanced to me that while the newspaper industry’s target is based on recycled paper content, the marketing industry is just about percentage of paper that ends up in landfill. While DM is an easy target, it really only accounts for less than 2% of household rubbish, packaging and even clothes are a more serious problem.

By contrast the newspaper industry accounts for 11% of landfill. But then I guess politicians don’t want to upset Fleet Street too much. And finally, discovered on the Green Rewards site, is a great animation from Free Range Studios running on Green TV called the Meatrix. It’s fun anti-factory farming piece of propaganda, best not watched while you’re eating a burger. Also check out Story of Stuff, a fascinating and alarming look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns with a flavour of The Corporation (but a lot shorter).

Is bullfighting bad for Spain’s brand image?

2008-07-18T01:01:00Z

Bullfighting is facing the same dilemma that fox hunting has faced in the UK. Growing public opinion is questioning animal cruelty and barbaric behaviour over tradition. Once a tourist attraction, is it now a potential turn off? Having just come back from Spain I was interested in an ethical dilemma that is splitting the nation. Should bullfighting be banned? Surprisingly, back in 2004 Barcelona declared itself an anti-bullfighting city, though it didn’t have the power to actually stop the fights. Since then there has been mild debate but recently it’s reached a tipping point, fuelled by celebrities like the cult actress Rossy de Palma. Who’d thought that bullfighting could be the very reason not to go to Spain? As I teenager I was dragged to a bull fight and took home a poster with my name on and a plastic bull with lances in, I have to say, even then I felt sickened to see a bull slaughtered for sport and have never taken my own kids to a bullfight. Many of the top matadors, like Jesulín de Ubrique, command the same status as top sportsmen and are certainly very skilful at what they do. Taking on a ton of aggressive bull with two sharp horns (Jesulín has taken on 6 at one time) while having to move, almost dance like, around the ring takes both guts and training. Few could argue that up until the bull is stabbed it is an impressive dance of wits between man and bull. I occasionally tune into American rodeo riding on late night TV and the two compare well. And although you can argue that these events stress the animals, even vets would probably argue that nature is more stressful. But rodeo riders don’t delight in killing the horse. That’s the difference and the one that could kill off bullfighting for good. Whilst in Spain I watched a series of fights on Spanish TV. The crowds applaud as the matador teases the bull, carefully playing him with his cape. Suddenly the bull gets the upper hand and one matador is thrown to the ground and stamped on. The bull won that one but his victory is only temporary. When the animal is finally lanced and stabbed with a sword, blood flowing from its mouth, the animal falls to its knees and rolls over, the crowd rises up in celebration. A sickening site that echoes the barbaric Roman animal games practiced 2000 years ago in the amphitheatres, like the one I’d visited only a few hours earlier in Meridas. The writer Ernest Hemingway described bullfighting as "not a sport but a tragedy". I have to agree. So why kill the bull? This is the debate that has even extended to Spain’s top public debate show, 360 and is dividing the nation between traditionalists (Spain loves its cultural traditions) and those that think animal cruelty is unacceptable in the modern age. Logically, not killing the bull makes more financial sense. A bull that wins against the matadors becomes a better contest, commands greater income and a big earning for breeding – just like race horses. Would you kill a race horse after it won the Derby? I know from the Co-op’s own research (and one I conducted recently) that people are passionate about animal cruelty. It’s a top ethical issue and people like Hugh Fernley Whittinstall have helped raise it even further up the agenda. In fact, in charity you can raise funds easier for animals than people. I recall one American ad many years ago that read, ‘It says a lot about America that last year we donated more dollars to save animals than people’. On the way back I did a survey at the airport. Of the small sample of people I asked, all thought bullfighting was barbaric and unacceptable. Two had been to a bullfight and said they left early. All thought it wasn’t good for Spain’s image. ‘Andalusia loves you’ screams out the headline on the cheesy posters at Gatwick, but not if you’re a bull. (Sorry about no para breaks - a technical problem with the site)

Retail recession – who’s really getting squeezed?

2008-06-30T02:00:00Z

Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Morrison’s are facing a major crisis, shoppers are cutting back and it seems that the only way they can hold on to customers is to cut prices. In the war between the big four there is a surprise winner – Aldi. But the real losers could be workers in the Third World. Tesco currently (I use that word because we could see a massive change) dominates the supermarket scene. 1/7th of high street spending goes into their pockets and they made £2.8 billion profit last year. The problem with being leader, rather than a challenger brand, is you have to both grow and defend your business. And the last thing Tesco, or any of the others want, is a recession and the resulting price war needed to lure customers back. Food inflation is running at approx 9% and some analysts believe the average family could see their annual shopping bill rise by almost £1000. Combined with rising energy costs, it’s no wonder consumers are tightening their belts. Not surprisingly, the big four are nervous about customers moving over to the ‘pile them high, sell them cheap’ no frill stores like Aldi, Iceland and Lidi – all have seen increases in sales at the expense of the big boys. Aldi has seen a 20% rise and Iceland 15%. Meanwhile M&S has seen a 3.2% decline. In a recession premium products get cut out first and both M&S and Waitrose have seen profits grow due to wealthy times. Tesco and Asda (owned by Walmart) may hate a price war but out of all the supermarkets these two can afford to go the distance. A similar thing happened in the travel market in the 90s. The big boys pushed out everyone else, giving the consumer less choice and a worse deal long term. Tesco have already announced an aggressive series of cuts – 50% off 3000 items, while Asda’s strategy is to sell a wide range of basics, like bread and milk, at just 50p and have even started selling a 2p sausage (I dread to think what’s in it). Sainsbury have their ‘feed the family for a fiver’ campaign and Morrison’s have slashed the price of over 2000 items. Even M&S are pushing a price message. It’s panic all round. These cuts, combined with soaring energy costs (both electricity and fuel) means margins and profits will come under threat. Traditionally that means the supermarkets will pass this down the line to farmers and suppliers. But most are now working on such low margins there’s no way they can cut back. NGOs like ActionAid and War on Want will be watching closely to make sure Third World workers are not the victims. In a recession the triple bottom line – people, planet, profits – becomes rebalanced to just profits. Big companies need to feed the shareholders before the mouths of the hungry. Action Aid’s WHO PAYS? campaign has been very successful in challenging supermarkets to reveal where the discounts on many products were coming from. It asked consumers to ask their supermarket “who is paying the price of the discount?” Within weeks of the campaign launching Sainsbury ran an ad for bananas and stated that they were covering the savings. The campaign has already signed up 42,000 shoppers to a Who Pays loyalty card and has not been popular with supermarkets. Sadly, in a recession low prices rule and ethics becomes an accessory rather than a necessity. The middle class shopper who likes the idea of ethical shopping becomes more pragmatic. The trouble is that many ethical products are more expensive, so out goes the organic vegetables alongside the Fairtrade biscuits and in comes budget packs. By contrast to Third World workers, we westerners are still wealthy, but we’ve come to enjoy such a luxury lifestyle that a small recession makes us feel poor. One positive outcome of growing fuel prices and shopping will be a cognitive change in behaviour. People will drive less, waste less electricity, think more about what they buy and consumerism will reduce (along with landfill). By default, the consumer may finally start to live a more ethical lifestyle. There’s no doubt it’s tough on the high street – there’s a number of retailers like Ilva and Dolcis who have gone broke – and many more predicted to come. Another victim are staff. DSG, owner of Currys/Dixon and PC World are planning to make 1000 staff redundant having also announced that due to bad customer service they are sending almost 20,000 staff on training programmes. After my last experience in Curry’s I’m sure their staff haven’t any training at all. ‘Hopeless’ was the word that came to mind trying to buy anything there. Bad service combined with a recession and a growing trend towards online purchasing, you have to question if they are not already a dinosaur awaiting extinction. The BBC’s Panorama damming documentary on Primark (claiming suppliers were using child labour), followed by an Evening Standard cover about Tesco – TESCO ‘SLAVE LABOUR’ ROW - using sweat shops that pay as little as £7 a week, has not been good PR for either retailer. But in a recession the middle class public can be very fickle – news today, gone tomorrow - and ethics can quickly be parked, giving the retailers a get out. Just leaving deep greens and NGOs to protest. There’s little doubt that times are going to be hard for everyone, especially for small ethical businesses who often struggle as it is and have been dependant on large retailers. As we claw back, many ethical goods will either need to promote their value message stronger – especially those at the premium price end - or face cuts too.

Rocking and recycling to save the planet

2008-06-24T00:27:00Z

This year has seen an explosion of music festivals and almost all of them are trying to be greener than the next. But one festival is claiming a new ethical twist – no commercialisation. No ads, no sponsorship. Could anti-marketing be the new form of green music marketing? This year has been a lot of focus on greening up of festivals, partly in response to criticisms and in part to a more planetary aware youth. (There’s even green awards for them now.) Ironically this move is driven more by the music industry than the festival goers. Bands like Cold Play have been very vocal about carbon footprints (though most concert goers probably think it’s music style rather than a grading system). By contrast, the Madonna’s of this world are happily jetting about and burning gas like it was still cheap. Time Out, Smart Planet and Big Issue have both produced guides to ‘how green is my festival’. There’s little doubt greening up is fashionable and sales of eco-tents, hemp t-shirts (more eco than cotton) and organic veggie burgers will be up. And if you could get organic hash, they’d probably advertise it too. Though given recent busts, seems it takes a lot of energy to grow the stuff, so not very eco friendly. Someone has recently pointed out that heroine should get Fairtrade and Organic ratings as the farmers get a fair price and no chemicals are used. Ironically the best selling FMCG product in the States by value is not Coke but Cocaine. But I’m deviating. You certainly can’t knock the festivals for recycling – The Police (Hyde Park), Shakin’ Stevens (Glastonbury) and Neil Young (The Hop Farm) are all back. But on a more serious note, some are even paying for bags of waste! Leeds and Reading are giving away a free can of beer in exchange for three bags of rubbish (seems a bit pricey for a can of Carling). Isle of Wight, Glastonbury, V Festival, Hyde Park, Global Gathering, The Big Chill – there’s over 30 this year - and the rest have all become over commercialised events. Great for advertisers but is it really rock ‘n’ roll? The Hop Farm festival (Sunday, July 6th) is organised by Vince Power (formerly of the Mean Fiddler Group). It boasts ‘no sponsorship, branding or VIP areas, just great music.’ So no Carling then. It certainly delivers on the music with 8 great acts and Neil Young headlining. With deep greens becoming more vocal about consumerism being at the heart of planetary decay, could this be the start of a turn against the over commercialisation of music events? Carling, who have pumped a lot of money into the music scene to sell their limp lager have also come under criticism in the past for reducing choice. Festival goers don’t want to be told they can only drink this brand or eat that brand. A new survey by Buckinghamshire New University (sample of 1400) has revealed that 48% of festival goers would be happy to pay more for a ticket if the festival in question was more environmentally friendly. A third said that a festival’s greeness was a factor when buying a ticket. Almost all (80%) said they believed that noise, waste and traffic have a negative impact on the environment. What is shocking is that 20% didn’t (maybe they were too stoned at the time). 56 % now consider CO2 a negative impact from festivals. Not well known is that 75% of the UK music industry's greenhouse are a results of live events. However, 65% agreed that if their favourite band was playing they’d go even if the festival wasn’t green at all. Seems music rocks over environment. There is also a trend by festival goers to leave the VW Camper at home and use public transport or opt for car sharing – Creamfields are encouraging visitors to share via liftshare.com. While Latitude Festival were claiming to have the world's first fuel-cell powered festival stage, while others are running solar power stages. For green festival goers you can now get eco-tents. The Myhab, is made from recycled cardboard and plastic. Add to that, you can get free biodegradable tent pegs made from potato starch. Not sure what happens if it rains – visions of wet cardboard and mash potato come to mind. And those that dump their tent at the end, because they can’t work out how to put it back in the bag, will find them heading to Africa to help charities over there. Since 2005 “Bin it, bag it, recycle it” has been the message at Glastonbury and the 100 comically dressed ‘Green Police’ will be seen patrolling around trying to spot environmental crimes. They are also pushing a ‘love the farm, leave no trace’ message. Gone are greasy hot dog stands selling dubious meat burgers, in now is good health organic, locally produced veggie burger. Traders can even win their own green trader award – last year it was Ecogagets and Chai Wallahs. Wychwood Festival (several weeks ago) boast some of the greenest credentials. Only local traders can trade and must use local, organic and fair trade goods. And every festival goer gets a recycle bag on entry, handy if it rains and you’ve lost your umbrella. Last year’s winner of ‘A Greener Festival Award’ was The Big Session, who work closely with a community recycling group called The Big Wasters. They do a lot of worthy things, including collecting used oil and turning it into biofuel. Scotland’s T in the Park claims to be the world’s biggest carbon neutral festival. Think I’ll start a band and call it Carbon Neutral, then maybe I can claim a headline listing there. They have a battery recycling exchange in the campsite and are asking campers to use only phosphate-site soap to protect Loch Leven, sited by the festival. However, the one event that attracts me most is not the thought of standing in a muddy field watching some ancient act from the 60’s but Vince Power’s Mighty Boosh comedy festival. Talking of comedy, forget Carling, try a dose of George Carlin and his views on environmentalism (YouTube - George Carlin: Jammin' in New York - 1992 ) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIXygZJhWU8&feature=related He rocks.

Observer Ethical Awards rewards innovation and passion.

2008-06-10T08:25:00Z

I recently spent one of the best night’s of year in the garden of the Hemple Hotel (well the garden's green) watching the awards being given out under a wigwam made of reclaimed materials, drinking organic RDA juice and eating organic, fair trade, non GM snacks, I was left feeling a warm green glow.

Everyone was so passionate and there was a great sense of camaradary. But the best bit was being Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall for the evening. The green business circle is a very friendly bunch. There’s no sense of competition and no back biting. Having a passion for ethics strongly units them all which makes for one of the friendliest group of businessmen and women you’ll ever meet. And that's something else that’s different, probably half the businesses represented at the event were run by women. It’s not easy being green and many businesses struggle to get distribution and their message to a broad audience. It takes more than the average determination to make green businesses fly. Few have the big budgets of multinational brands and you can’t expect any help from the government.

But the drive all these entrepreneurs have – many gave up top jobs – leaves you with a massive feeling of admiration. There couldn’t be a greater contrast to the likes of Alan Sugar. These people all set out to enrich lives rather than get rich. They really do respect both people and the planet. There were some brilliant ideas and inspiring winners, with a strong bias towards environmentalism. Finisterre, the cool surfer brand of clothes, won the fashion award. Even though Ken Livingstone lost the GLA he did win the award for best politician, beating David Cameron. Hugh beat Jamie for TV campaigner with his Chicken Run campaign.

Best Big Idea went to Ewgeco who produce an energy monitor, though my favourite is the runner up Moixa who make USB rechargeable batteries that last forever – simply brilliant. Divine Chocolates won Ethical Business and Natural Collections won Online Retailer. There were other winners but also many brilliant and worthy entrants. One of the other great pleasures was meeting new and interesting people, including a few celebs (can’t help name dropping) like the stunning Anneka Svenska, Ken Livingstone (somewhat less attractive but what a nice down to earth guy) and Annie Lennox, who I last spoke to 20 years ago in a record shop in Crouch End. This led to a fascinating conversation about how Crouch End (where I also live) has changed, since she lived there in the 70s, to become the eco-ethical centre of North London.

Lennox is a strong supporter of human rights and ethical issues. One person I will reveal got a trophy (made of old wood) was Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Looking at my photo you may be surprised that with my glasses on I’m often told I look a lot like Hugh. This probably was to Hugh’s advantage as he disappeared soon after he got his trophy (some might say chickened out) leaving me to play his part. I was approached by at least a dozen people congratulating me on the award, several of whom wanted me to support their eco projects – sorry Hugh I’ve promised you’d help them all. One took a lot of persuading I wasn’t Hugh as he really wanted to get his point about chickens off his chest. Let’s hope the pictures the paparazzis shot of me in the KFC later don’t get published! It does give you an unpleasant taste of fame - think I’ll stick to being anonymous.

There’s little doubt that the Observer Ethical Awards (sponsored by Ecover) is doing a lot to help ethical businesses, I just wish the government was doing more. The ethical space is full of innovation, inventive business ideas and a passionate pioneering spirit. Being part of that gives you a new perspective on things. And boy do they know how to party. On a lighter side, an eco-ethical joke. “Knock, knock.” “Who’s there?” “Your eco friend trying to avoid wasting battery life and so reducing the amount of batteries your doorbell uses and therefore the number that end up in landfill.”