International green practice comes to SA

Deon Robbertze explains, "Sustainability in Africa is much more complex than in other markets where it has really become just about environmental management. Here, in Africa, sustainability cannot be divorced from giving people a sustainable future. In communication, companies need to strike the right balance between what they've done and what's left to be done. Authenticity is key."

Mission

As the agency's global sustainability practice, its principal mission is to help brands uncover leadership opportunity in sustainability through a set of unique and proprietary services that provides clients with the necessary strategies and definitive processes for the road ahead. In the US, it works with brands such as Coca-Cola and Craft as well as with a number of Fortune 500 companies. The New York agency created 'Hopenhagen', a global movement to raise awareness of climate change around the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15), which engaged more than six million supporters.

Auditing for greenwashing

One of the main challenges in sustainability marketing is to counter the effects of corporate greenwashing - the practice of falsely spinning products and policies as environmentally friendly. Greenwashing threatens to erode consumer trust and the practice helps companies go through a process of auditing their sustainability and green credentials so that a workable, responsible and socially conscious future strategy may be developed.

This ranges from an audit of the environment in which the company currently operates to a staff survey and a process by which every aspect of the company as a whole is evaluated. It has a suite of five specially designed 'strategy tools processes':

• Earthview Software
  
• Landscape Audit
  
• Eco Audit
  
• Three Pillars Employee Survey
  
• The Lab - an intensive workshop process aimed at mapping out the basic tenets of a company's future sustainability communications strategy.

Zoom ideal custodian

OgilvyEarth global CEO in New York, Seth Farbman, explains that Zoom Advertising is ideally suited to spearhead the OgilvyEarth practice in South Africa. "It has done some great pioneering work in South Africa. It developed the book, The Conscious Brand, was reportedly the first ad agency in Africa to measure and offset its carbon emissions and it developed a global campaign - Consider Us - to give children a voice about their future. It works with its clients to promote awareness of sustainability practices and that is on what OgilvyEarth is founded."

Powerful affiliations

In order to offer a complete sustainable service, it has formed affiliations with leaders in both the social and environmental sector. These are:

• Tshikululu Social Investments - one of SA's leading corporate social investment companies, which manages the CSI funds and trusts of Anglo American, FirstRand Group, De Beers and Discovery, among others
  
• Global Carbon Exchange (GCX) - a leading international carbon and energy measurement management company and reduction consultancy
  
• Marsh Africa - part of the Marsh Inc Group that offers broking services, business development opportunities, maintenance of service standards, training and other risk management products and services.

For more information go to www.ogilvyearth.co.za.