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The Cannes Loop: The Wednesday Wrap-up

Beach invasion by Greenpeace, thinking beyond sustainability, finding the heart in tech, Ad Net Zero goes global, and Good-Loop partners with Scope3 to decarbonise programmatic supply chain
Becca Muir
Guest Editor
22 June 2022

Day three at Cannes has shone a spotlight on many pressing issues in Adland. Today, we're putting the spotlight on two issues that often get overlooked - homelessness and public health.

We need to talk about more than sustainability


Sustainability and the climate crisis have been front and centre at Cannes, thanks in part to Greenpeace's "No Ads On A Dead Planet" campaign.

In fact, this afternoon they even invaded the beach!


But we also want to give a big shout-out to those championing other causes over the last few days.

For example, Mike Abel, CEO, M&C Saatchi Abel & Group SA, highlighted this great ad which raises awareness of homelessness.


At Good-Loop we know it can be hard to find a cause that fits with your brand's mission. If that sounds familiar to you, a great place to start is taking a look at the United Nations 17 SGD goals, which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership.

They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality and spur economic growth - all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.

Grand Prix for Good Award winner: Lil Sugar - Master Of Disguise for Hip-Hop Public Health


Public health was another issue to hit the spotlight yesterday (June 21), with Area 23 and the IPG Health Network scooping the Grand Prix for Good Award for their Lil' Sugar - Master of Disguise for Hip-Hop Public Health campaign. Congratulations, guys!


Lil' Sugar is a fun, multi-platform nutrition literacy campaign developed in collaboration with Hip Hop Public Health to increase our awareness and ability to spot sugars as an added ingredient to many food items we don't generally associate with high sugar content.

If you want to learn more about the negative health effects of eating too much sugar, or want to reduce your sugar intake, check out the NHS's Sugar: The Facts, or the Lil' Sugar website.

Finding the Heart in Tech

We loved hearing Intel's Chief Marketing Officer Karen Walker's thoughts about how purpose-driven marketing has changed.

"Having a purpose-driven brand is not a new idea. Purpose has always been the fifth P in marketing. What has changed is that brands are now being judged by what they are and are not doing - 71% of consumers expect brands to take a position on sensitive issues. You have to choose something, but then you have to do something and … and do it authentically."


UK Ad Association's Ad Net Zero aims at global reach


Late in the day yesterday (June 22), at Cannes, leaders from many of the largest companies and associations in the world's advertising industry announced their intent to roll out the Ad Net Zero pledge internationally to major markets.

The Ad Net Zero 5-point action plan pledges to reduce the carbon emissions from UK advertising operations to net-zero by 2030, with businesses committing to robust, verified plans to reduce their emissions. It also pledges to use the power of advertising to accelerate the switch to more sustainable products and services for consumers.

This will be achieved by using the UK programme to provide a roadmap for development in other markets, with the flexibility to adapt and develop market-specific solutions.

Commenting on the news, Amy Williams, Good-Loop Founder and CEO, said: "Today, Adland needs to prioritise reducing emissions in line with the 1.5 degree ambition of the Paris Agreement, if not more. Every company involved in digital advertising needs to be totally consistent with this aim. It's great the UK is leading the charge but global participation is what's really needed to make a positive impact towards saving our planet."



Good-Loop and Scope3 Partner to Decarbonise Entire Programmatic Supply Chain

Good-Loop's data shows 10 million ad impressions can generate the same amount of CO2 as five people in the UK generate in a full year. But even that calculation doesn't take into account every cost - such as content creation and the full carbon footprint of the sprawling ad tech supply chain which plays a role in delivering the ad.

We've partnered with Scope3 to plug this data and knowledge gap. Of course, by doing so, it will lay out just exactly how much ground the industry has to make up in order to become carbon neutral - which may be an inconvenient truth for those whose commitments to carbon neutrality have been based on less complete data.

Hopefully, the industry will embrace the challenge. "I'm especially proud of this partnership because it brings us a step closer towards establishing recognised, international standards for the ad tech industry," said Good-Loop's CEO and founder Williams. "With the climate crisis, industry-wide collaboration is our only hope and we have so much more to gain by working together than we ever could alone."

Coming up tomorrow…

Stay tuned for more news from La Croisette tomorrow, as well as the Good-Loop perspective on Ryan Reynolds' new nonprofit that aims to make creative careers more accessible to production hopefuls from underrepresented communities.

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