Today at Cannes the big six advertising groups have forged a partnership to work together and leverage the creativity and innovation of the advertising industry to reach the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals laid out last year, which stretch from eradicating poverty to tackling climate change.
Dentsu, Havas, IPG, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP have pledged their support for UN 'Sustainable Development Goals' as part of the 'Common Ground' initiative unveiled at Cannes.
Chief executives of five of the networks appeared on stage together for the first time, alongside UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon as part of the annual Cannes Debate lecture, to launch the programme which will kick off with a global ad campaign.
The initiative began on stage at Cannes last year when Sir Martin Sorrell was in conversation with Al Gore discussing Climate Change.
Ban Ki-Moon, who arrived this morning from Cuba where he was working with revolutionary group FARC to end a 50-year old conflict in the region, made an impassioned and moving plea to the ad industry to rally together and put creativity to work in solving some of the world’s biggest humanitarian issues.
“One year later the six biggest have risen to what some may have said was an impossible test. Together hey have agreed to out their difference aside to advance the agenda for sustainable development. It’s a challenge for all of us to find the common round for the common good.”
Speaking on the morning following the UK’s Brexit vote to leave the European Union and much feeling of uncertainty about the split hanging over Cannes, Ban Ki-Moon emphasised the strength in working together to achieve the great good.
“Despite the troubles in the world, we can find common ground. Even following the events in Europe [Brexit] I have never been more convinced that when we work together we are stronger – that’s the key to better world and it’s in our hands. I’m here today to talk about that – building a better, more sustainable world and I’m asking for your help. This is advertising so I’ve come with a pitch. All of you have tremendous power to shape opinions, you are great storytellers, so I want you to help us create the biggest campaign for humanity,” he said.
“We are the first generation that can end global poverty and the last generation that can address climate change before it’s too late – all of you can help make these ambitious goals a reality. No country can do it alone so we need the business community, academia, the private sector, we need everyone, and that includes you, everyone’s hand must be on deck. [The ad industry] has some of the greatest young talent as we saw this week in Young Lions … We need you to help us find the best way to tell the stories, I’m asking you all to use your creativity and innovation to help us transform a complex agenda into a workable story.”
“This challenge is not a favour for a charity, or a one off campaign - there is no brand with a more important purpose than the SDG goals. There is no limit to the power of people to make change when they join forces, we can put aside our differences to take on the biggest challenges facing our planet.”
Sir Martin Sorrell said that it’s a programme that “has legs” for the future.
“I’m delighted and honoured to be here and committed to ensuring as best as we can that these sustainable development goals are implemented,” he added.
Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO of Havas, joked about the five CEOs not “disliking each other” but harbouring an intense rivalry.
“Our industry is as you know one of the most competitive … I don’t want to say that we dislike each other, but we are competitive. I think if the ad industry can gather together for this common ground I’m sure we can inspire others around the world … it’s a privilege to have this gathering … and put our differences aside.”
“Climate change is a big issue, and we won’t be given another chance to fix this issue. As communications groups we don’t have a magic wand, we are not smarter than anyone else trying to tackle climate change, but what we can do is influence the conversation. We have strong media people, who know how to deliver the right message to the right people and the right time of the day. By combining our strengths in creative and media we can achieve more a meaningful message,” he said.
There will be an element of collaboration between the networks is over coming months and years as each group starts to focus on a specific area of the goals. Havas will tackle climate change, IPG will take on safe water, WPP’s focus will be gender diversity, Publicis will look at food, Dentsu health while Omnicom’s remit will be education.
The industry is also encouraging other industries, through client relationships, to find their own 'Common Ground' and is calling on other agencies to take on the mantel of addressing a seventh area of focus - refugees.
Each of the networks has also pledged to fund the winning ideas in Cannes Young Lions this year. The briefs the young teams were working on were based around the sustainable development goals. It's the first time that the Young Lions ideas have been funded to help make them a reality after the competition and leading 'business and thought-leadership' publications have agreed to donate space for the global ads.
There are 169 targets within the 17 goals set out by the UN last year, and agreed on by almost 200 countries.
Michael Roth, CEO of IPG, added that his company will be increasing the pro-ono work and its volunteering efforts.
“We have tremendous resources to achieve these goals … we intend to work together on solving an Important goal. Our commitment is to use our creative talent to together a response to what’s happening in the world we don’t just generate social media buzz, we actually impact what is happening in the world,” he said.
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