Fostering a kinder advertising industry by promoting self-awareness, self-acceptance and small acts of kindness.
MFAex 2024, the Media Federation of Australia’s conference, in Sydney tried to find simple ways to promote kindness, something that feels good to both the giver and receiver.
The session, What I learnt from Speaking to the Kindest People on Earth, was presented by Zach Johnston and Natalie Sareff of Spark Foundry.
“There's one thing every agency loves, it's some sort of no dickheads policy,” said Sareff, strategy director.
But how to promote kindness with growing commercial pressures and with staff spending less time together face-to-face?
The duo went to the kindest people they could find for advice.
“The very first step is to start with yourself,” said Johnston , planning and connections partner.
“All of our kindness experts talked about the importance of self awareness and self acceptance, only once you start being kind to yourself can it then naturally flow onto others.
“One of my personal values is compassion. So I need to remind myself that mistakes, even in presentations like this, are an important part of my learning journey.”
The next step is small acts of kindness. “Doesn't it feel great when someone remembers your name or buys you a coffee or simply gives you a smile as you walk on the bike,” said Johnston.
Luckily, advertising and marketing is already filled with curious people.
“We love knowing how people tick, what they think and obviously why they buy,” said Sareff. “So our next step was to use that curiosity towards your colleagues.”
“Something we heard time and time again from every single one of our kindness experts was people were intrinsically kind, but the concept of becoming a kind person is a little bit of an impenetrable wall, and people don't necessarily know where to start.
“One of the most important things you can do is to make the kind acts that are available in the industry super obvious and super visible.
“We all work with a heck of a lot of really good causes, but could we introduce the founders of those causes to the publishers and media owners who donated charity media to their campaigns?
“The idea is to make opportunities for volunteering and giving back as visible and obvious as possible to help people take the next step.”
Johnston said these tips are designed to bring a little bit more kindness into your life.
“But if you want more inspiration, why not start a conversation at work about kindness with others?”
More tips HERE
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