Havas and EDF Partner with Purpose Disruptors to Pioneer #ChangeTheBrief Sustainability Training

Havas London and Havas Media Group have, alongside shared client EDF, become the first companies to tap into Purpose Disruptors’ advanced #ChangeTheBrief sustainability training. This bespoke, in-depth, paid-for programme is born out of the #ChangeTheBrief Alliance, of which Havas is a founding member.

The Alliance provides an on-demand and face-to-face learning programme and community to all its members, offering expert advice at a category level on how the advertising industry can adapt its work to promote more sustainable choices and behaviours in line with a zero-carbon world. It aims to provide the knowledge and insight that will enable agencies to deliver on action five of Ad Net Zero’s plan to tackle the climate emergency: harnessing advertising's power to support consumer behaviour change.

Its Level 1 ‘breadth and knowledge’ training – which is available for free to all #ChangeTheBrief Alliance members – comprises self-serve online learning modules educating agencies and brands on how they can change perception and normalise sustainable behaviours, then actively encourage sustainable behaviours, and ultimately accelerate a brand’s transition to a sustainable, future-fit business model. It also includes modules on how to avoid greenwash, and deep dives into key categories.

Level 2 ‘depth and practice’ training – which Havas and EDF become the first to undertake – builds on Level 1 through a bespoke, hands-on programme for #ChangeTheBrief Alliance members on a flagship account. Spanning account management, strategists, creatives, media planners, and brand-side marketers, it sees Purpose Disruptors work with Havas and EDF, Britain’s biggest generator of zero-carbon electricity, on a live brief – with the outcomes of several sessions and workshops informing EDF’s 2022 marketing brief and strategy. Additional training will be provided to a number of ‘#ChangeTheBrief Champions’, who are tasked with disseminating #ChangeTheBrief principles and learnings across each agency department. 

Modules will be delivered by a collective of experienced industry figures, who recognise the potential of the advertising industry to direct its creativity and communication skills to shift behaviours in society and business to be in line with a zero-carbon world. They include Paddy Loughman (Strategist for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), Richard Profit (former PepsiCo Sustainability Director, founder of Cool Farm Alliance, Ashridge alumni), Rachel Arthur (Sustainable Fashion Consultant at the United Nations Environment Programme, co-founder of FashMash, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership alumni), Morag Watson (Director of Policy at Scottish Renewables, former policy advisor at WWF and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), Joanna Yarrow (former Global Head of Sustainable & Healthy Living, IKEA Group), and Rob McFaul (co-founder of Purpose Disruptors, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership alumni).

Patrick Affleck, CEO of Havas Media Group UK and Ireland, says:“#ChangeTheBrief is an important, powerful, far-reaching idea that has the potential to transform the work we do for our clients at this critical time. I encourage more agencies to join the #ChangeTheBrief Alliance to instil the knowledge and confidence in both their people and clients to produce work that promotes more sustainable consumer behaviours and lifestyle choices. While we’re excited to be the first to take on this training, we really want to be the first of many.”

Xavier Rees, CEO of Havas London and Havas CX helia, says:“As proud supporters of Ad Net Zero, there are many areas of its five-point action plan where we can make real, positive difference. We’re making headway in each, but the power advertising has to make sustainable behaviours and lifestyles truly aspirational – across all section of society – remains one of the most influential and wide-reaching tools we have. In EDF, we couldn’t ask for a more like-minded partner – and we’re so pleased to be on this journey together. It will make us all better.”

Nicola Collins, senior manager – brand - EDF UK, says: “With our unique energy generation mix, EDF is Britain’s biggest generator of zero-carbon electricity. Whether it’s through zero-carbon electricity tariffs at zero extra cost, or by leading the charge for electric driving in Britain, it’s our mission to help the nation achieve net zero. Doing so requires a concerted, combined effort – and we recognise the power of our marketing campaigns to drive positive, sustainable behaviour change. When Havas invited us to participate in this programme alongside them, it was a no-brainer. We’re all trying to achieve the same thing.”

Rob McFaul, co-founder of Purpose Disruptors, says: “Alone, agencies will struggle to make a difference – but together, we’re a formidable force that has the expertise to disrupt, influence and initiate real change. And that could make a real difference to attitudes, lifestyles, behaviours and, ultimately, our future on the planet. We’re thrilled Havas – an agency making tangible progress in this space – and such a large, influential, and relevant brand in EDF have become the first to commit to our hands-on, Level 2 #ChangeTheBrief programme. We’d urge more companies to do the same.”

#ChangeTheBrief Alliance is a not-for-profit partnership between agencies of every size and type – including media, creative, design and PR – and their clients, learning and acting together to directly address the challenge of the climate crisis by promoting sustainability via every channel available to them.

The idea of #ChangeTheBrief originated with Mindshare, who asked Purpose Disruptors to help move it from a single agency initiative to the collective power of the entire industry working together via #ChangeTheBrief Alliance. Its founding members include Havas, WPP and Omnicom.