Companies from across Ireland and UK’s creative industry have come together to launch The Great Reset, an initiative that hopes to maintain and promote the positive behaviours and environmental shifts created during lockdown.
Global emissions have decreased by 7% thanks to lockdown, which the UN states is the same annual reduction required to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees. As the world starts to ‘reopen’ and return to a ‘new normal’, there is a small yet urgent window of opportunity not to let this progress slide.
A new UK poll conducted for The Great Reset through OnePulse shows that 77% think it is the creative industry’s responsibility to encourage people to behave more sustainably, as we have in lockdown. The Great Reset aims to harness this moment in time, and provide an opportunity to ‘reset’ and create work that meets the desire of 77% of the population and is in the best interests of both mankind and the future of our planet.
The Great Reset is a movement, initiated by the Purpose Disruptors network. Adopting a unique, collaborative approach, over 200 people from competing agencies within the community attended a series of online workshops throughout lockdown to develop the launch activity. People from Iris, Wieden & Kennedy, McCann, Gravity Road and THINKHOUSE in Dublin have contributed their time to developing the initiative.
The launch film and website, created and produced by Iris, act as a call to arms for the industry to use its creative power to reset how we live. To keep its environmental impact to a minimum, the film was created in-house, completely out of stock imagery. The website, https://greatreset.com/, enables people access resources and pledge support. This is accompanied by a White Paper written by strategists at Gravity Road and THINKHOUSE. The White Paper helps deepen people’s understanding and sets out the need for people in the industry to ‘reset ourselves’, ‘reset out work’ and ‘reset our impact’. Participants are encouraged to read, digest and share the piece so that the message can be spread far and wide.
The launch is supported by Virtual ‘Great Reset Gatherings’ held daily from 8th July until 16th July. These 90-minute sessions will be hosted by The Purpose Disruptors and act as an opportunity for collaborators to learn, ask questions and understand how they can help and get involved, as well as offering an opportunity to meet like-minded people.
Laura Costello, Lead Co-Author of the Whitepaper for The Great Reset and Senior Strategist at THINKHOUSE said: “Like many in our industry, we have experimented. We have pushed to demonstrate the effectiveness of sustainable brands. We’ve hosted World War Z – a climate summit for clients and industry peers. We’ve planned purposeful campaigns and delivered exceptional case studies that demonstrate their effectiveness. But now is the time to mobilise. The Whitepaper is for those who want to engage in meaningful conversation and action at this crucial moment. The Great Reset is for people who are, like us, ready to make a personal choice at a moment when we have a beautiful opportunity for change. This choice will require clarity, courage and commitment. This is our invitation to a Great Reset. It can happen if we want it to. As Leonard Cohen put it: “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”. Download the whitepaper here.
Jane McDaid, Founder of THINKHOUSE said: “Over 200 professionals from competing agencies have come together, facilitated by The Purpose Disruptors, to make this happen. This movement is about reshaping the marketing communications industry to serve people and the planet. To me – that’s not a radical idea – it’s common sense. But it requires radical change and action from within our own organisations and our industry at large. The pandemic has allowed us pause, whilst our systems shift at a triple-fast-forwared speed. In just a few months we have demonstrated unimagined human adaptability, nimble innovations, unusual partnerships, accelerated new ways of working. Things happened instantly – travel stopped, uptake of technology was super-boosted and greenhouse gas emissions happened instantly. We saw decisive government action and efficient brilliant international co-operation. We’ve learnt that we have an untold capacity to adapt.”
