Ad Net Zero Ireland held its inaugural Sustainability Summit this week in the CHQ building in Dublin with a number of speakers from the advertising and marketing world addressing a packed house.
The theme of the event was “Pathway to Progress” and attendees listened to a number of case studies, keynote speakers as well as a panel discussion.
Peter Nolan from Indeed, a global supporter of Ad Net Zero, shared some insights into Indeed’s sustainability journey to date and how it has helped the company align to a framework that has supported its work across the business.
Elsewhere, Thomas Geoghegan from PHD Media and Ciara Breen from Skoda Ireland presented their campaign that took home Gold in the recent Media Awards 2024 for the Best Sustainability Initiative.
Gareth Fitzpatrick, managing director of Havas Media also spoke to the group about bridging the ‘Say Do’ gap for consumers and about the importance of working with experts to help set ambitions for the future.
And as talk turned to festival season, Michelle Rowley from Heineken Ireland presented ‘Heineken’s Greener Bar’ an initiative from Electric Picnic last year, as she took us through the customer journey embracing “Rethink, Reuse, Recycle” at every turn.
Mary O’Sullivan from Ad Net Zero also spoke about the 5 Action Point Framework and the resources that are available for all supporters to access and how important it is for us to just get started. “We have known for the past number of years that there is a palatable appetite for our industry to collaborate on this subject. To learn more and to do more. The turnout here this morning, and the interest there has been in this event since we announced it, is proof of that,” she said.
In addition to the speakers, Shane McGonigle, CEO of the Marketing Institute of Ireland chaired the panel discussion, chatting with David Heaney from Diageo, Claire Hyland from THINKHOUSE, Sandra Doyle from Global Out of Home and Colette Henry from Droga5.
The take home from the panel was simple – the advertising and marketing industry needs to start thinking differently about sustainability by taking it out of “Green Groups” and placing it at the heart of everything the industry does. The panel also agreed that the industry needs to start thinking about the gap between what consumers tell the industry they want versus what they actually purchase and why.
Ad Net Zero is a global initiative to support all professionals working withing the media, advertising and production industry, and help them in their drive to lower emissions.
The framework is now in operation in Ireland, the UK, New Zealand, the US, UAE and has commenced a European Hub to support other European countries with their sustainability agendas, through the Ad Net Zero framework.
