News

Sustainability: Is business doing enough? Is it OK to profit from sustainability?

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Come and join the debate on 12^th July with The Conversation Society.

Global communications leaders MSL London is hosting its 3^rd event in July. The Conversation Society is their open platform to share expertise and opinions

We exist in an age where successful brands have to participate in the lives of their stakeholders and audiences - adapting to, reacting to and engaging with their conversations.

To aid that process, MSL London established The Conversation Society - a society dedicated to conversation. The Conversation Society was created for individuals and organisations that are interested in the business of conversations – how they form, who holds them, and how to communicate effectively within them. The Conversation Society meets several times a year to discuss relevant developments, together with influential and provocative thinkers, bloggers, advocates and critics.

Kelly Walsh, CEO MSL London, adds, “Conversations are happening both on and offline 24/7 and we see the impact that these have on our clients’ brands. It’s our job to manage, start and be part of them. With the rise and rise of Social Media and digital channels we saw an opportunity to develop our own platform where we can share and discuss the ‘always on’ conversation and key industry topics with our peers, clients and influencers.’”

“The next Conversation Society event on Tuesday 12^th July, is going to be of great interest for marketeers, comms professionals and movers & shakers across all sectors as our conversation topic is: “Sustainability: Is business doing enough? Is it OK to profit from sustainability?”

Zoë Arden, Director of Sustainability at MSL London says; “Lots of people are talking about living sustainably these days but do we all mean the same thing? How can we all use less but create more? Can green ever be mainstream? Is business turning light bulbs off or on with customers? From health and wellness, through to protecting fragile eco systems, engaging employees and customers, sustainability is a big topic.”

To lead the conversation, The Conversation Society will kick off with four excellent speakers: Donna Young, CSR programme director at BT, Wolfgang Weinmann, director of strategy at Cafe Direct, Matt Bell, group head of external affairs at Berkeley Group Holdings plc and Jo Daniels, Marketplace Director at Business in the Community, They will each speak for 10 minutes – no visuals, no PowerPoint, no charts, just good old conversation – to share their thoughts. The conversation will then be opened up to attendees.

To register to attend this free event, hosted at The Shooting Gallery, The Haymarket Hotel, 1 Suffolk Place, London, SW1Y 4BP, please follow this link: http://bit.ly/lDEqh7

You can also join our official LinkedIn Group, Follow us on Twitter @ConverSociety and follow the conversation by using #conversationsociety or read more on our Blog

The conversation will be co-hosted by MSL’s sister agency SAS London, experts in employee engagement.

MSL London is part of the Publicis Groupe’s MSLGROUP, the company’s flagship public relations, public affairs, financial communications, social media, branding and events network. Working with 2,500 people across 100 markets, the GROUP is the lead agency for some of the world’s largest global companies and brands, including Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Nestle and Carrefour.

-ends-

Released by MSL London

Contact: Mehr Amin, MSL London

Tel: 02078783000

mehr.amin@mslgroup.com

Editors’ Notes

MSL London is part of the MSL Group, Publicis Group’s flagship speciality communications, public relations and events network.

MSL Group are one of the world’s top three networks and have more than 2,500 people in 15 wholly owned, award-winning brands. Our offices span 22 countries and cover virtually every discipline required for our clients to engage creatively with their audiences 24 hours a day.

MSL has been recognised by: Cannes Lions, PR Week, PRCA, The Holmes Report, Communique, SABRE and the European Excellence Awards.

For more information, visit www.mslgroup.co.uk

Zoe Arden Joins MSLGROUP To Head Up New Sustainability Offer

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Zoë Arden has joined MSLGROUP as director of sustainability to head up a new sustainability offer. She will work across MSLGROUP companies MSL London, Publicis Consultants and SAS London, and report into MSL CEO, Kelly Walsh.
Arden was previously director of communications and CSR at BT Retail. She left BT Retail in 2008 to focus on CSR and sustainability communications, setting up her own consulting practice Connected Comms. Her clients included WSP Group, Business in the Community and the Prince’s Countryside Fund. Prior to BT, she was UK MD of GolinHarris and The Weber Group and VP of San Francisco based Access Communications.

Kelly Walsh, speaking about the appointment, said: “We are delighted that Zoë has joined to head up our sustainability offer. We already have an established track record in sustainability with our work for clients including ICE, P&G and Philips and Zoe’s passion for the area matches our own. We are poised to formalise our capability in CSR and sustainability with a new global practice shortly.”

“Zoë is a seasoned professional with a strong industry reputation as both an in-house and agency operator; who brings a broad network of directors of sustainability and comms; and strong links to Cambridge University’s Programme for Sustainability Leadership. As such, she is a great person to lead this new initiative for us, as well as broaden our capability for existing clients.”

Zoë Arden added, “I’m delighted to join MSLGROUP. They are an excellent bunch of people to partner with, have a fantastic client base, depth of expertise and intellectual capability. It is an exciting step to take my sustainability comms expertise to a broader range of clients.”

Whilst at BT Retail, Arden developed the business strategy around climate change and sustainability, and spearheaded the introduction of more energy efficient home phones. She also led the campaign to encourage customers to adopt paper-free billing which has saved the equivalent of 60 tonnes of paper each year.

MSLGROUP’s next Conversation Society event (http://theconversationsociety.wordpress.com) will be on the subject of sustainability and will be chaired by Arden in early July.

Is the UK Drinks Industry Entering a New Era of Responsibility?

Tue, 03 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We exist in an age where successful brands have to participate in the lives of their stakeholders and audiences - adapting to, reacting to and engaging with their conversations.

To aid that process, MSL London established The Conversation Society - a society dedicated to conversation. The Conversation Society was created for individuals and organisations that are interested in the business of conversations – how they form, who holds them, and how to communicate effectively within them. The Conversation Society will meet several times a year to discuss relevant developments, together with influential and provocative thinkers, bloggers, advocates and critics.

Kelly Walsh, CEO MSL London adds “Conversations are happening both on and offline 24/7 and we see the impact that these have on our clients’ brands. It’s our job to manage, start and be part of them. With the rise and rise of Social Media and digital channels we saw an opportunity to develop a our own platform where we can share and discuss the ‘always on’ conversation and key industry topics with our peers, clients and influencers’”

“The next Conversation Society event on Weds 11th May, is going to be of great interest for marketeers, comms professionals and movers & shakers in the drinks industry as our conversation topic is: ‘is the UK drinks industry entering a new era of responsibility?’”

Dominic Payling, Insights Director at MSL London says “The responsibility agenda is rarely far from the headlines and the rejection by six leading health groups of the governments new “responsibility deal” last month, on the grounds that it wasn’t tough enough, ensured that it was front page. This spotlight seems unlikely to dim in the near future.”

“So how can the industry – health lobby impasse be overcome? What role do government, industry and drinkers have? What is currently being done by the industry? And is there a smarter way to address the problem?”

“To lead the conversation we have three excellent speakers - David Poley, CEO, The Portman Group; Mark Baird, CSR Manager, Diageo GB; and behavioural economist Nick Southgate - who will each speak for 10 minutes – no visuals, no PowerPoint, no charts, just good old conversation – to share their thoughts. We then open the conversation up to all attendees. This is networking and knowledge-sharing at its most powerful.”

To register to attend this free event, you can vist The Conversation Society Eventbrite page here

You can also join our official LinkedIn Group, Follow us on Twitter at ConverSociety and follow the conversation by using #conversationsociety or read more on our Blog.

News

Sustainability: Is business doing enough? Is it OK to profit from sustainability?

Come and join the debate on 12th July with The Conversation Society.

Zoe Arden Joins MSLGROUP To Head Up New Sustainability Offer

Is the UK Drinks Industry Entering a New Era of Responsibility?

About MSL London

Come and join the debate on 12^th July with The Conversation Society.