Leaders in Communications: Programmes with Purpose

This PRWeek Forum is a free-to-attend event for senior PR and communications professionals. Delegates must have a significant level of purchasing power to be granted a place at the event.

Overview

The theme is the rise of ‘purpose’ among brands and corporations, examining how professional communicators could and should respond to the challenges and opportunities this brings.

The event will be chaired by Jane Fordham, creative industries consultant and former executive director of marketing and talent, Golin.

The day will include:

• Presentations and debates about how we arrived in 2018 in the age of the ‘omnipresent purpose-led campaign’ and whether as marketers, our audiences will continue to engage in purpose in the coming months and years
• Group discussions on what we can learn about purposeful campaigns from the charity sector; the tidal wave of content and demand around mental wellbeing and; how to measure impact of purpose-led programmes
• The opportunity to shape and define communications in the future and build connections with like-minded experts

Agenda

09:00 Registration and breakfast

09:45 Chair’s welcome remarks

John Harrington, Deputy Editor, PRWeek

09:50 Opening keynote: Back to the Future

From the Body Shop in the 90s to the omni-present ‘purpose-led’ campaigns of 2018. How did we get here? An introductory scene-setting keynote before a panel on the same topic. Sue takes us on a journey from 90s and noughties style CSR to the present-day ‘purpose’ campaigns.

Sue Tibballs, Chief Executive, The Shelia McKechnie Foundation

10:15 Back to the Future panel discussion

In the last 12 months campaigns with purpose took centre stage, were lauded by industry peers and resonated with audiences. How did we get here? Were audiences truly engaged in these campaigns? Do they ‘believe’ in the purpose behind the headline?

Eleanor Thornton-Firkin, Head, Nurturing Great Creative, Ipsos Mori
Gabriela Lungu, Founder, WINGS Creative Leadership Lab
Sue Tibballs, Chief Executive, The Shelia McKechnie
Ellie Raven, Senior Corporate Affairs Manager, PwC

10:40 Panel; Brands and charity collaboration - marriage of convenience or powerful force for good?

A focus on how brands and charities can (and should) work together to tackle the big issues of our time.  There is a level of scepticism over brand marketing campaigns with 'purpose' currently and equally, people's trust in NGOs is also at a low. Is each party equally dependent on the other right now? The recent Iceland and Greenpeace partnership for example, so powerful if it was a solo campaign?

Leila Mountford, Global Creative Manager, Amnesty International
Barry Johnston, Malala Fund & Co-Founder, Purpose Union

11:10 Break and networking

11:30 Roundtables

• Roundtable 1:Measuring Impact Roundtable
• Roundtable 2: Comms people managing the ear of the CEO Roundtable

12:30 Lunch and networking

13:15 Afternoon keynote: Spotlight on…

Back-to-Business or Purposeful Consumers in 2020 and Beyond? How to Truly Embed Social Purpose into your Marketing. Jessica Holland GLA (ex ActionAid), will draw on her experience including the powerful and multi-award winning FGM campaign from ActionAid through to recent gender equality work at the GLA. She will be joined by James Nester, Executive Creative Director at Weber Shandwick, with whom she has partnered on much of this purpose-led work.

Jessica Holland, Head of Marketing Campaigns, Greater London Authority
James Nester, Executive Creative Director, Weber Shandwick

13:40 Future gazing panel discussion

What does the future hold for the communications landscape and what place for purposeful campaigns? Building best-practice strategies.

Jessica Holland, Head of Marketing Campaigns, Greater London Authority
James Nester, Executive Creative Director UK & EMEA, Weber Shandwick
James Ruane, Group Brand and Social Purpose Director, National Grid
Asad Dhunna, Director of Communications, Pride in London; Founder, The Unmistakables The Unmistakables

14:05 Break

14:25 Closing fireside chat

Hil will talk about ‘that’ Christmas palm oil campaign, the work that Iceland is doing around plastics and their overall approach to embedding sustanability and purpose deeply within the organisational fabric

Hil Berg, Head of Sustainability and CSR, Iceland

14:50 Chair’s closing remarks

15:00 Forum closes; networking drinks