It's time to Reset the industry

New campaign, The Great Reset, is a movement initiated by the Purpose Disruptors network which has adopted a collaborative approach. 

Over 200 people from competing agencies within the UK advertising community attended a series of online workshops throughout lockdown to develop the launch campaign. People from Iris, Wieden+Kennedy, McCann, Gravity Road and Thinkhouse contributed their time to developing the initiative.

Due to the recent coronavirus-induced lockdown, global emissions have decreased by 7%, which the UN states is the same annual reduction required to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees. As the world now starts to ‘reopen’ and return to a ‘new normal’, there is a small yet urgent window of opportunity not to let this progress slide.

77% [of people polled] think it is the creative industry’s responsibility to encourage people to behave more sustainably.

A new poll conducted for The Great Reset through OnePulse shows that only 23% of the population believe post-lockdown advertising should encourage people to consume, shop and fly like before, while 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 that 77% of the population and is in the best interests of both mankind and the future of our planet.

The launch film [above] 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, from stock imagery. The website enables people to access resources and pledge support. This is accompanied by a White Paper written by strategists at Gravity Road and Thinkhouse which helps deepen people’s understanding and sets out the need for people in the industry to ‘reset ourselves’, ‘reset our 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 film is a reminder that our industry creates... mass behaviours, many of which are unsustainable.

D&AD are a launch partner, supporting The Great Reset and integrating it into their New Blood programme. The initiative calls for other people and organisations within the advertising, marketing and creative industries to pledge their support and #createthereset. Pledges include donating free media space, offering up creative time in response to The Great Reset creative briefs and amplifying the campaign.

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.

“The launch film is a reminder that our industry creates a lot more than just nice films - we create mass behaviours, many of which are unsustainable," said Ben Essen, CSO at Iris. "When 8 out of 10 people are telling us to take responsibility for the behaviours we encourage, is it time for us to assess the true impact of our creativity?”