Notes on speeches by Terry O'Reilly and Bill Teron on day 3 of the LEAD International Session 2011 - Brian Smith, LEAD Canada Cohort 3

Green Marketing:  Terry O'Reilly spoke about the challenge of understanding human nature, human anthropology. We need to understand what makes people tick. People can see beyond the "image" now, in a way they never have. The green world wants us to consume less, the business world wants us to consume more.

He spoke about David Suzuki, and his current sense that he had failed to convince people not to spend future resources for our children.  Suzuki began his SD activity after reading about Rachel Carson and Silent Spring, about DDT.  Earth Day began in 1970, as did action at homes to use phosphate free detergent, followed by unleaded gas, action on CFC's and aerosols. He recounted the history of environmental awareness in the 1970's and 1980's.  Environmental crises have created behavioural change. Sustainability is a moving target, and there are no easy measures or easy answers. With regular advertising, companies can make their unique image - not so with ethical campaigns. People want to know your motives.

The advertising industry has created a lot of hype, but we need to under-promise and over-deliver with ethical marketing in particular. He explained "cause washing", where firms make more of green initiatives than their actions demonstrate.  The choice of media is very important - don't over package a message on reducing waste.  Ebay has a big impact on recycling of materials that might otherwise go to landfill. But, Ebay also requires much in transport resources to ship goods.

Smart companies should know that Green isn't a department, it must extend to all of the organization. If employees sense the boss is committed to SD, they will act differently. And, people shop at companies they feel good about. The Green Manifesto (John Grant) says that the task is to make green products seem normal, not to make normal products seem green.  Marketing muscle + green ethics can = profit.

He reminded people of the changes, the normalization of seat belts, not drinking and driving, computers, etc. through marketing. He spoke about his idea that some firm will make the kind of Green leap that Apple made with computers. He mentionned Marks & Spencer doing this by saying "there is no plan B" and Plan A is increased sustainability - something that is positively customer perceptions. Dupont has cut emissions by 60%, and has announced aggressive SD goals. He showed a smart phone app that rates products for health, environmental and social impacts.

Don't be overly virtuous in advertising, as BP did. This set them up for failure when the big spill occurred.  Report green progress honestly, explain why targets aren't met.  IKEA has worked hard on SD, but did not promote this. But, it now ranks the 7th "greenest brand" in the USA.  Emotions are meant to be felt but never stated.  Emotion is important, but it needs to be created by stories, not announcements.  Don't say it, do it - and people will spread the word. Pizza by cer te is a New York company that does unique recycling and local food sourcing - not advertised, but word has spread.  He told a story about British Rail being pitched by a creative group that put their clients into a messy, long waiting situation - like rail customers experience.

Make people feel the message, not just understand it, eg Denver Water: Use Just What You Need, and Sun Chips decomposing plant-based chip bag. Surprize is a good thing to create impact in advertising, using feelings to create memory, impact. Think big: Give people the promise they want, but in a surprising way. VW has done this in a Swedish subway ad, changing stairs int a giant piano that played when people walked up and down - making it fun. 16 million U Tube hits.  The most compelling message is that you understand your client's terms. People don't want to be targeted, they want to be understood and partner with companies.  Every act in a company is a marketing act, so being Green must be ingrained.  www.terryoreilly.ca

Bill Teron spoke about his start in housing, and more recent international work on poverty and sustainable housing. Kanata has a history of linking housing and jobs, in this case the high tech industry. He was born poor, and was forced to be self-reliant, something that has shaped his life. We don't have a housing problem, we have a job problem. So, industrial development was key to creating Kanata 30 years ago, and a knowledge-based industry was selected, and the "silicon valley" of the North was created. He tried to create a "theatre of life" where people could build a life, not just homes. It was to be a garden city, a city in the country - nature is the predominant architecture.

He worked for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, a national housing finance organization.  CMHC has improved the affordability of housing to Canadians of all income levels.  This was done by partnering with banks to reduce their risk through insuring mortgage risk. Long term financing is the essence of creating a strong middle class.

Habitat, the UN Conference on Human Settlement in 1976, was the start of another career direction, international housing.  This ocurred at a time in his life when he had more freedom to take on new challenges. Housing costs are high everywhere because of old, inefficient technologies. The technologies he developed reduced costs by more than 20%.  We have to do SD within affordability; we have to reduce unemployment and poverty. When China adapted new technology, started to pay better wages, poverty was reduced. Africa has all the ingredients for similar success.

Houses had to be built better, be more durable, be affordable.  A "game change" is required, one that can be used by rich and poor. They created modular units to produce schools in Africa or condos in Ottawa. These modules are built at low cost, pre-wired and infinitely flexible - Teron modules. These created a "life sized Lego", made of concrete, that eliminate elements like wood and plaster. This is a mass production concept that can be transferred to villages in all parts of the world, creating jobs and housing. Basic modules can create schools and health clinics as well.

He also spoke about the thermal mass of concrete, and how this is used to store energy in a building. These technologies are advanced, but financing in developing countries is still a challenge.  The modular concept has been applied to developments in Florida and Canada, and proposed for other nations, all as extensions of the basic concrete module concepts. They have also developed concepts to link solar and geothermal technology to the thermal mass in the modular builkding concepts.