Conscious Thinking

SERIES INTRODUCTION Hosted by Sonoo Singh, Founder Creative Salon, welcome to our first ever podcast series of thought provoking sessions from The Conscious Advertising Network, designed to encourage brands and their agencies to more consciously examine and improve their advertising communications.This first round covers compelling topics with guests from some of the biggest brands around the industry. Produced with the kind assistance of Factory Originals and The Nerve.

INADVERTENT FUNDING As advertising budgets come under new scrutiny, we ask “where is your media going”? Digital amounts to half of all advertising spend globally, but with greater choice, new markets and analytics there is a lot that we don’t know about what this is funding. Increasingly brands are finding themselves funding extreme and criminal content, with a negative impact on society and brand.Host Sonoo Singh, Founder Creative Salon, talks with Jerry Daykin, EMEA Media Director at GSK, Claire Atkin, Founder of Check My Ads and Jake Dubbins, Co-Founder of The Conscious Advertising Network & Founder of Media Bounty.Produced with the kind assistance of Robert White, The Rattle Collective and The Nerve.

BRAND NEUTRALITY As a communications industry, our brand messages do not exist within a vacuum - in fact they have very immediate, real world impact across today’s hyper connected digital media landscape. This technology includes the rise of social media, which has enabled consumers to have a direct dialogue with brands, and in turn demand more from brands to use their platform and influence to have a positive impact on society. Sonoo Singh, Founder Creative Salon, speaks with Amy Williams, Founder of Good-Loop and Amir Malik, Digital Marketing Expert at Accenture Interactive about Brand Neutrality and why creativity has consequences.Produced with the kind assistance of Robert White, The Rattle Collective and The Nerve.

BEYOND BLOCKLISTSHow can we fund a diverse internet for all?It’s only a few years since YouTube and Facebook were making headlines for displaying ads next to inappropriate content. Premium publishers offered an alternative: ads could appear next to quality content in trusted environments, with keyword blocking giving advertisers greater control over where their ad dollars appeared. On paper this sounds like a perfect solution, but in reality blocklists have led to millions in lost revenue and shut out minority communities from the internet. In the name of brand safety, some advertisers are blocking their ads from appearing on content about the Black Lives Matter movement, coronavirus news, LGBT content, women’s issues - event sport and entertainment content is affected. Has advertising made the internet less open, tolerant and rational? Sonoo Singh, Founder Creative Salon, speaks with Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, Head of Regulation at Impress) and Christopher Kenna, Founder of Brand Advance.Produced with the kind assistance of Robert White, The Rattle Collective and The Nerve.

ADVERTISING & HUMAN RIGHTS Digital platforms help us keep in touch with loved ones, engage in activism and enjoy an endless supply of TikTok videos or fuel our shopping habits.  But what is the social cost?  We’re all waking up to how corporate surveillance that is used for targeted advertising threatens democracy and human rights by enabling media manipulation and potential misuse of personal data.Hosted by Sonoo Singh, Founder Creative Salon, speaking with Pia Oberoi, Advisor on Migration & Human Rights at The United Nations and Jake Dubbins, Co-Founder of The Conscious Advertising Network.Produced with the kind assistance of Robert White, Marshall Street Editors and The Nerve.

ADVERTISING SUSTAINABILITY Brands and their agencies must take responsibility for the impact of their own creative strategies (and production behaviours) on the environment. They have a real obligation to engage with their customers to inspire more thoughtful, sustainable behaviour.  We ask some key industry figures how effectively they feel brands are using their marketing influence to accelerate best practice across the sector and what more can be done to shape a more sustainable future for advertising?Hosted by Sonoo Singh, Founder Creative Salon, speaking with Matt Bourn, Director of Communications at The Advertising Association, Ben Essen, Chief Strategy Officer at Iris and Harriet Kingaby, Co-Founder of The Conscious Advertising Network.Produced with the kind assistance of Robert White, Marshall Street Editors and The Nerve.

A YEAR OF MISINFORMATIONHosted by Sonoo Singh - Founder, Creative Salon, with Debarshi Pandit, SVP International Business / Head of Multicultural Business, Sky Media, Dino Myers-Lamptey, Founder / CEO, The Barber Shop and Cindy Gallop, Founder / CEO, Make Love Not Porn.Produced with the kind assistance of Will Hulacki, Marshall Street Editors and The Nerve.

CLIMATE DENIALHosted by Sonoo Singh, Founder, Creative Salon, with John Grant, Author The Greener Market, Richard Black, Director, Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit and Harriet Kingaby, Co-Founder The Conscious Advertising Network.A Jan 2020 study found that more than 100 brands had adverts running on YouTube videos that were actively promoting climate misinformation. The brands, including Samsung, L’Oreal and Decathlon, were unaware that their ads were being played before and during the videos. But online climate misinformation is still monetised and algorithms alone don’t seem to protect brands from content that lies about the impact of climate change. An Edelman study claimed that 69% of people think advertisers should stop spending with platforms that publish ‘misleading information’ about global issues. This is a predicament that presents huge challenges not only for businesses but also for the platforms they fund. What steps can brands take to make sure they’re not funding climate misinformation? Produced with the kind assistance of Robert White, Marshall Street Editors and The Nerve.

Season 2 of Conscious Thinking is about to launch with a brand-new host: Ete Davies.Ete is the Chief Operating Officer across EMEA for Dentsu Creative. With 20 years in the advertising and marketing industry working with global and local brands, he has witnessed and been a part of brand marketing that has affected culture, impacted society and driven behaviour change. His belief in the importance of responsible, net-positive advertising and is what brought us together to work on this new season.To learn more about the show, please go to consciousadnetwork.com/podcast and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Host: Ete DaviesProducer: Sera BerksoyEditor: Nathan CopelinExecutive Producer: Jane White (CAN)Music: The NerveA Dentsu Creative Production for the Conscious Advertising Network.