Former BT futurologist Ian Pearson recently joined a futures consultancy with a bang when he put out the provocative report Achieving CO2 reductions in the UK by using technology instead of muddled thinking.

The report suggests, among other things, that the rush to save the world from dwindling energy reserves, global warming etc. is forcing policy makers and other stakeholders to make poor decisions.

Sustainability consultant and author Julia Hailes MBE kindly agreed to put Ian on the spot in this quickfire conversation to discuss Ian’s analysis. As expected, the two don’t agree on much, but there is some common ground.

 STARRING 

• Ian Pearson, Futurizon, personal website and blog
• Julia Hailes MBE, Sustainability consultant, and author, The New Green Consumer Guide

Listen to other podcasts featuring Ian and Julia.

Timeline [32:08]
00:00 Intro.
00:55 Ian: We shouldn’t be rushing in to solve Climate change. Waiting for future technology can help to better solve the problem.
01:55 Julia: The more we do sooner…the better it’s going to be. Not convinced that technology is the answer.
03:11 Ian: Rushing generates a negative impact (eg. wind power case study).
04:05 Julia: Wind turbine early adopters started to become more aware of their energy usage and reduced consumption as a result.
04:50 Ian: Better to capitalise on peoples’ emotional commitment when technology/things do work.
05:27 Ian: Landfill and recycling policies need to be thought through much better (danger of alienating tax payers).
07:12 Julia: UK suffers from different recycling policies throughout country. Need for more centralised thinking (causes issues when advising supermarkets).
08:10 Ian: Centralised thinking is a boon for scientific approaches.
08:30 Julia: Futurizon report does not cover packaging sufficiently (P&G detergents spend disproportionate amount of time worrying about packaging).
09:41 Ian: Better for brands to be seen to be doing something.
10:19 Julia: Report in danger of being in a fantasy world (eg. shooting nuclear waste into space, diluting Uranium a better idea!).
10:36 Ian: Believe this will be do-able in the future (via space elevator).
12:00 Julia: Against nuclear power because it offers a poor return. Other technologies are more cost effective (wave, tidal, solar power), yet receive a fraction of the investment.
13:18 Ian: Agree. Nuclear has probably reached the end of its use by date as solar power prices could match conventional power by 2016/17.
14:31 Julia: More sensitive solar film being developed. Challenge is to manufacture in scale.
14:59 Ian: Oil companies have a vested interest in pushing technologies that can scale.
15:41 Julia: Bio fuels – a red herring as not a practical alternative to oil.
16:21 Ian: Agree. An example of scoring quick political points without adequately thinking through the solution.
18:20 Ian: Suggestion – creating carbon reefs with plastic waste.
19:06 Julia: Prefer glass to plastic.
20:07 Ian: Transport idea – apply Internet protocol/packet systems to the road to maximise use with electronically driven ‘pods’ (road trains).
22:54 Julia: Would be a challenge to use in rural areas.
23:17 Ian: EU initiatives are already in progress to automate highways. Also a social solution.
25:03 Julia: The fact that people can be tracked may raise privacy issues.
25:23 Ian: “Privacy issues are being eroded whether we like it or not.”
26:30 Julia: Disagree with Ian that people should not be encouraged to reduce consumption, e.g. reduce air travel.
27:06 Ian: Soon planes may be able to run on batteries, thereby assuaging the CO2 concerns of air travel. Plus, air travel is a small CO2 contributor and contributes alot via taxes.
28:48 Julia: Report makes some big assumptions and is overly optimistic. Energy rationing is the status quo.
29:31 Ian: While there is a strong case for reducing demand in the short term, long term needs will be more than satisfied with new technologies.
30:21 Julia: Not as optimistic as Ian.
30:47 Ian: Closing comment.

Notable Mentions
Air travel.
Big brother.
Biofuels.
Biogas.
Climate change.
Nucleur power.
Privacy.
Solar farms.
Solar power.
Superconductivity.
Sustainability.
Transport.
Wave power.

Thanks to freelance media and marketing journalist Jo Bowman for the use of her dulcet tones for the outro

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:AdTalk
Series:MarketingTalk

It’s a fun and informative read. Plus it balances a discussion of their successes in 2007 by giving equal prominence to, well, ‘things they learned from’ (including being called out by BBC’s Watchdog for their exploding packaging, and that polarising deal with McDonald’s).

It’s embedded below but if you want to read it and don’t have bionic eyes then you can download your very own copy here.

Coinciding with its publication, Innocent also ran the first AGM…

‘…a day when we open the doors of Fruit Towers, ask our drinkers to come and hear what we’ve been up to and let them tell us face to face what we could be doing better.”

Here’s one of the videos from the event – we can’t imagine too many AGMs being this much fun

Series:AdTalk
Series:MarketingTalk

 BRAND CAST  There’s sooooooo much talk and excitement over ethical brands and branding these days. In fact, fewer and fewer conversations seem to be able to avoid the issue

And as Dave Cobban mentioned in an earlier podcast, the FTSE 4 Good Index seems to be outpacing its mainstream counterpart, suggesting that ethically-driven brands and enterprises are actually very good business

In this, the first of a series of BrandCasts produced for GfK NOP, Chris Davis hosts an engaging discussion on the issues involved in creating and sustaining ethical brands. He’s joined by sustainability consultant and best-selling author Julia Hailes MBE, and Zoe Morgan from the Co-op, 2007 winner of the most ethical UK brand gong

This podcast was commissioned and content driven by GfK NOP. We have featured it because of its value and the fact that ResearchTalk had editorial control over the editing

Listen to other podcasts featuring Julia Hailes

 STARRING 

• Chris Davis, MD Brand Strategy, GfK NOP
• Julia Hailes MBE, Sustainability consultant and author, The New Green Consumer Guide
• Zoe Morgan, Director of Marketing, Co-Op Group

This is a commissioned podcast which is published according to our yumminess policy

Timeline [21m05s]
00m00s Intro.
00m58s 2006 – the year the world woke up to climate change.
01m20s What is ethical branding?
02m35s Growing consumer scepticism.
03m21s The shift towards transparency and traceability.
04m17s Managing complexity and conflict in ethical brand decisions.
05m56s Additional benefits of trusted brands.
06m23s Co-op’s approach to communicating their ethical decisions.
07m44s Choice editing – deciding not to sell certain products.
08m57s Empowering consumers with information on the impact of their choices.
09m49s What brand owners should do.
11m24s Is a new business model emerging?
12m31s What Toyota learned after the initial failure of the Prius.
13m14s Merits of a targeted rather shotgun approach.
14m27s Ethical branding challenges the Milton Friedman view of good business practice.
15m33s Regulation vs. market forces.
17m13s Identifying authentic brands.
17m34s The role of the internet.
18m54s The effectiveness of labelling schemes.

Notable Mentions
Authenticity.
BP.
Choice editing.
Climate change.
Co Op.
Embedded carbon.
Exxon Valdez.
Fairtrade.
Green issues.
Greenpeace.
LinPak.
Local sourcing.
Marks & Spencer.
McDonald’s.
Milton Friedman.
Naomi Klein.
New Zealand lamb.
Organic.
Prius.
Tesco.
Toyota.
Transparency.
Wal Mart.

“New Green Consumer Guide” (Julia Hailes).
“The Corporation”.

Quotes
The ethical drive: “Ethical brands are growing at twice the rate of their non-ethical counterparts.” (Chris Davis).

The ethical drive: “We think there’s a couple million people in the UK…who make purchase decisions based around ethics…what’s changed is we’ve now around 13 million adults who say that they will make ethical choices if it was easy…and I think it’s that great big bulge of the middle consumer engaging with this agenda that’s causing all of the interest.” (Zoe Morgan).

Consumer scepticism: “You might think that with the growth of ethical brands that people would say things are getting better, but we are finding increasing scepticism…I think it’s heightened consumers awareness and sensitivity to how companies are behaving generally.” (Chris Davis).

Transparency: “One of the things that the focus on the green issue does is it really forces that transparency and traceability.” (Julia Hailes).

Ethical conflicts: “That’s one of the advantages of having the trust from the consumer…consumers will accept that we will have thought about the basket of issues (e.g. local sourcing) and have tried to make the best choice for that product.” (Zoe Morgan).

The ethical brand dilemma: “Even in environmental terms [product decisions] are complicated. If you’re adding ethical and social issues in as well you’ve really got a mix that is not obvious to consumers what the best choice is. And therefore it does require the retailer to assess those impacts and also very good at communicating them.” (Julia Hailes).

Choice editing: “We have to do it at the pace and in the way that the consumer will come with us. And if they take their whole shopping basket elsewhere…because they can’t get what they want to eat, we’re not doing the world or ourselves any favours.” (Zoe Morgan).

Proportionate impact: “3% to 4% of fruit and vegetables are imported by air, but they account for over a third of the transport-related [environmental] impact.” (Julia Hailes).

On the initial failure of the Prius: “…people have a conscience but what they really want to do is convey their values to other people…Toyota needed to make the branding much more prominent…which they did…it then really took off.” (Chris Davis).

Targeting: “…you don’t have to try and appeal to all consumers.” (Julia Hailes).

Regulation vs. market forces: “I think that market forces are more powerful [in bringing about change]. With government they are prepared to listen to excuses…” (Julia Hailes).

Role of government: “Government do have a responsibility to help make sure the full cost is in the product.” (Zoe Morgan).

Trust: “For businesses, the brand is so valuable and the trust element is so valuable that I don’t think that businesses can take the risk any more of being found out as fraudulent on that.” (Zoe Morgan).

Music Steffen Coonan from the PMN

Series:MarketingTalk Series:AdTalk
Series:Commissioned

16mins | Recorded @ ESOMAR Consumer Insights ‘07 | More podcasts in this series

Notable mentions
Innocent drinks.
P J Smoothies.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Series:MarketingTalk Series:AdTalk
Series:Events Series:ESOMAR

We all know about the surging economies in India and China and how they stand to become the largest within decades. But in this conversation with the passionate and authoritative Prof. Richard Scase, we hear how this and other global issues such as climate change and energy shortages, will affect everyone in both a personal and professional capacity. It’s not a pretty picture, but then again we need leading forcasters like Richard to get us all to act before it’s too late

 STARRING 

• Prof. Richard Scase, Academic, Entrepreneur, and Author, Global Remix

Recorded live at the Euro MR Event 2006

TIMELINE [15m19s]
00m00s Intro.
00m45s The seismic shifts in the global economy.
02m37s China and India will soon become the main global spenders.
03m30s What should companies be doing?
04m47s Global demographic shifts.
05m12s China and India as centres for research and entrepreneurship.
07m31s The implications of global shifts on the person in the street.
09m33s “Energy prices will treble in the next 5-10 years”.
10m05s Are China and India responding to the challenge of climate change?
10m59s How should governments respond?
12m14s Will we solve the issue of energy shortage before oil and gas run out?
13m42s Richard’s background.

Notable Mentions
Capital Radio.
China.
Energy shortages.
Global warming.
IBM.
India.
Inflation.
Kyoto Protocol.
Microsoft.
Nelson Croom.
Novartis.
P&G.
Unilever.
USA.

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:MarketingTalk
Series:EMRE06 Series:Events

 EXCLUSIVE  Brand Strategy magazine’s Ruth Mortimer talks about some hot issues in branding such as co-creation and branded content. Ray Poynter talks tech trends. And FDS’s new co-owner and MD, Charlotte Cornish, on the extraordinary story behind her acquisition of FDS

 STARRING 

• Ruth Mortimer, Editor, Brand Strategy Magazine
• Ray Poynter, Director, Virtual Surveys, and Head, The Future Place
• Charlotte Cornish, MD, FDS and Director, Munro Global

Recorded live at ESOMAR CONGRESS 2006

Timeline [25m19s]
00m00s Intro.

1.Ruth Mortimer.
00m54s The rise of co-creation.
02m39s Are brands embracing the new web?
03m37s Editorial mix, city brands.
05m13s Sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
06m01s Fads vs. trends: branded content.
07m49s The value of research.
08m37s Inspirational research: word of mouth (Net Promoter Score).

Notable Mentions
Audi.
Branded content.
Charles Leadbeater.
City brands (e.g. Dubai, Shanghai, London).
Coca Cola.
Disney.
eBay.
Fred Reichheld (Net Promoter Score).
Google.
Harvard Business School.
MGM.
Old El Paso.
P&G.
Second Life.
Tremor Panels.
Triumph motorcycles.
Viral marketing.

2.Ray Poynter.
09m25s Intro.
10m22s Trends in online research.
10m57s The case for ’slow research’ and its applications.
12m49s The challenges using research to make reliable forecasts.
15m02s Research is fun!

Notable Mentions
Apple.
Blogging.
Burger King.
iPod.
McDonalds.
Multimedia messaging (MMS).
Pete Comley.
Quentin Ashby.
Text messaging (SMS).
Web 2.0.

3.Charlotte Cornish.
15m50s How Charlotte came to acquire FDS.
21m14s The positive state of FDS, recent wins.
22m33s Arrival of a new management style.
23m25s The switch from value-added outfit to mainstream research company.

Notable Mentions
Ace Fieldwork.
BT.
Electra Kingsway.
Experian.
The Future Foundation.
Henley Centre.
Janet Weitz.
John Samuels.
Michael Warren.
Munro Global.
Pim Cornish.
Richard Hepburn.
Venture Capital (VC).

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:Events Series:ESOMAR Series:Congress06

 EXCLUSIVE  ESOMAR Congress 2006 keynoters Julia Hailes MBE talks about the environment and sustainability, and Interbrand’s Rita Clifton talks about branding and engagement

 STARRING 

• Julia Hailes MBE, prolific environmental author, and Sustainability Consultant
• Rita Clifton, Chairman, Interbrand
• John Kearon, BrainJuicer (Host)

Recorded live at ESOMAR CONGRESS ‘06

TIMELINE [21m30s]
00m00s Intro.

Julia Hailes.
00m33s Intro.
01m14s The new Green Consumer Guide.
01m32s Reducing carrier bag wastage.
03m30s The environmental tipping point.
04m46s Driving change: the role of consumers.
05m33s Driving change: being a consultant.
06m49s The next milestone.
07m48s Advising national and local government.
08m20s Using celebrity endorsement.

Rita Clifton.
08m45s Intro.
10m03s Advising FTSE boards.
11m33s Memes and viral branding.
12m42s The work of researchers Populus.
13m08s The state of the research industry.
14m57s The role of research in predicting future trends.
15m37s Tremor panels.
17m11s The best research: topping & tailing.
18m57s Better presentations.

Notable Mentions
Asda.
BA.
Charles Leadbeater.
Co-creation.
DSG Intl (formerly Dixons Stores Group).
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
eBay.
Emap.
(The) Green Consumer Guide.
iPod.
John Elkington.
M&S (Marks & Spencer).
P&G.
Populus.
Sainsbury.
Sony Walkman.
Tesco.
The Times
Tremor panels.
Unilever.
YouTube.

Quotes
“Money is a great motivator…if you can get it so that market forces are pushing in the direction you want then I think that’s all to the good.” (Julia Hailes)

“This isn’t a golden age in my view for market research…I don’t think I would talk about it being in decline…” (Rita Clifton)

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:MarketingTalk Series:AdTalk
Series:Events Series:ESOMAR Series:Congress06