The Green Awards - giving credit where it's due

In 2006 the Green Awards set out to reward creativity in the promotion of sustainability.

The awards were conceived when we realised that marketing as a key driver of economic growth was ideally placed to become a key driver of responsible growth. Amazingly, despite a plethora of existing advertising awards, there didn't seem to be an award that recognised those organisations who were taking a lead in persuading people to adopt greener lifestyles.

Our initial aim was to stimulate debate around the environment among all sectors of the marketing industry - from brand guardians and organisations, to the media owners, agencies, production houses and suppliers.

Ultimately, we wanted to develop the notion of what we call 'Reform Advertising'. That is advertising that includes environmental and social considerations during its planning and execution. Advertising that factors in corporate social responsibility at the start of the creative process, especially when briefing creative agencies.

The industry needed a catalyst. And the Green Awards provided it.

Green for go

The Green Awards were officially launched in April 2006 through a far-reaching publicity campaign. Entries were invited from businesses and organisations who had developed and implemented marketing communications across a range of traditional and non-traditional channels.

The awards concept resonated through the media and marketing community, government and NGO's.  In 2006 the Chair was Jill Rutter, Director of Strategy & Sustainable Development, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) who commented "We will only be able to meet the scale of challenge required to move to sustainable lifestyles if we mobilise our best creative talent in coming up with solutions and selling them to the wider public. That is why we are delighted to support the Green Awards to inspire the communications industry to put their brains and imagination into marketing sustainable development."

The judging panel was made up of leading figures from the marketing industry and the green movement.  They were looking for work that illustrated and communicated the importance of CSR, sustainable development, and ethical best practice in a creative and effective way across all media platforms and marketing disciplines.

In keeping with the ethical nature of the event there were two awards for each category. One for campaigns whose campaign value was over £100,000 and one for campaigns whose value was under £100,000. We believe that good ideas come in many sizes. And we wanted smaller businesses, charities, NGO's and social enterprises to have as much chance of submitting work as the big corporates.

The first winners were announced at a superb 'Green Tie' event held in London's historic Guildhall on November 29th 2006. The event was an amazing success and attracted substantial media and press coverage media coverage. Guests were treated to an organic dinner and enjoyed guest speakers who included Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth and the UN's Director of Public Information Eric Falt.

The Green Awards, like the environmental issues they highlight, have had an impact that extends far outside the narrow fields of the marketing industry. Now in its third year, the Green Awards are proof of the changes the communications industry is continuing to experience. An industry that was once seen by the environmental movement as part of the problem has started to become part of the solution.