Making communication more responsible

You are the first “mission-driven agency” since 2019, what does that mean?

Actually, the Green Agency has always been a mission-driven agency. The principles defined at its creation in 1992 still guide us today: to communicate to change the world, to produce meaning and not noise, to be free from any preconceived ideas. These principles are what we have inscribed in our statutes: “Communicate to change the world, a world that is fairer and more respectful of people and the planet.” We are currently defining the associated objectives. It is a beautiful way to formalize our commitments, to share who we are, and to stay on course! With the objective of being useful.

You have a co-design approach with your clients, what does that consist of?

All agencies – I hope! – co-design with their clients. Our specificity may be to involve a fairly large audience in the reflection and search for solutions: employees, stakeholders (clients, partners), and even opponents (NGOs, etc.), to understand the words to use, the pitfalls to overcome, and to give credibility to the approach.

What role does communication play in the transformation of companies, in your opinion?

It is essential, of course, but in the period of mistrust and doubt that we are going through, I would emphasize two points. First, transparency, which could also be called sincerity, humility: saying what we do, assuming what we do not (yet) do. Then, exemplarity, coherence between what we say and what we do. The worst example: Jeff Bezos comes to COP (by private jet!) to announce a $1 billion donation to the Great Green Wall, while the carbon footprint of his activity is catastrophic.

Responsible communication, what does that evoke for you?

Necessity and vigilance! CSR or sustainable development are vast, complex, and systemic subjects. They generate a lot of misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and sometimes, communication for show or greenwashing. Many studies attest to this (Havas’s Meaningful Brands, BVA): on one hand, 73% of French people encourage brands to act now for the good of society and the planet, by offering functional, collective, and personal benefits. On the other hand, for them:

• Less than half (47%) of brands are trustworthy
• 71% “will not keep their promises”
• Only 34% are sincere about their commitments

This invites brands to be both:

• Courageous, ambitious, and why not radical in their measures (no more “small steps, we don’t have time anymore)
• Coherent: not repairing here what we destroy there. Aligning internal operations (starting with an exemplary leader!) with external communication
• Transparent: accepting what we do not do, the only way to legitimize what we do
• Collaborative: involving employees, stakeholders, consumers, suppliers, NGOs…

Pioneering in these areas, the Green Agency has the credibility to support brands in truly responsible and sustainable communication and avoid the pitfalls of greenwashing.

We are in the midst of COP26, what is your perspective on the subject?

It is fashionable to criticize COP. I prefer to rejoice in the symbolic and spectacular effect of all these leaders gathered to save our planet for 11 days. And some concrete advances already seem to be emerging (agreements on methane emissions, forest preservation). But I can only regret, in terms of communication and credibility on the efforts to be made, that some leaders did not come by train (Boris Johnson took a plane for 640km!) Credibility always: what are commitments for 2050, 2070 worth? Let’s set intermediate and concrete steps for 2 or 5 years to courageously examine where we stand on trajectories. These two points also apply to any company that commits to its impact!