Social Media Week, a “multi-city global conference connecting people, content and conversations around emerging trends in social and mobile media” kicked off its Toronto leg in the packed Canadian HQ of ad agency JWT this morning with a juicy session titled “Social for Social Good–The power, politics and potential of ideas and causes to change the world.”
Given the session included David Moran, director of sustainability at Coca Cola Canada, the elephant in the room–corporate profits of a multinational coexisting with sustainability efforts–was acknowledged immediately by Tony Pigott, JWT Canada president and CEO. He welcomed the packed boardroom by outlining that corporate interest in sustainability and social good is often erroneously seen as co-opting a cause. “And I say, ‘Let the co-opting begin,’” he announced. “By doing so, the co-opter will soon himself be co-opted.”
Moran then added to the sentiment, saying that effective sustainable work by corporations should enable third parties who work on those causes. Coke’s include Participaction and others that encourage active childhoods.
The panel also included Joe Rospars, Blue State Digital’s founding partner and creative director (and best known for being Barack Obama’s lead digital strategist), who stated the importance of combining the inspiration and initial excitement of socially minded campaigns with rigorous metrics and CRM rollout. He added that every single person that attended an Obama rally in 2008 went into a database and received next-day follow-up by organizers who offered tools that empowered attendees to be part of the movement–the same kind of tools that campaign staff had access to.
More than 35 Social Media Week events continue across Toronto, with more than 2,000 people expected to attend. JWT will host two more events.
