United Nations and Marketing Industry Leaders Launch ‘Hopenhagen’

Global Campaign to Harness Action Around the U.N. Climate Change Conference

CANNES, France, June 23 /PRNewswire/ — The United Nations, together with the International Advertising Association (IAA) and a coalition of the world’s leading advertising, marketing and media agencies, today launched Hopenhagen — a movement that empowers global citizens to engage in the December U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen — at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Hopenhagen is a global marketing and communications initiative that will inspire and generate mass activation around the world.

“Climate change is one of the epic challenges facing this and future generations. World leaders will come together for the Copenhagen climate change conference in December and every citizen of the world has a stake in the outcome. It is time to seal a deal. We need a global movement that mobilizes real change,” said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Hopenhagen is about more than hope. “It is about global action for a global climate treaty and a better future for humankind,” Ban added.

Delegates from 192 nations will meet in December in Copenhagen to ratify a new international global climate treaty, which will take effect when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. Recognizing the tremendous role that communications will play leading up to and during the conference, the U.N. engaged the global advertising and media industry through the IAA to develop a comprehensive communications program to drive public awareness and generate action. Hopenhagen will complement the U.N.’s “Seal the Deal!” campaign, which calls on world leaders to “unite to find a solution to climate change that is fair, balanced, effective and science-based.”

“Climate change is a universal challenge, and we believe the world’s citizens are ready to act — they are just seeking the right platform,” said IAA Executive Director Michael Lee. “The strategy and stunning creative concept for the Hopenhagen idea came from WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather team, the digital framework and direction were developed by MDC Partner’s Colle+McVoy, and the global PR and messaging plans were spearheaded by Omnicom Group’s Ketchum. The collaboration that has taken place among the world’s leading agencies to develop this campaign for the United Nations is unprecedented and a testament to the significance the industry places on the need for action to address climate change.”

The creative concept of Hopenhagen stemmed from the idea that the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen is an opportunity to protect people and the planet and to power global green growth in order to adjust the fate of the planet. The campaign’s creative materials will emphasize the need to shift from “coping” or ignoring our global challenges to “hoping” and ultimately acting to create a new reality.

Hopenhagen will be modeled as an open source campaign that is powered by the people and created in the voice of global citizens. The creative inputs from the diverse viewpoints of visitors engaging with the site from around the world will be used to generate online and offline content.

The imagery will emphasize the human and economic aspects of climate change, by contrasting the challenges we face against the tremendous solutions that await if the world commits to aggressive plans to tackle climate change. The tone of the movement is optimistic, honest, authentic and hopeful.

The diverse and complementary team of communication agencies that have volunteered time, resources and dedicated team members to develop and execute the Hopenhagen campaign include Dentsu; Havas, represented by Euro RSCG and MPG; Interpublic Group, represented by McCann Worldgroup, R/GA and Draftfcb; MDC Partners, represented by Colle+McVoy; Omnicom Group, represented by Ketchum, Interbrand and Tribal DDB; Publicis Groupe, represented by Digitas and Saatchi & Saatchi S; and WPP, represented by Ogilvy & Mather. The chairman of the creative council was Bob Isherwood, former worldwide creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi.

A Web site, Hopenhagen.org, will serve as the campaign hub, where visitors may learn about climate change issues, express their vision for the future of the planet, and send a message to the delegates attending the U.N. Climate Change Conference to work together to finalize a strong, global climate change treaty.

An aggressive consumer launch of Hopenhagen will take place in September 2009 and continue through the U.N. Climate Change Conference in December and beyond. The coming months will be spent engaging key influencers, advocates and partners that will be instrumental in creating viral awareness of the campaign. The IAA is calling on all businesses, governments, nonprofits and citizens to join together to grow and develop the Hopenhagen movement.

The Hopenhagen movement is intended to be an open source campaign that all nonprofits, governments and citizens of the world can make their own. The campaign has already had early successes with this model, securing an endorsement from the Danish Foreign Ministry.

“Denmark and Copenhagen are proud to be hosting this historic climate change meeting, and we are happy to welcome the Hopenhagen campaign as part of our wide- ranging communications efforts for the conference,” said under-secretary for public-diplomacy in the Danish Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Klavs A. Holm. “Our main objective is that an ambitious agreement will be concluded in Copenhagen, and we want to applaud the Hopenhagen campaign for its emotional and inspirational messages. Hopenhagen is a perfect way to engage the world and make everyone part of the discussion and solution at the December COP15 meeting.”

The first creative elements of the campaign will be seen during the week of June 22 at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, at the John F. Kennedy International, Los Angeles International and London Heathrow airports, and among select international media.

Additional information and campaign creative materials are available at Hopenhagen.org, which will expand and evolve over the course of the campaign. Please contact Jessica Mendelowitz at jessica.mendelowitz@ketchum.com or +1-646-935-4173 for high- and low-resolution sample images of the campaign’s creative materials.

SOURCE Ketchum