E146 - Richard Morris, CEO of IPG Media Brands

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Welcome to the Green Element Podcast, where we meet business leaders and innovators transforming their operations to be more environmentally and socially sustainable. sustainable, and in the process help you on your journey of sustainability. I'm your host, Will Richardson. Today we are speaking with Richard Morris, the CEO of IPG Media Brands, a global media company founded in 2007, which has over 13,000 employees in over 130 countries. Richard is responsible for all the networks, agencies, and the business units in the UK, including UM, Initiative, Reprise Network, Magna, Rapport, and Orion. Prior to this, Richard gained valuable experience working for the Dentsu Aegis Network. Richard, welcome.

Hi, Will. Thanks for having me on the show.

It's great to have you with us today. So before we get into sustainability and marketing, could you give us a bit of background about yourself and how you came to work for IPG Media Brands?

So yeah, I suppose it's been a long career, a long and exciting career in advertising, and about 4 years ago, I was seduced by what Media Brands were doing globally as a business, and it was something I wanted to be part of. And I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to run the operation in the UK and Ireland.

Brilliant. And so what leadership role do you think the marketing sector should take with regards to climate emergency?

It's a really, it's a really good question. And fortunately, it's one that the market is now open to. I think, you know, it's definitely something that Media Brands has been banging the drum of for, for over a decade now, but really clients now fully appreciate the importance of presenting ethical businesses and sustainable businesses to their customers, and it's their customers that are demanding it. So There is fortunately little resistance to the principle and ambition of becoming more sustainable.

Do you think it helps that, as you've just alluded to, you've been working within, as IPG Media Brands, working in sustainability, like being more sustainable for coming up to 20 years? And I know that personally because I've been the— we've been the company behind the scenes. And I mean, you've had Net savings annually of about £110,000, and that's for your London operations alone. And so with that amount of background and your real drive as an organization in the operations and stuff, do you think that has a knock-on effect to working with your clients?

I think it does. I think, you know, as a marketing services operation, we are very privileged to work at the very senior levels with our clients. We preside over a lot of their investment in growing their business, positioning their brands, improving their reputations, and as such, we have a lot of responsibility. So through our own advocacy of sustainable practices, that's something that our clients are very interested in now, and anyone who works in the advertising or media sector will know That on every single RFI that's issued for a pitch, clients want to know about the sustainable practices that their prospective agencies have and the beliefs that they have around this space.

What way or ways have IPG Media Group changed in response to the climate emergency?

There are 2 ways of looking at it. We, I mean, the first thing is that we don't see this as a point of competitive advantage, and we have joined forces with all the other brilliant marketing services businesses in the UK. We've done that through the Advertising Association and we've done that through the IPA, which is the Institute of Practitioners of Advertising. And together as a collective, you know, we're hugely competitive businesses, we compete all the time, but we found a common goal in this space. So we have co-created along with those bodies, along with our competitors, Ad Net Zero, which is done through the Advertising Association, which is a 5-point plan to get to real net zero by 2030 for the UK advertising industry. And among that 5-point plan is one is getting our own house in order, which is something that we're really focused upon. So, you know, we have been working with 100% renewable energies. We've banned single-use plastics from our business. We are— I think we've reduced our carbon footprint per employee by 72% since 2014. So it's a huge focus for us. We're about to move to a new flagship office, and that entire process has been governed through the lens of sustainability. The second area that's really important, of course, isn't getting our own house in order. But it's how we help our clients make sustainable choices. And you can imagine when a client is choosing between a digital campaign, social media campaign, an out-of-home campaign, a television campaign, cinema, radio, whatever it might be, that each comes with its own carbon implication. So along with the other members of the IPA, we've developed a carbon calculator. And what we're now beginning to do— this is very nascent, last few weeks— we are now putting carbon scores on our media plans so clients can see the— how best to put it— how can see the choices they're making and the implications from an environmental impact of one plan. versus another. And it's this behavior that we believe is going to influence for the good the total output of the UK advertising industry.

That's, I mean, that's, that's really, really good because a lot of the, um, how do I say it, the negative carbon input does tend to come from the clients wanting to change things, doesn't it? It's, um, you've all— best laid plans are suddenly changed because someone comes in and says, actually, we'd like to do this, this, and this, and you're like, oh, right, okay, that's going to have massive implications.

Yeah.

And I think what you've just said is really good because it helps communicate that message, doesn't it?

It does. And I think without generalizing too much, we're in an era now where all brands' behavior adds up to a consumer's assessment of how well that brand is performing. So an example would be, you know, a renewable electricity proposition couldn't be advertised or communicated in a sort of unsustainable way, as it were. So every single element of the supply chain needs to be focused upon that goal. One of the challenges, of course, that we will confront is that, you know, quite rightly, brands, when they invest in advertising or communications, there is a whole list of different objectives that might be reducing the cost per action or visit to a website or a mobile site. It might be changing perception of a brand or gaining awareness of a new product, whatever it might be. And those may— not saying they are— but there will be times when those might be at odds with the most sustainable plan. So that trade-off is something that we are going to have to get comfortable with. But it's definitely— there is a desire to do all, but we've got to appreciate that sustainability is a vital component going forward, but there are other factors that determine that media plan.

Yeah, we just worked with ClickOn on the Land Rover ad with a competitor of yours, but it was more that they were meant to be doing this Land Rover ad in Iceland and they ended up They could do it all through, I think, augmented reality.

Yeah.

But what I was quite interested in, yes, more sustainable, but kind of what you're, I think, alluding to in that if you can have local agencies in, say, Argentina doing a drive through the mountains or doing something there, you're actually putting more money into local economies and you're still able to spread the wealth, I guess. And so it brings in that ethical side and that's— and rather than shipping loads of people out to all the countries, you're working with more people around the world.

Yeah, I think it's a fantastic example and it's amazing that that's being considered because let's be frank, 10, 15 years ago, that was the last thing. It would all have been about cheapness of talent and whether there was good light that would determine the— The location of production. So I think now that, you know, in that example shows how not only is sustainable practices coming to the fore, but also thinking about the impact upon local economy, which again is, you know, that is an ethically— that is a good consideration from an ethical business, which is great to hear.

What is IPG Media doing to ensure brands are communicating honestly? And in particular, what is it you're doing to ensure messages about sustainability and the environment are communicated honestly?

I think there is enough evidence now to show— I think one of the things that the internet has done, I remember reading an article right at the beginning of the internet, but probably about 22 years ago, which says— I was obviously a student at the time. Yeah, but, um, yeah, well, that's the first line. It was a big feature in The Economist. The first line is that the good people will get better and the bad people will disappear. And whilst I'm sure that's, that's a bit, uh, neat and a bit, a bit simplistic, I think what has happened is that you've no longer got a gap in, um, how do you put this, between the claim and the delivery. So before the internet, I'm— gross generalization, you could say, you could make a claim in advertising, and if that stimulated a purchase and the product experience or the service experience didn't marry up with the claim, it was sort of okay. And now there is so much knowledge out there about supply chains, ethical practices, Product quality, product experience, service experience, that you can't say anything that is disingenuous in communications and expect to deliver strong customer advocacy. It just doesn't work anymore, which is a brilliant thing. So I think what that means is now, and you see it, you just have to take a sample of communications now. that there's far more authenticity, there's far less hyperbole in communications because they know that there is a million people who are very quickly willing and easily accessible to give an opinion on that proposition. So I think we are of course helping our clients and encouraging our clients to be as authentic as possible. Again, I would say that that is, yeah, we are in that instance talking to a converted audience. So that's not difficult. I think the interesting dilemmas come in is when you're having, as I said before, to weigh up different types of objective, because there are ways of hacking growth that might mean that you're delivering excessive frequency to consumers, which might be annoying for them. So actually might not be seen as a— a positive practice. So, you know, when you look at more sustainable marketing practices, that might come at a premium, and it's educating clients that that premium is one that's worth investing in.

And have you found that there are conflicts between the short-term and long-term benefits with regard to honest marketing communications?

Yeah, I think it's a really good question. I think One of the other, you know, the rise of social media, digital media that is so much more targeted, it's incredibly good value, it's highly attributable, we can measure and track it. It's become very attractive to clients to invest in digital media per se and across all social platforms. I think one of the dangers is getting hooked on short-term response. So let's take a hypothetical example. A business that is investing in sustainability may not see the benefit of that in terms of its bottom line for a few years relative to, I don't know, some short-term deal that might have an instant impact on the business. Now, the dilemma that many brands have had is that short-term versus long-term. Fortunately, I think what you've seen since the last recession of 2008 is brands really appreciating or feeling the cost of reducing their investment in what they stand for in favor of short-term direct response activity. And actually, now, when we went through the economic challenges of last year, you've seen many brands maintain their investment in what they stood for. And that tells me that there is a definite, a greater appreciation and understanding and commitment to the long term than perhaps there was 12 years ago.

Because there are some people that are more passionate about sustainability than others. We see that across the board. are you recognizing different people and putting them in with different brands? Or I don't know, I'm just thinking about from a cultural point of view and just do you put, I don't know, the person that's a real kind of like greenie with Ikova or the reverse with another company, which I'm not going to say, but you know.

Yeah, it's a good question. Honestly, when we pitch and, you know, have that first connection with a client, we are very open about our own values, and sustainability and ethical practices are at the heart of our values. And that is something we will overemphasize in those original sort of initial meetings, and we will connect with like-minded clients. And some other clients might not be interested in that space, or as interested as we are. So there tends to be a sort of matching of values and culture that means that the vast majority of our clients are on the same page as us. Meaning we don't really have to segment on the basis, on that basis.

And do you think the marketing sector and advertising sector is doing enough to tackle greenwashing? And ultimately, is it doing enough to tackle the global crisis?

I think it is. I'm more intimately involved with the UK and Ireland, so I can talk from our perspective. Yeah. the things that the Advertising Association has done around Ad Net Zero, the IPA around the Climate Charter on a more global basis, the Climate Pledge that many of our clients are involved with, and so are we. I think we are doing a lot. I think, you know, there's some real existential questions that come with advertising, you know, that are you What are you promoting? So, you know, if you're advertising people to buy more, I don't know, petrol cars or whatever, does that— is that positive for the environment? However, what you're seeing is that those legacy companies that perhaps were having more of a negative impact on the environment are the ones where change is being driven fastest. So I think I would say There is so much more we've got to do. We've only just started, but I think there is a real intent and conviction for advertising to play its part.

That's, that's really good to hear. And what are the challenges and opportunities within the advertising industry for communicating sustainable practices, products, etc.?

Well, yeah, core to our business is media and working with media vendors to— from Google and Facebook through to cinema, to ITV, Channel 4, across the piece. And those businesses are very much focused on sustainable practices, but one of the things that we can do is ensure that our clients' wishes and what we believe are the right ethical practices are promoted to those vendors. So we've developed a set of 10, what we're calling responsibility principles, that we've shared with all of the vendors that our clients would work with, saying these are the practices we want to promote. And then we, on a regular basis, audit their performance against that, against those criteria and publish it. So in the area of sustainability, we are encouraging, we are reflecting our clients' wishes and our own wishes for our industry and the media marketplace to be more of a sustainable one. So by doing that, that puts some positive pressure on those businesses to accelerate their programs. And that knock-on effect through the supply chain is really having a positive impact.

It's a brilliant initiative that you're doing because, I mean, I've got down here that you're including protecting children's wellbeing, providing more transparency.

Absolutely.

And I was just going to say incorporate sustainability. Sorry for keeping on cutting you off.

Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. And obviously it goes beyond that and anything from data privacy to, you know, welfare of children, to sustainable practices. You know, broadly, we don't inflate our sense of importance, but we understand our influence and our responsibility, and that's what we're trying to leverage for the good.

I mean, everything has a knock-on effect with each other, and you can't think about just one, you know, just the environment. It really does come through. And I guess something that I read about a lot is the empowering of women has such a positive knock-on effect for the environment because of the way that culture has set up around the world. And as an example of how one thing has a massive impact on another part, it's all interconnected. So I think it's It's brilliant what you guys are doing with regards to that.

Yeah, and that is a really good point, and it's, it's something that's so high on our agenda, which is creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture and environment, which is representation. It's ensuring that the culture itself is inclusive, and again, promoting that within our organization but also in the way we interface with our clients and media buyers.

Could you give us some examples of how you're doing that?

So yeah, we have obviously something like the gender pay gap is a massively important piece to us. We will regularly look at all of our data, see where we have anomalies. If there are anomalies in certain areas, try and determine why. we have inequality in a certain area when it comes to talent, Black and people of color talent, where we are off the pace as an industry. And, you know, we have got so much work to do. We're looking at this in 3 ways. The first is 3 A's. First is about attraction. The second is attrition. And the third is advancement. So the first point is ensuring that we have strong representation over and above national average amongst those ethnic groups, and that changes everything. So it makes you really question all the way you operate. So sure, like many businesses, we encourage people to refer someone to us, but if we are asking the same people to refer their friends, they're less likely to give ourselves the representation, so we've changed that policy. You know, we had quite frankly an outmoded policy around insisting that people had university degrees coming into our business. That has gone. We've implemented blind CVs, we've created a heritage network within our business so that the business can hold a mirror up to us and see if the practices that we're delivering are right. But the first goal within those 3 A's is to ensure we have strong enough representation in our business, then we need to make sure that we have an inclusive culture that enables those people as well.

Because the advertising industry is actually quite similar to the sustainability industry, but you're much further on than us, as in you guys have been talking about the historically lack of diversity within your industry for quite a number of years now. And I'm sad to say that the sustainability industry does, it falls into that. We do have a lack of diversity within it. And we can talk about why at another time. But there are clear reasons why. And it's interesting to know what to do because it's something that I'm aware of and Just listening to you and understanding how to combat it.

Yeah, it's very challenging. I think we pride ourselves on being an inclusive culture, but the moment last year with the murder of George Floyd and the reaction amongst our own people, but across society as a whole, it was a very chastening moment for us that made us wake up and say, we've just got to work so much harder at this in terms of the time we dedicate to it and how we can affect real change. And it's something that's very important to us. And, you know, as an organization, we're evaluated on, you know, in terms of the global network, the performance of the market I look after, as with other markets globally. We are strongly evaluated on our ability to improve our representation. And I think There's this phrase about, you know, you treasure what you can measure, but having those goals is so important because we're all very focused on improving this business. And there is absolutely no doubt that a diverse culture, a diversely represented workforce will deliver diversity of thinking in the creative space within which we operate, will deliver a better product. So it's thankfully an area where all the stars align. But it's something that we've got a long way to go, but we're hell-bent on making the change.

And finally, what does the future of IPG Media brands look like with regards to sustainability?

Well, that's an interesting one. So we are, um, in November we will move to Old Bailey, which is a building that has had much sustainable passion built into its foundations. So from its very inception, right through to the briefing of the architect, through the build, through everything, we're really, really driven by making that a landmark of sustainability. So that's going to be part of our immediate future. I see This will iterate. We will— we think that the carbon calculator is a really interesting step because at first point we will simply be reporting the carbon impact of a certain advertising campaign versus another. But over time, we see that variable becoming more and more important. And likewise, it's going to ensure that the vendors are going to be more sustainable in their practice. So this is a journey, it's not going to be delivered overnight. What I can say is we're absolutely committed to it along with our clients. So, you know, what I see if we take Ad Net Zero is by 2030 a real net zero position for the UK advertising industry, and we will ensure that Media Crackdown plays a leading role in affecting that change.

It's very rare that I can actually sit here and I know that it's true. I know that what you're saying is true because we've been working for you for long enough. We know that the drive is there, and we know how much you save year on year, and you're one of the examples I always give to companies where they will say, but you can't just keep on reducing. And I'm like, well, actually you can. Because it comes down to organizations change, and that's the bit that we forget. It's not you as IPG Media Brands are not the same company as you were in 2010. You're in the same building, but you're not the same company. And so therefore, You've got more people sometimes, you've got less people, you've got different projects on, you've got more digital, and everything is constantly changing. And so therefore you are actually always reducing. And yes, 20% one year doesn't attribute to the same 20%. It's another 20%, but it's like 18%. But as long as you're continually looking and evaluating your business, which is what you guys do, every day. I mean, you're looking at half-hour data, you could argue that you're doing it every half hour. You're not physically doing it every half hour, but you are, and it's brilliant. It's absolutely brilliant to see an organization like yours doing what you're doing.

Well, it's great. I'm so pleased you said that, and also thanks for all your support in keeping us honest in that space. I think, you know, when you talk about values and purpose, you can write values on a PowerPoint chart, but there's a difference between really living and breathing them. And And we do, and creating a responsible business is fundamental to that. And we say it's much about us keeping our own house in order, but the wider impact that we can have is in that broader advertising and media industry. So it's definitely, definitely at the top of the agenda.

On the ground, we all need a Billy, don't we? We all need a Billy Gallgray.

A word for Billy, yes. Yeah, he's been a fantastic driver within our organization to, again, to keep us honest, and it's had amazing effects. So it's wonderful to be able to, and a privilege to be able to run a business that is looking at sustainability not only through a cost efficiency lens, but also as an impact on society and on the environment lens. And it's wonderful to have both.

Brilliant. Well, thank you so much for joining us today.

Well, absolute pleasure.

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