The Sponsors

made huge strides to address theway their goods go back intothe loop

Reflecting on thesession, Bratley said: “The climateemergencycrisis needs a collective response and it wasgreat to see so manycompetitors in thesameroom all working together to find solutions to climateproblems. It wasalsoencouraging to learnthat alot of good work has already happened. The BPMA and its members have ahuge opportunitytopromotethe climateinaddition to their customer’s businesses and Ileftthe conference feeling that this would happen.”

Looking forwardtoworking with theindustrytohelpprogress thenext stages, BoardDirector responsible for SustainabilityMelissa Chevin said: “First Mile represent solutions forthe industry across theUKand we’reconsulting withthem to see howtheycan help theindustryonits recycling journey.”

Howthe Industry Can Helpend Users

An interview withJoe Sheppard, UK managing director of globalevent and experiential agencyElevateprovided useful insights intowhy understanding themeasurement and trace on B2B and B2C events wascritical. Explaining theworkwhichwent intoevery event, Sheppardoutlined theworkalready taking place in his side of theexperiential industryand whyitwas so important.

“Wemeasure everyoutput, everyjourney –literally everything we do.It’shardwork but getting us to anet zero outcome is not only important forus, it’simportant forevery brand we work withtolookat our carbon footprint and impact. Where we can reduce it, we will –evenifthis means buying differently and less,” he said.

Interviewed by Carey Trevill, she asked aseries of questions to lookatwhat kind of buying behaviour he wasnow seeing.

“Less is definitely more… take clients likeBMW.For everyevent,they would buy apparel and tell us to just get rid of it at theend of theevent withno idea of whereitwould go –and that wastolandfill mostly.Now,wesee a different attitude and approach –better quality, reused frequently and recycled at theend of its useful life,” he said.

Asking Joe about howthe promotional merchandise industrycould help companies likehis, he simply stated: “We want and need better options to help us achievesustainable goals and the information whichgoes withthose goods.”

When asked about thebalance of profit versus ESG in his business, Sheppard concluded likeevery company they are theretomakemoney and while thereality of this would alwaysdrive decisions, the topdownapproach meantsustainability drove muchofthe agenda and it was acompanywide commitment.