Rupen Desai CMO & Venture Partner, Una Terra and Co-founder, TS/28

Purpose-driven companies seek purpose-driven partners. Aligning values and purpose enhances collaboration and mutual success. Many agencies are embracing corporate social responsibility by integrating sustainable practices, ethical decisions, and community engagement into their strategies. This shift towards holistic responsibility involves agencies going beyond traditional roles to actively consider the broader impact of their actions. The benefits of a purpose-driven approach can lead to increased brand loyalty, improved employee morale, and positive public perception, which in turn results in more resilient, more valuable long-term relationships.

Dive into the minds of consumers to better understand their actions and expectations that ultimately shapes culture, markets, and businesses. From the proliferation of Al tools to demand in experiences that make us feel alive and part of a community-brands are well positioned to be part of this journey. 79% of people globally agree that the role of a brand has changed over the past five year, find out what a brand's role should be and the key trends shaping that vision.

Sustainability presents the biggest opportunity, of our time, for Marketing. The extractive growth model has been the dominant approach, where the primary focus is on maximizing profits and resource extraction without considering the long-term consequences on the environment, society, and future generations. Rupen Desai provokes the need to move from extractive growth to a different value creation model, one where people, the planet and prosperity, all thrive together, never one at the cost of one another.

COP28 sent a clear signal that the world is serious about accelerating efforts on sustainability that will have a profound impact on business and society. In response, the Global CMO Growth Council now calls on marketing leaders from around the world to convene a special agenda at the IAA World Congress in Penang that will elevate the role marketing must play in delivering these desired outcomes that were promised at COP28. Until now, marketing’s role related to sustainability has been largely overlooked or misunderstood by corporations. However, more and more companies around the world have unlocked substantial growth from sustainable innovation that is marketing-led. So, it is important that we come together now, as the global community of chief marketers to exchange best practices, insights, and thought leadership that will help all marketers accelerate their progress toward our collective sustainability objectives while tapping into new streams of business growth and innovation.