Very busy at the moment and having to get up with the birds and worms to get into work by 6am. One advantage, however, has been that I can listen to Radio 4 and to the joys of Farming Today and the weather forecast ( you know the one (Dogger, Biscay etc). Whilst I find the weather rather less than captivating, I have been fascinated in the debates taking place on Farming Today. In particularly this week, the programme has been looking at organic farming covering such issues as value, costs, market share, flexibility and today, brand and communication.
The brand advisor was saying that one of the biggest problems was that the message on organics remains, in his view, confusing. They are trying to sell too much and need to keep in simple.
This got me thinking about our brand and message. Here at base, we have been debating whether or not our message is clear enough or whether we need to simplify. We could sell so many things, but what is the most important. We have four steps to achieving PP;measure, reduce, invest, report. If there was one thing that we stood for, what should it be?
The reason for this debate is that we are getting some push back on our requirement for ‘investment to offset your unavoidable emissions’. That old offset debate again!! My personal position is clear; if we do not recognise and support poorer nations in their need for financial support into low carbon technologies, then there will be no solution to climate change.
The problem is that many people and companies still think that offsetting is a bad thing and that it should not be done for the foreseeable future until we have met our reduction targets. I can see the logic in this, but it sort of avoids tackling this massive issue and to me speaks of self-interest. I mean who else should take responsibility for the mess already created - its not the poorer countries carbon so we cannot expect them to agree to clean it up- so who else if not us….
So we are debating whether to drop or adapt the requirement for ‘investment’ and make it all about delivering reductions and voluntary offsetting.
Thoughts
Guy B
15.10.09
