Tag: WWF

Singapore – Now that consumers are becoming more concerned about being an active player in the sustainability movement, the current period presents a great opportunity for brands and companies to jump on this interest and draw consumers further to step up their efforts in enabling a better society and environment. 

In light of this, the World Wildlife Fund organisation in Singapore (WWF-Singapore) is launching a new webinar this January 10, 2023, which aims to help businesses communicate better their sustainability commitment, specifically in the area of sustainable palm oil. 

The webinar, Palm Oil: Hero or Zero? How to Communicate About Palm Oil, will be pulling industry leaders from WWF-Singapore and Synthesis Sustainability Lab into one space to elaborate on the challenges and misconceptions affecting demand for sustainable palm oil, as well as the right communication approaches to boost consumer awareness and demand.

Joining the discussion are Vivek Kumar, chief marketing and communications director at WWF-Singapore; Audrey Tsen, sustainability lab director at Synthesis; and Gabrielle Malcolm, assistant market transformation manager at WWF-Singapore.

Through the virtual discussion, businesses can learn from industry experts on topics from communicating about sustainable palm oil to meeting consumers’ demand for sustainability in the said webinar.

WWF-Singapore has been working with businesses and communities on the ground to develop tools and guidance for better traceability and transparency within palm oil supply chains, increasing market demand for certified sustainable palm oil and supporting the production of sustainable palm oil in key landscapes. 

The webinar, Palm Oil: Hero or Zero? How to Communicate About Palm Oil, will be held on January 10, 2023, at 3:00 pm (GMT + 08:00). Secure your spot at the webinar HERE. 

Singapore — Agoda has partnered with WWF-Singapore (World Wide Fund for Nature) to support marine habitat restoration efforts as part of the launch of its Eco Deals program. Through Eco Deals, Agoda will work in collaboration with its accommodation partners to offer deals that ‘give back and highlight responsible tourism, environmental or community-led charities and organizations.

In this campaign launch involving WWF-Singapore, Agoda and its hotel and accommodation partners will fund efforts to raise awareness about responsible tourism, enabling the restoration of marine habitats such as coral reefs and mangroves in Southeast Asia, and protecting wildlife affected by floods in Australia.

Agoda’s Eco Deals will first launch with accommodation partners in five countries – Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore – to offer travellers between 5% to 15% discounts on their bookings. For each booking, Agoda will contribute to WWF-Singapore’s marine conservation and flood-affected wildlife protection.

Agoda’s Sustainable Travel Trends Survey (2021) found consumers want to travel more sustainably, and that polluted beaches and waterways ranked as the top concern of Filipino tourists; second for Australians, Indonesian, and Malaysians; and third for Singaporeans. Aside from an Eco Deals badge to support and highlight participating properties, Agoda will develop a dedicated landing page which will be launched to consumers on 8 June 2022, to help consumers quickly find properties that support the Eco Deals activity.

Enric Casals, regional VP of Agoda Southeast Asia and Oceania, said, “In a post-COVID world, people are more aware of their impact on the places and communities they visit when travelling and are actively looking for ways and means to make their ecological footprint smaller. Through Agoda’s Eco Deals initiative we provide consumers opportunities to ‘give back’ as part of our partners’ and Agoda’s social responsibility commitment.”

Casals continued, “We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with WWF-Singapore to allow the Agoda community of travellers, partners and employees to work together to help revitalise marine habitats and protect wildlife across this region.”

Meanwhile, R. Raghunathan, CEO of WWF-Singapore, shared, “WWF-Singapore is well positioned to drive positive change in the Coral Triangle and wider region, home to the world’s epicentre of marine biodiversity. We look forward to working with Agoda in this partnership to support the conservation of marine ecosystems in this region.”

Singapore – As the Chinese New Year festivities are focused on the celebration of the Year of the Tiger, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Singapore has launched its latest awareness campaign on how climate change affects tigers in the world, with the launch of its island-wide tiger art trail called “AR-mazing Tiger Trail.”

The campaign, which will be unveiled this February, will feature 33 life-sized tiger art sculptures, designed by a collective of internationally-acclaimed artists in a bid to further awareness of the conservatorship of these magnificent creatures. Each of these sculptures present a unique perspective on the various effects of climate change on tigers.

Using art as an instrument to educate and effect change, WWF-Singapore’s AR-mazing Tiger Trail will explore the future of tiger conservation and ignite hope that positive change is possible if we unite with a common goal.

R. Raghunathan, CEO at WWF Singapore, said that they are delighted to be working with this incredible collective of artists to drive awareness for their tiger conservation mission in a fun, engaging, and approachable way.

“We hope that WWF-Singapore’s AR-mazing Tiger Trail will inspire our fellow Singaporeans and communities around the region to learn more about how our individual actions contribute to biological diversity. I also wish to thank our partners for supporting this important mission,” he said.

The artists hail from various countries, including Singapore, China, United Kingdom, Thailand, Australia, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Syria, and the United States.

Meanwhile, Chris Westbrook, curator of Tiger Trail 2022, commented, “The mission of WWF-Singapore’s AR-mazing Tiger Trail was particularly poignant as I connected with the various artists involved around the world. The Tiger is a majestic animal, and the passion for protecting this incredible species is evident through the various works. We cannot wait to unveil the full trail.”

Singapore – Following the departure of Vivek Kumar from retail giant NTUC FairPrice as its director of strategic marketing and omnichannel monetization, Kumar is immediately announced by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Singapore as its newest chief marketing and communications director. 

As he brings in more than 20 years of diversified experience in management and strategic communications, Kumar will be leading WWF-Singapore’s campaigns, focusing on conservation and climate change goals such as deforestation, haze pollution, food security, plastics, sustainable finance, sustainable consumption, and illegal wildlife trade.

The role takes effect immediately, and entails him to work closely with communities, businesses and governments to advocate for positive change.

At NTUC, Kumar helmed the marketing of over 160 Cheers and FairPrice Xpress convenience stores across Singapore, as well as setting up the FairPrice Group Media.

He also held various roles in the Singapore Labour Movement since 2010, and was assistant director-general (ADG) and director of the membership services division of NTUC.

He shared that his leadership style centers around “peer-powered learning” that will help to foster meaningful connections among team members.

“As a leader, it is important to have empathy so that we can support our peers and colleagues. I am excited to be joining a driven, highly capable and diverse team at WWF-Singapore. I hope to engage individuals and companies in creating greater awareness through human-centric angles that support our mission and Singapore’s Green Plan 2030 goals,” Kumar said.

He also added that his interest working with the organization started out as a donor to one of WWF-Singapore’s initiatives and soon became his dream job to join the organization.

“I have always been driven by a sense of purpose, from volunteering in my college days, to my recent role with the Singapore Labour Movement supporting union members. As the 2021 IPCC report highlights, there is really no time for us to lose when it comes to the health of our planet,” Kumar said.

While still in his position at NTUC FairPrice, Kumar graced the recently-held roundtable of MARKETECH APAC ‘Business Growth Levers from Acquisition to Retention’ in September where he shared how the organization’s convenience store Cheers adapted to the changes in the pandemic which included doubling down on good consumer research and offering innovative products. 

“We can’t wait for the customers to come to us. We can create the right occasion [as long as] we understand the customer’s needs. We must give them very friction-free shopping experiences where they can complete their mission – you can’t leave it midway,” Kumar said in the roundtable.

Singapore – Grey Group Singapore’s latest account win is a multi-client approval to create a new Singapore-based sustainability youth incubator. In its development, the agency will be partnering with top organizations for sustainability – organization for wildlife conservation and endangered species, World Wildlife Fund, (WWF); Temasek foundation, the state sovereign fund’s non-profit organization (NPO), and Green Is The New Black, media and events platform for sustainability.

The incubator will host a series of masterclasses and boot camps as well as a 6-month mentorship program to inspire and support the next generation of sustainability doers and creators. The initiative has already started and delivered masterclasses with top speakers from Project Drawdown, an NPO for climate solutions, and abillion, a discovery platform for vegan food and products, among other companies. 

The movement is called ‘We Got This’ and is currently recruiting boot camp applicants.

Lim Hock Chuan, chief executive of Temasek Foundation Liveability, said that the youth today embrace global sustainability issues and digital conversations and that there is a skills gap that needed to be bridged in sustainability advocacy among them.

“Temasek Foundation is happy to be part of the team to bring together like-minded partners to launch #WeGotThis, with a focus on helping our youths to do, try, test, speak up, and build small wins one upon another,” said Lim Hock Chuan.

Konstantin Popovic, CEO of Grey Singapore Group, remarked on the next generation of marketers, “We are welcoming people from all walks of life, and that includes the next generation of marketers. Whether you are in university, an intern or just starting your marketing career – if any aspect of sustainability is your passion, we want you to join.”

The project is working with partners and mentors to identify 50 youth in Singapore and South Korea to launch their own sustainability movement. Support will be provided to young people selected through an intensive boot camp application process in understanding how to use digital media platforms available to talk about sustainability, understanding issues better, and increasing a change towards a more positive future.

The agency’s Executive Creative Director Aaron Phua added, “Our movement is deliberately positive, non-accusatory and truly looking for young (and young at heart) problem-solvers who deserve our support.”

Auckland, New Zealand – In an attempt to drive the message across the growing issue of plastic pollution across our oceans and seas, the New Zealand arm of non-profit organization World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has released a new campaign alongside creative agency Colenso BBDO to visualize the issue of microplastic pollution.

WWF New Zealand has released new perspective pictures of said issue through underwater photography. At first glance, the resulting images appear to be star systems, but on closer inspection, it’s revealed that the ‘stars’ are actually microplastics suspended in water.

The campaign is released as new studies have suggested that eight million tons of plastic pollution end up in the ocean each year, breaking down into tiny bits to become microplastics. This then ends up in our food systems, where it is estimated that people are ingesting around 5 grams of plastic a week.

“There’s a general awareness of microplastics in the ocean, but what we wanted to do was help people grasp the unbelievable scale of the pollution. It’s only when Kiwis really see the size of the damage being done that we’re motivated to act,” said Simon Vicars, executive creative director at Colenso BBDO.

Meanwhile, Livia Esterhazy, CEO at WWF New Zealand commented, “These images are hauntingly beautiful, and yet, it is when we look up close we discover the horror we have created. From the Mariana Trench to Mount Everest, there is not a single place on Earth untouched by plastic pollution. 

She added, “Most of this plastic was designed to be used only once, but will remain for generations. We hope, by seeing the sheer scale of the problem, people will be inspired to take action and help us ‘Stop Plastic Pollution’.”

WWF New Zealand’s nationwide ‘Stop Plastic Pollution’ campaign is asking New Zealanders to help call on their government to introduce a global, legally binding, agreement to stop plastics polluting their oceans.