Conserve Wildlife: INTA Event Highlights Fund for Advertisers

Photo credit: UNDP Midori Paxton

Did you know that in 2019 alone animals were featured in nearly one-fifth of global advertising campaigns, with budgets totaling US $118 billion? Those numbers are at the heart of The Lion’s Share Fund’s mission: to encourage corporate advertisers to donate a small percentage of their marketing budgets to protect wildlife every time animals appear in their ad campaigns.

The Brands for a Better Society (BFaBS) Committee recently held an event highlighting the work of The Lion’s Share Fund. It hosted United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) COVID19 Crisis Communication Manager (ai) Boaz Paldi, who currently leads The Lion’s Share Fund. In an interactive town hall format held at two separate times in early September, Mr. Paldi shared the organization’s visionary initiative for protecting our planet’s wildlife and natural resources. UNDP is a co-founder of the fund.

The project has some high-profile ambassadors, such as English broadcaster and natural historian Sir David Attenborough and Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones). They are helping to raise awareness of the rapid disappearance of species biodiversity on Earth due to human activities, a loss so dramatic it has been called the sixth mass extinction period.

By donating in this very simple way, brands can support the UNDP’s efforts to counter the effects of climate change, habitat destruction, and other threats to wildlife and the environment.

Sir Attenborough’s video message summarizes the key points of the project.

Indicative of the global nature of the fund’s mission, the BFaBS Committee held a virtual town hall in New York, New York, USA, on September 1 and again in Singapore on September 2. They drew a total of 40 Corporate Members.

The event is part of the BFaBS Committee’s mission to raise awareness of and promote the cooperation between public and private sectors to support and advance corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to create a more sustainable way of doing business and reduce the footprint of industry and commerce.

For Committee Co-Chairs Jessica Murray and Marion Heathcote, it was important for the BFaBS Committee to demonstrate the true connection and reciprocity between CSR and brands since The Lion’s Share Fund is a sterling example of how brands can do well by doing good.

Mr. Paldi emphasized through his presentation that although the organization is only two years old, it is making great strides toward protecting vulnerable habitats and supporting conservation around the globe. He said influential brand partners continue to join its initiative.

Some of the well-known names partnering with The Lion’s Share Fund are BBDO, Gucci, Mars, Nielsen, The Economist Group, and very recently, Cartier, according to the Fund.

The Fund asks advertisers to donate 0.5 percent of their media spend every time an animal is featured in their advertisements. The Lion’s Share aims to raise US $100 million a year within four years, according to its website. While this may seem like an ambitious target, if the top 10 advertisers alone were to commit to The Lion’s Share then that would bring in US $47 million alone each year, it said.

Echoing the latest research on the benefits of incorporating CSR into a brand’s business strategy, Ms. Murray said the participants agreed that a project such as The Lion’s Share Fund can enhance brand recognition and value.

If your company is interested in learning more about or partnering with The Lion’s Share Fund, please contact INTA or visit the organization’s website.

Follow @TheLionsShare.

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this article, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest.