Last Wednesday (6 November) the retail and brand licensing community came together at the Royal Geographical Society, London, for a deep dive into the world of sustainability for the Products of Change (POC) Conference.
Industry heavyweights included the BBC, Penguin Random House, Paramount, Warner Bros, Mattel, Universal Music Group, Disney, and the Natural History Museum, with the conference’s 2024 edition receiving its highest ever attendance level.
Attendees enjoyed a packed and diverse session agenda, which was opened by keynote speaker, Moksha Roy, UN ambassador and the world’s youngest sustainability advocate at nine-years-old. Moksha’s impactful and memorable address implored her audience to remember that children believe their toys are made by fairies and pixies, so companies should be those fairies and pixies by making their products in a way that protects the world children will grow up into.
The rest of the day followed with further insights, inspirations, and innovations,such as Tony’s Chocolonely’s fight against child labour in cocoa, the future of our homewares with Dunelm, and circularity in fashion with Primark.
Rob Goodchild, commercial director of Two Daughters Entertainment, commented, “The Conference made me realise that I am on a very steep learning curve, my head feels like it is exploding with information and my eyes are wide open to changes that we as an industry need to make.”
He continued: “Products of Change and the Conference are so crucial to our wider understanding and alerting us all to how we can and need to embrace the challenge to make our businesses truly sustainable, not fake sustainable.”
Meanwhile, Alex Samson, senior brand manager of Magic Light Pictures, added, “It’s been so uplifting. It made me feel really optimistic to be in an auditorium full of people who are all contributing to make the industry more sustainable. Taking place on the same day that it was announced that Donald Trump became US President, the POC Conference was a perfect antidote to all the negativity, providing hope for the future.”
This year marked Products of Change’s second Member Awards, inaugurated at last year’s conference, and continuing to celebrate the individuals and companies exemplifying the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
The award trophies were created by Waterhaul, which recovers and recycles marine plastic and waste fishing gear and turns it into new products, such as sunglasses. These awards were crafted from discarded PPE and recycled wood, and perfectly embodied the ethos that their recipients have demonstrated.
The awards were as follows:
- Sustainable Development Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals – Anita Majhu, BBC Studios.
- Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – Lisa Foster and Andrew Hajithemistou, TMSW.
- Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action – Maxine Lister and team, Natural History Museum.
- Sustainable Development Goal 9: Industry Innovation and Infrastructure –Duncan Shearer, Seymour Distribution, and Michelle, Steph, Paul and team, Immediate Media.
“The team at the Natural History Museum are thrilled to have won a Sustainability Award at the Products of Change Conference,” said Maxine Lister, head of licensing at the NHM.“We are incredibly proud of our licensees and collaborators who work with us on our sustainability journey and to be awarded this by our peers.”
For the first time this year, Products of Change was pleased to invite a select number of young professionals in the industry to attend the conference with a complimentary ticket, ensuring their voices are being heard in these conversations about a future that will chiefly affect them.
POC was delighted to have in attendance, Rebecca Meier from Smiley, Charlie Monk from Moose Toys, Charlotte Harman from D&AD, Katie Moran from Tottenham Hotspur, and Joe Bradford from Poetic Brands.
Charlotte commented that the conference had been very valuable to her in clearly setting out the regulations that are on the horizon, and by helping the audience engage with the complex changes, while Charlie added that the conference offered him a wave of reassurance that Moose Toys was doing well on its sustainability journey and could take inspiration from the insights that he’d heard.
“The POC Conference 2024 was our best yet,” stated Helena Mansell-Stopher, founder and ceo of Products of Change. “It was inspiring to see people from across the industry united by shared interests, collaborating to shape the future. I can’t wait to see what 2025 will bring!”
Top: Delegates are shown at last week’s Products of Change Conference held at the Royal Geographical Society in London.
