@SO_pr IABC World Conference Review, Part I
Judy Lewis’ session: It’s a Brand New Day at the IABC World Conference in Toronto was a huge success. More than 150 PR Pros rallied for an 8:15 a.m. early bird session and it was standing room only!
If you didn’t make it to the dynamic panel presentation, it included Shelley Simmons, Director, Brand Communications & Values of The Body Shop (US, Canada and Mexico), Jacqueline Ryan, RBC Director of Olympic Marketing and Peter Morrisey, Associate Professor of Boston University College of Communications, and President and CEO of Morrissey & Company. All shared insights about the power of PR in driving social change, building brand equity and developing brand reputation.
Shelley Simmons kicked off the session with a presentation about The Body Shop Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People campaign. She shared a wonderful story about The Body Shop’s founder, Anita Roddick and the inspiration for this powerful public awareness campaign. Before Anita’s death in 2007, she was passionate about raising public awareness of sex trafficking as she considered it the modern form of slavery. To honour her memory, The Body Shop launched the Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People campaign in August 2009.
To date, together with customers, The Body Shop has raised more than $1 million. Shelley explained that this campaign goes well beyond fundraising; it is about driving social change. PR plays a crucial role in supporting this change.
Here are some highlights from Shelley’s presentation:
“It’s not just about fundraising, it’s about driving social change and PR is critical in supporting this change.”
“If enough people call for change, governments will listen.”
“If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just.” –Anita Roddick
Stay tuned for part II & III for more highlights from our dynamic PR panel.
For more on It’s a Brand New Day, check out our interview with Judy as she prepared the panel here, and more panel highlights here.