TOCW Flagship Event: Marketing, Comms & Media | Changing the Narrative from Cost to Opportunity
Join Orchestra Marketing for this Toronto Climate Week flagship event exploring how we move the narrative from cost to opportunity; from preventing disaster to producing profit and building better lives in the process. Through candid panels, hands on workshops and open conversations, we'll explore the necessity and way to communicate that action to counter climate change impact is an ROI-positive one, not an economic sacrifice.
Expect honest dialogue, practical takeaways and a networking happy hour to close out the day.
Agenda:
1:00 | Registration & Mingle
1:30 | Welcome Remarks from Orchestra Marketing's CEO, Jocelyn Butler
1:45 | Fireside Chat | From Principles to Practices
How do we prevent greenwashing as agency and brands by applying high level principles that lend themselves to effective and accurate communication practices at all levels of an organization.
Wesley Gee, Works Design, Chief Sustainability Officer & Principal
Jocelyn Butler, Orchestra Marketing, CEO
2:15 | The Conscious Consumer Myths: What Brands Get Wrong (and What Works)
This talk reveals why common assumptions about ethical shoppers are outdated, who is driving the shift, and what truly influences purchase decisions today.
Drawing on new research from Public Inc, it challenges the idea that conscious consumption is niche, declining, or purely values-driven — and uncovers a much broader, more complex audience hiding in plain sight.
Attendees will leave with a fresh perspective on how to connect with this evolving consumer and why the brands winning right now are rewriting the rules of impact, messaging, and growth.Caleigh Farrell, Public Inc , VP Research
3:00 | Refreshment Break
3:15 | Planning for the Pivot: Agility in Municipal Climate Communications
Municipal climate policy is being implemented in a rapidly changing environment. From affordability pressures and political change to stakeholder resistance and shifting public priorities, municipalities increasingly need communications strategies that can evolve in real time. This conversation explores the importance of agility in climate communications, including lessons from building emissions policy, stakeholder engagement, public opinion research and the realities of building support though uncertainty and change.
Sarah Roberton, Environics Research, SVP Corporate & Public Affairs
Sarah Rodrigues, City of Toronto, Senior Project Manager
3:45 | Lightning Talks & Workshops
Telling the Climate Story: Building a Communications Plan for Climate Initiatives
Communicating climate initiatives is no longer just about visibility. It is about credibility, reputation, and trust. As organizations work to tell their sustainability story, organizations must strike the right balance between promoting progress and ensuring claims reflect reality.
Katie Allen, Tartanbond, VP
Bojana Duric, Tartanbond, Director
The Brief Has been Wrong All Along
Most sustainability communications fail not because audiences don’t care, but because the brief starts from the wrong relationship. It leads with the planet instead of the person. It sells instead of invites. It asks for guilt instead of offering gain. In this interactive session, we’ll diagnose what’s broken, show what the best brands are doing differently, and give you one structural shift to bring back to your team. Expect live polls, real brand cases, and one question to ask before you approve your next campaign.
Anne-Marie Brouillette , Collective Matter, Founder & Creative Director
How to Talk So the Middle Will Listen: Reaching the Climate Persuadables
Most people aren’t climate activists…or climate deniers. They’re the broad middle: concerned, curious, skeptical, busy, or simply unconvinced that climate action matters to them right now. So how do we reach the people in between? Through a hands-on empathy mapping exercise, Environics Research will use Social Values to explore what motivates the “mushy middle” and how to craft messages that resonate with their priorities, identities, and everyday realities. Uncover how to shift climate conversations from sacrifice and cost to relevance, opportunity, and better lives. Ideal for those looking to move beyond preaching to the converted and start connecting with the audiences that matter most.
Michele Cunningham, Environics Research, VP Strategy & Insight
Susan Seto, Environics Research, SVP, Market Strategy
Additional workshops to be announced soon!
5:00 | Happy Hour Networking
Let's continue the conversation over some drinks & snacks
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