New York-based brand advertising agency Union has launched an eco-friendly agency dubbed Union Green to develop customized campaigns for clients in the green advertising sector. Heading up the venture are founder, partner and president Bob Wyatt and CEO/chief creative officer Nelson Martinez.

First up on Union Green's agenda is to bridge the green gap between a brand's message and its practices.

“The reality is that even green message advertising created by brands who want to say they are making a difference is far from being green itself,” explained Wyatt.

The agency's flagship account, National Wildlife Federation, is a nonprofit dedicated to environmental protection. According to Wyatt, the two organizations are currently working on efforts that will encourage people to spend more time outdoors. Union Green and NWF will also be involved in helping to expand programs such as The Great American Backyard Campout and Green Hour.

As a result, Union Green has developed a system of guidelines called Eco-Mark, which the agency will follow in order to create more Earth-friendly advertising. Union Green also hopes to launch Eco-Mark free of charge on its Web site.

“At the very least,” said Wyatt, “we hope that we can give the industry a set of ideas, which are realistic and can be implemented. In this way we might help to change how the industry operates.” But Wyatt cautioned this does not mean negating certain forms of advertising from Union Green's slate. “As we are trying to make all traditional and non-traditional forms of advertising more environmentally responsible, we envision exploring every existing media. It really, as always, depends on the brand's needs.”

Source