The Announcement: MAD//FEST Live Special - Effective Activism for Brands

In this fourth follow-up episode of The Announcement, which was recorded live at MAD Fest in early July 2025, I’m exploring a question that is directly related to the topics I explored in The Announcement series proper - what does effective activism for brands actually look like?

MAD Fest is a huge festival for brands and agencies that takes place each year in East London, and I was invited to take part in this year’s event by organiser Dan Brain, who it turns out is an avid Looking Sideways and Announcement listener.

As he put it in a very kind blog he wrote in the lead up to the show, ““I’ve been a big fan of Looking Sideways for some time now and I’m excited to bring a live version to MAD//Fest that will ask important questions like whether brands can use their reach, cash and influence for good, or if there’s a fundamental contradiction between sales growth and sustainability”

To help me answer these question, I spoke four brilliant guests, each experts on the topic in their own particular way: Finisterre CMO Bronwen Foster-Butler, activist Lauren MacCallum, CEO of B Corps Chris Turner, and author and purpose pioneer Thomas Kolster.

Among the questions I was interested in discussing:

- What role (if any!) should brands play in activism and using their scale, audience and money to address local, national and global issues? 

- Is purpose something all brands should establish, or an act of greenwashing that sounds good in an annual report but delivers little meaningful impact? 

- Are brand partnerships and activities an effective means through which to drive change?

What followed was a lively, passionate and very well informed discussion recorded in front of an equally engaged crowd - they’d put me in a prime slot on the big stage, much to my surprise - and we got through a lot in our allotted 35 minute stage time.

A note on the sound - a few audio teething issues meant we weren’t able to hear our fellow panelists super clearly, which might account for the somewhat strident way we’re all speaking to each other during this conversation. But hey, it was live, and that’s the way it goes sometimes.

Huge thanks to Dan and everybody at MAD Fest for getting me involved, to Bronwen, Lauren, Chris and Thomas - looking forward to hearing what everybody thinks.

For bonus and behind-the-scenes material, click here.

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