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The Futurist
Sérgio Brodsky
Surge Advisory, Australia
Topic: Urban Brand-Utility (UBU)
Cities only occupy 2% of the planet's surface but this is where 75% of consumption occurs. While an energy-intense economy has enabled unprecedentedly comfortable lifestyles, a hefty civilisational price tag looms right in front of us. Can we really expect 'green messages' to significantly change our behaviours or do we leapfrog and change the context altogether?
Enters Urban Brand-Utility (UBU), a bold vision reframing brand communications as a catalyst for sustainable development and regeneration that is supported by a circular revenue model where everyone wins: cities, companies, government and people.
UBU applications happen when a brand's touchpoints go beyond communicating mere messages to delivering public utility services that supplement cities' infrastructure, alleviating urbanisation’s growing pains. If you haven't heard about TV commercials that can improve your sight, billboards that clean the air, digital ads that prevent dereliction and enhance local economies or public activations preventing people from getting skin cancer, this is your chance to see how advertising can finally walk its ethical talk.
Cities only occupy 2% of the planet's surface but this is where 75% of consumption occurs. While an energy-intense economy has enabled unprecedentedly comfortable lifestyles, a hefty civilisational price tag looms right in front of us. Can we really expect 'green messages' to significantly change our behaviours or do we leapfrog and change the context altogether?
Enters Urban Brand-Utility (UBU), a bold vision reframing brand communications as a catalyst for sustainable development and regeneration that is supported by a circular revenue model where everyone wins: cities, companies, government and people.
UBU applications happen when a brand's touchpoints go beyond communicating mere messages to delivering public utility services that supplement cities' infrastructure, alleviating urbanisation’s growing pains. If you haven't heard about TV commercials that can improve your sight, billboards that clean the air, digital ads that prevent dereliction and enhance local economies or public activations preventing people from getting skin cancer, this is your chance to see how advertising can finally walk its ethical talk.
Sérgio Brodsky (L.LM, MBA) is an award-winning and accomplished senior strategy leader with extensive global experience spanning the private, public and non-profit sectors directing teams to create and leverage intangible capital for results and impact.
Sérgio has built a portfolio career across entrepreneurship, academia and thought-leadership. He is a scholar of the prestigious The Marketing Academy and its inaugural Chair, an Agenda Contributor to the World Economic Forum, the Executive Producer of Futurecast and creator of Urban Brand-Utility, a radically innovative approach turning advertising into a network of creative urban resilience.
Sérgio is a sought-after international speaker, author of Foresight in Marketing and Marketing Research (Routledge) and has been widely featured across mainstream, niche and academic publishers. Most recently, Sergio led the development of the world’s first Cognitive City brand and facilitated a series of workshops involving representatives from 55 different UN member-States that resulted in the publication of the Asia-Pacific Futures in 2040 report, now being used as a foundational document for policy-making in the region.
