Timpson, Ads, SAF, AI & Podcast

1. From shoes to cells?

In a surprising but commendable twist, James Timpson, the former CEO of Timpson Group , known for its shoe repair and key cutting services, has been appointed by the new Labour government as the Minister for Prisons. Renowned for his innovative and happiness-centric management style (as we have previously discussed here) Timpson’s appointment brings hope for meaningful prison reform.?

Timpson’s “paternalistic family business” is celebrated for its values-driven approach, particularly in providing stable employment opportunities to former inmates. By equipping them with valuable skills and a sense of purpose, the company has played a pivotal role in reducing reoffending rates.??

Experts are optimistic that Timpson’s experience and track record in rehabilitation and reintegration will help address critical issues such as prison overcrowding. Currently, prisons in England and Wales are 99% full, so urgent action is needed to relieve pressures on the system. Timpson’s leadership is also expected to foster an environment of trust and support, challenge the stigma associated with hiring ex-offenders, and drive a more efficient and humane prison system.?

This appointment represents an intriguing approach to governance: appointing leaders who possess on-the-ground knowledge of the issues from both personal and business perspectives. We welcome this, as it highlights the importance of leveraging business expertise in delivering effective policy solutions and bridging the gap between the business sector and government.?

2. Creative Content Crisis

When picturing corporate waste, what comes to mind? Paper? Coffee cups? Stationery? What about creative content? Probably not, but The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recently highlighted a study revealing that over half of the content commissioned by marketing teams is never actually used.

Through auditing Fortune 500 companies, the AI-driven report by CreativeX found that 52% of creative content goes unused, equating to approximately $25 million in wasted spend per company, or over $100 billion industry-wide.

While the use of generative AI to optimize content creation is increasing, this research suggests that more content doesn't necessarily lead to greater impact, but rather increases waste. In fact, CreativeX report marketing teams would benefit more from better visibility into how their core assets are localized, versioned, and repurposed across markets, brands, channels, and agencies, rather than from the continued roll out of AI generated content – or creative content of any other form.

There are obvious challenges here from a marketing ROI perspective, and we’re sure there are many nifty AI tools that will promise to help with that too. But in the meantime, this report got us thinking about what companies could do with the bank of unused creative output many of them are sitting on. Could they put it onto an open-source repository, for use by others or to act as a source of inspiration at least? Should they make sure they maintain a bank of old ideas, and have a good look through them before commissioning something new? Or how about donating unused content to charities and NGOs, maybe they could even use AI to repurpose the discarded material rather than letting it go to waste?

3. SAF’s the limit

We’re all aware of the climate impact of flying. But perhaps those most aware are airlines themselves, who face regulatory pressures to reduce their carbon footprint by increasing their usage of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) – alternative non-petroleum fuels that reduce emissions from air transportation.

The challenge is that the current supply of SAF is insufficient to meet growing demand, and, as pointed out last week by British Airways, prohibitively expensive.

SAF “book and claim” systems have a crucial role to play in this. By decoupling the physical SAF from its environmental attributes, these systems allow airlines to purchase sustainability credits, claiming the benefits of SAF usage without needing to physically use the fuel. This flexibility helps airlines meet regulatory requirements while promoting the overall increase in SAF production – essential to bringing costs down.

SAF is no silver bullet. It doesn’t eliminate carbon emissions from flying, and the cultivation of crops for biofuel has the potential to cause deforestation and loss of biodiversity along with competing pressures with food crops. Furthermore, the energy-intensive processes involved in producing SAF can also contribute to emissions.

The world needs affordable SAF to achieve climate targets, but it is critical that we scale SAF production responsibly, balancing the need for decarbonisation with the potential environmental impacts. Book and claim systems are a good start to help businesses access the SAF that they need. But we’ll need more investment in this sector if we’re going to bring the costs of SAF down to earth.

4. Let’s Chat(GPT)

We’ve written before about the environmental footprint of AI. The servers required to compute the complex requests asked of it require a huge amount of water for cooling and energy for processing. It’s in the news again now with reports that Google’s carbon footprint has increased by nearly 50% since 2019 because of AI. A significant spanner in the works when it comes to achieving its 2030 Net Zero target.

To demonstrate the scale of the demand, one third of the nuclear power plants in the US are apparently discussing deals with tech companies to power AI. In fact, the Electric Power Research Institute estimated that by 2030, 9% of electricity in the US could be consumed by data centres, more than double what’s being used now. While these tech giants may be buying into nuclear to reduce their carbon footprint, where does the displaced demand go and is AI worth the strain on resources?

It’s a huge question, and one the world might not yet be able to fully answer, but we thought we’d start by seeing what ChatGPT thought – what’s Friday 5 if not balanced?? “Is AI good?” Answer? Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was inconclusive. There are many benefits from efficiency savings, automation and optimisation, all of which come with the caveat that it is “essential to address its challenges and ethical concerns to ensure it benefits society as a whole.” It’s hard to disagree with this. And while there needs to be a grace period in innovation to allow its potential to be realised, it’s also important to ensure that we’re pragmatic and continue to weigh the benefits against the undoubted impact this innovation has on the climate.

Sitting behind this is another question which we hope that Google can answer for us sooner rather than later too – can they (and other tech businesses?) reach their 2030 Net Zero target while supporting AI, and allowing the benefits (and risks) of the innovation to unfold? Time will tell.

The Goods: Podcast - The Future of Work

The Future of Work Hub is a community of thought leaders shaping the way we perceive work and workplaces. Last week, Lucy Lewis hosted a podcast with our CEO, Giles Gibbons , discussing sustainability, employer brand, why companies should be “political with a small p” and managing diverse viewpoints in the 'In Conversation With…' series.

Organisations need to focus on issues where they can make the biggest impact; employees increasingly want to know they work for a company that has a positive impact on the world, and have a greater voice in an organization's social and environmental sustainability agenda. Employee activism is a crucial force, with employees advocating for stronger environmental policies, ethical labour practices, and transparent corporate governance and being in dialogue with their employers about this. This activism influences company policies and pressures businesses to act responsibly.

Regulation plays its part too. Giles emphasised upcoming regulatory changes, particularly in the EU, as a driving force for corporate responsibility. He suggested companies should view these regulations not just as compliance requirements but as opportunities for meaningful change. And whilst regulation will spur change, we need conversations to catalyse it.?

Businesses need proactive conversations between employees and employers. When the workplace has changed more than ever before, use it as a moment to have conversations with the people you work with. How can we innovate? How can we have a positive impact on the world? And how can we balance that with a work-life balance that works for us in 2024 and beyond?

Read the full transcript here and reach out if you would like to discuss more.