On Wednesday 6th November, the retail and brand licensing community assembled at the Royal Geographical Society, London, for a deep dive into the world of sustainability for the Products of Change Conference.
Notable industry heavyweights in attendance included the BBC, Penguin Random House, Paramount, Warner Bros, Mattel, Universal Music Group, Disney, and the Natural History Museum, with the conference’s 2024 installment receiving its highest ever attendance level so far.
Attendees enjoyed a packed and diverse session agenda, which was opened by keynote speaker, Moksha Roy, UN ambassador and the world’s youngest sustainability advocate at nine-years-old. Moksha’s impactful and memorable address implored her audience to remember that children believe their toys are made by fairies and pixies, so companies should be those fairies and pixies by making their products in a way that protects the world children will grow up into.
The rest of the day followed with further insights, inspirations, and innovations, such as Tony’s Chocolonely’s fight against child labour in cocoa, the future of our homewares with Dunelm, and circularity in fashion with Primark.
Rob Goodchild, commercial director of Two Daughters Entertainment, commented, “The Conference made me realise that I am on a very steep learning curve, my head feels like it is exploding with information and my eyes are wide open to changes that we as an industry need to make.
“Products of Change and the Conference are so crucial to our wider understanding and alerting us all to how we can and need to embrace the challenge to make our businesses truly sustainable, not fake sustainable.”
Meanwhile, Alex Samson, senior brand manager of Magic Light Pictures, added, “It’s been so uplifting. It made me feel really optimistic to be in an auditorium full of people who are all contributing to make the industry more sustainable. Taking place on the same day that it was announced that Donald Trump became US President, the POC Conference was a perfect antidote to all the negativity, providing hope for the future.”
Helena Mansell-Stopher, founder and ceo of Products of Change commented: The POC Conference 2024 was our best yet. It was inspiring to see people from across the industry, united by shared interests, collaborating to shape the future. I can’t wait to see what 2025 will bring!”
