Seth Farbman and Hopenhagen

Institutions commit to things, but at the end of the day it's often one determined person who makes it happen.  In a recent story in digital marketing magazine, Click Z, Zach Rodgers tells the backstory of the "Hopenhagen" campaign as the "Climate Change Ad Campaign That Almost Wasn't" [http://www.clickz.com/3635862].  We all have lived this kind of situation:  in the moment of excitement throngs of well intentioned institutions pledge their support.  This is what happened with "Hopenhagen":  a dozen agencies signed up to support the UN-backed open source concept to rebrand the city of Copenhagen during the UN Climate Change Conference.  But as normal business pressures came into play, the once strong coalition began to unravel.  At the end it was Seth Farbman, worldwide managing director of Ogilvy & Mather and president of the agency's OgilvyEarth practice, who stuck with it because "it mattered to Farbman and the team at OgilvyEarth."

Seth was a strong presence at this years Images & Voices of Hope Summit. It was clear then -- in late September -- that the coalition that was to have created this campaign had fallen apart.  It was equally clear that the campaign was going to happen anyway. I love people like Seth.  We all count on people like this and the institutions they lead.  They represent a kind of behind-the-scenes hero who is not only there when they pop the champaign at the launch, but is still there for the less- than glamorous late nights to deliver on what they promised.  Thank you, Seth, and OgilvyEarth.