User:A.W.F. Hermans/Sandbox

Mark Woerde (1973) is a Dutch former advertising man who has shifted his focus to using his creativity to make a change in the world. He founded LetsHeal1, an independent not-for-profit think & do tank that focuses on protecting Mother Earth and her inhabitants. A change of perspective; since the scope of his work is now directed towards real-world social issues instead of being centered around the promotion of a brand or a client. For LetsHeal, Woerde is now mostly active behind the scenes.

Apart from the impact he has in this indirect way, Woerde is still actively in contact with his former peers in the creative industry, calling upon them to not only use their talent for commercial purposes2. To do so, the former advertising man is often found making appearances in the media and giving guest lectures all over the world3-12. In 2000, Woerde co-founded the renowned Dutch advertising agency Lemz13, which later became part of Havas Group (link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havas) in 2016. This transition put Woerde in a position where he could leave the advertising agency and focus solely on LetsHeal.

Book: How Advertising Will Heal The World and Your Business

Woerde had a flying start with LetsHeal in 2011, coming out with the  controversial concept of making the world a better place using the powerful tool that is marketing. In order to substantiate this proposition, Woerde set up a worldwide research project with help of the United Nations Global Compact (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Global_Compact) and Columbia University (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University). The results of this research, together with Woerde’s further findings, were published in his book How Advertising Will Heal The World And Your Business14-19.

The research shows that the consumer’s search for meaning calls for a new type of brand or company. People are waiting for Prosocial Brands that help them live a meaningful life. Three quarters of the 24,000 participants declared that they needed to live a meaningful life in order for themselves to feel that they and their existence matter. Prosocial Brands that help people to help others by using their marketing power to tackle societal issues are preferred over normal brands by a notable 64%, because of the meaning they give.

The book was a success: nowadays ‘prosocial marketing’ as a concept has become mainstream, as more and more of even the largest companies in the world want to do their part to improve the world as we know it. The book also issues clear warnings to ‘wannabe’ Prosocial Companies not to see it as easy money20. The effects of Prosocial Brands should be measurable, big, transparent and fundamental to business goals. The prosocial goals should not only be represented in the marketing plan, but also constitute a part of the company’s annual report. Being prosocial doesn’t  only mean to be generous in spending your money, but also to be responsible making it.

Neighbor Day

Woerde was one of the main actors behind Neighbor Day (Burendag), an early prosocial activity to stimulate social cohesion. It was developed by Woerde and his partners at advertising agency Lemz; Peter de Lange and Remco Marinus for coffee brand Douwe Egberts ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douwe_Egberts ). Neighbor Day was started in 2006 and has evolved into an annual tradition in the Netherlands20. Neighbor Day is an initiative that strives to stimulate neighbors to engage socially within their own neighborhood, in order to get more contact between neighbors. After three years, Woerde managed Neighbor Day to earn the participation of the Dutch Royal Family (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_royal_house) and the Oranje Fonds ( https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oranje_Fonds ) 21,22,23.

Sweetie

In 2014, Woerde's dream to set a worldwide, radical example of how creativity can make this world a better place was realized. He initiated and realized a two year covert operation to put Webcam Child Sex Tourism on the agenda of politicians and police forces all over the world and dedicated the initiative to Terre des Hommes ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terre_des_hommes ). Tens of thousands of children in developing countries have to perform sexual acts in front of a webcam and predators from other countries tell the children what to do and pay for it. Proactive policing is the solution that Woerde and his team found and aimed to promote. To illustrate the magnitude of this the problem, and the viability of his solution, Woerde decided to track down and identify 1,000 predators from over 65 countries with his team, handed them over to Interpol (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpol) and demanded to patrol the websites where Webcam Child Sex Tourism takes place by hundreds of thousands of offenders.

Over one billion people have seen the operation on the evening news24,25,26. Sweetie, the virtual girl that the team developed to track down the predators, became the icon of the initiative. Many children in developing countries were rescued, and laws were changed. After receiving a letter of recognition from the United Nations, Woerde and his team admitted to the creative industry that they were behind this initiative. Woerde decided to give one public interview to the popular TV show Humberto Tan’s RTL Late Night ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTL_Late_Night )27 to explain the intervention and to make clear that he was no longer involved in Terre des Hommes, Sweetie or police activities.

Make Friends Across Religions

In 2015, after giving a lecture in London3, Woerde was approached by a young muslim from the audience: Mirage Islam ( https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mirageislam )[1]. Touched by Islam’s testimony, Woerde decided that his new project should focus on reducing social tensions caused by prejudices and the lack of interreligious personal contact. To give the antidote to hatred, fear and violence Woerde initiated and realized with a large team (a.o. the Elijah Interfaith Institute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Interfaith_Institute and  The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Research_Institute_Oslo) that the world’s most prominent religious leaders called upon the world to Make Friends Across Religions.

After two years of preparation the appeal was made by Pope Francis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis), Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_I_of_Constantinople ), Grand Mufti Shawki Allam ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Mufti ), H.H. the Dalai Lama ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama ), Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Sacks), Ayatollah Sayyid Fadhel Al-Milani (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fadhil_al-Milani), Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohinder_Singh_Ahluwalia ), Mata Amritanandamayi )(Amma) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Amritanandamayi), Archbishop Justin Welby (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Welby), Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Shankar_(spiritual_leader)), Archbishop Antje Jackelén (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antje_Jackel%C3%A9n), Ayatollah Sayyid Hassan Al-Qazwini (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_al-Qazwini), Rabbi Abraham Skorka (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Skorka), Ven. Khandro Rinpoche (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khandro_Rinpoche). The video that was the main product of this project, a compilation of the religious leaders calling upon their respective followings to reach out to people of different beliefs, received broad recognition in mass media, popular as well as social and conservative28-34.[2]

Awards and distinctions

Woerde has so far received more than a hundred national and international awards in the creative industry, for example the Cannes Lions Grand Prix For Good35,36 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannes_Lions_International_Festival_of_Creativity ), the D&AD Black and White Pencil37 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_and_Art_Direction) and the Dutch Advertising Man or Woman of the Year award38.

Ad Age ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_Age ), a media brand that operates on a global scale, ranked Woerde among the 50 most creative people of the world39. In 2018 Woerde received the Golden Global Business & Interfaith Peace Medal40,41 in Seoul South Korea from Ban Ki-Moon ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Ki-moon ), honoring the Make Friends Across Religions appeal for “reducing social tensions”.

Bronnen, noten en/of referenties

1.         www.letsheal.org (ENG)

2.         https://twitter.com/mwoerde/status/973833818699427846 (ENG)

3.         Most Contagious & The Economist 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL3aFw_-M_Q (ENG)

4.         http://www.elsercreativo.com/brilliantminds/brilliantmindsII/ (ES)

5.         https://www.wuv.de/agenturen/der_adc_kongress_ist_besser_geworden (DE)

6.         https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/kampagne-make-friends-der-gutglaeubige.886.de.html?dram:article_id=430115 (DE)

7.         https://maatschapwij.nu/videoportret/mark-woerde-letsheal-org/ (NL)

8.         https://www.groene.nl/artikel/verbeter-de-wereld-begin-met-een-commercial (NL)

9.         https://www.strijdkreet.nl/artikel/reclamemakers-kunnen-zo-veel-meer-bereiken-dan-spullen-verkopen ? (NL)

10.       https://www.vn.nl/activist-vermomd-als-reclamemaker/ (NL)

11.       https://www.genios.de/presse-archiv/artikel/FAZ/20150530/menschen-wirtschaft-sweetie-ist-ueb/FD2201505304586801.html (DE)

12.       https://zinweb.nl/video/mark-woerde/ (NL)

13.       https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryleesachs/2014/07/07/the-year-of-independents-at-cannes/ (ENG)

14.       free download book & research www.letsheal.org (ENG)

15.       https://osocio.org/message/book-review-how-advertising-will-heal-your-business-and-the-world/ (ENG)

16.       http://www.lahuelladigital.com/mark-woerde-el-guru-del-marketing-presenta-su-libro-como-la-publicidad-curara-al-mundo-y-tu-negocio/ (ES)

17.       https://thenextweb.com/2011/05/26/does-social-media-make-us-nicer-people/ (ENG)

18.       https://www.adformatie.nl/customer-experience/mark-woerde-gaat-de-wereld-redden (NL)

19.       https://campaignbriefasia.com/2011/09/07/amsterdam-based-ad-guru-mark-w/ (ENG)

20.       https://www.intermediair.nl/werk-en-carriere/beroepskeuze/winnaar-vn-vredesprijs-principes-kosten-geen-geld-maar-leveren-geld-op?policy=accepted&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F (NL)

21.       https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/zo-n-1-2-miljoen-nederlanders-vieren-burendag~ad0b0c5c/63806523/ (NL)

22.       https://twitter.com/koninklijkhuis/status/1177932495809060867 (NL)

23.       https://twitter.com/mwoerde/status/895645960843403264 (ENG)

24.       https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2013/11/05/ctw-sweetie-avatar-pedophiles.cnn (ENG)

25.       https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-24818769 (ENG)

26.       https://elpais.com/elpais/2013/11/08/opinion/1383939305_126543.html (ES)

27.       https://www.rtlxl.nl/programma/rtl-late-night/b82ef481-dc57-acf7-bc1f-bac5b4f6383c (NL)

28.       https://twitter.com/TwitterFaith/status/874973960349167617 (ENG)

29.       https://www.huffpost.com/entry/worlds-top-religious-leaders-issue-rare-joint-appeal_n_5942c11ee4b06bb7d2719e8e (ENG)

30.       https://www.foxnews.com/world/global-religious-leaders-join-for-online-friendship-appeal (ENG)

31.       interview RTL Late Night June 20 2017 https://vimeo.com/user9196524 (NL)

32.       https://www.adobomagazine.com/campaign-spotlight/impossible-havas-lemz-campaign-makefriends-across-religions/ (ENG)

33.       https://www.adformatie.nl/gedragsverandering/hoe-mark-woerde-de-paus-de-dalai-lama-een-aartsbisschop-r (NL)

34.       https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/buitenland/artikel/52801/religieuze-leiders-roepen-op-tot-wereldwijde-verbroedering-unieke (NL)

35.       https://www.thebrandingjournal.com/2014/06/cannes-lions-2014-big-winners-international-festival-creativity/ (ENG)

36.       https://www.theguardian.com/media/video/2014/jun/20/lemz-mark-woerde-cannes-lions-video (ENG)

37.       https://www.dandad.org/awards/professional/2014/white-pencil/23970/sweetie/ (ENG)

38.       https://www.adformatie.nl/interne-communicatie/mark-woerde-en-barbera-wolfensberger-nummer-1-en-2-adform (NL)

39.       https://adage.com/article/creativity-50/creativity-50-2014-woerde-de-vries-tervoort-de-lange/296271 (ENG)

40.       https://nos.nl/artikel/2221178-prijs-voor-nederlander-die-paus-dalai-lama-e-a-tot-vredesoproep-verleidde.html (NL)

41.       https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nederland/artikel/3890081/vn-eert-mark-voor-samenbrengen-religieuze-wereldleiders-dit-ongelooflijk ) (NL)