Reimagining Advertising – Dublin

The time is NOW to reimagine the advertising industry, for a thriving, stable future.

On 12th September 2025, we’re excited to bring together leaders, changemakers, world builders, and visionaries for a transformative morning at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).

Join us, for a morning of inspiration, reflection and community in the Johnson Suite at IMMA

Hosted by: Laura Costello & Colette Henry

Welcome (8.00am- 8.30am)

• Say hello to old friends and make some new ones.

Part One / Inspiration (8.30am-9.15am)

• A conversation with Jon Alexander, Author of Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us.

Part Two / Change In Action (9.15am-10.15am)

• The story of the Good Life 2030 Ireland campaign. We’ll hear behind the scenes reflections from some of the team who collaborated on the project:

David Coffey, Creative Director, THINKHOUSE

Derwin Myers, Senior Strategist, Folk VML

Kerrie Patten, Media Experience Director, Havas Media Ireland

• A discussion on the highlights of a ‘Good Life’ Industry Leaders Roundtable.

Jon Alexander: Think “Citizen Not Consumer”

Sir John Hegarty, one of the most influential marketing minds of his generation, recently called for the word “consumer” to be banned, saying “it assumes complacency, lethargy and a top-down means of communication… It takes the full spectrum of human experience and reduces it to a single action – consumption.”

Jon Alexander (who spent the first decade of his career in advertising) argues that replacing the idea of humans as consumers is not just a matter of changing a word; it requires a total shift in mindset which could transform the industry.

He will help us embrace transformative thinking and challenge some of the frameworks that have sat at the heart of marketing and advertising for decades.

Good Life 2030 Ireland

Good Life 2030 saw the Irish advertising industry unite to launch its first national large-scale alternative Black Friday campaign, challenging high-consumption culture. Titled ‘Less Buying, More Being’, it promotes a vision of well-being focused on connection, encouraging citizens to embrace experiences that support connection to self, to others and to nature.

We’ll share the story and impact of the Good Life 2030 Ireland campaign, which was funded by Creative Ireland and created by 10 collaborating agencies (Bonfire, CORE, Droga5, Folk VML, Havas, Publicis Dublin, The Public House, THINKHOUSE, TBWA/Bolt and Verve/Showrunner). We will also reflect on insights from an exclusive industry Leaders Roundtable.

Through these stories, together we will explore how we can rewrite the next chapter in advertising’s story - one of resilience, that works in harmony with our natural world. We will help one another to make sense of this moment and connect a future that we can make possible.

All are welcome. Spaces are free but limited.

Who are we?

Founded in 2019, Purpose Disruptors is an award-winning organisation on a mission to change the story of advertising, from a story of extraction to regeneration, from negligence to responsibility, and from carelessness to conscious consumption.

We’re on a mission to change the story of advertising by educating and inspiring disruptors to write the next chapter.

Our work includes:

Developing a pioneering measurement framework - Advertised Emissions - to measure the holistic carbon emissions of advertising, now adopted by the UN as best leadership practice; launching a flagship sustainability training programme, ChangeTheBrief adopted by all six network groups across the industry and founding Project Good Life, aimed at redefining the concept of a ‘good life’ by shifting the focus away from consumerism towards connection, which has seen research and campaigns rolled out across UK and Ireland reaching millions.

Most recently, we launched the Agency for Nature - the first pop-up Creative Agency for All Life on Earth, garnering attention from the BBC, The Irish Times, Mashable, Vogue Business and It’s Nice That.

We've grown from 3 people in a pub to a network of 5,000 people striving for stronger climate action in advertising. We premiered work at COP26 and COP27. Won an award for our community creative campaign ‘Create The Great Reset’ in 2021. All 3 co-founders have been recognised by Forbes as 43 people changing advertising for the climate and have been recognised as Campaign Magazine’s Trailblazers in 2021.