For their 2019 annual meetings: IPPAG members from all around the world converged in India, at the invitation of Gifting Ideas
In line with IPPAG’s focus for the year, General Manager Florence Mosnier had drawn up a program centering on Sustainability. Members from all IPPAG countries have fully recognized the upmost importance of this issue. We see this impacting end-user and client behavior in all markets, and personally affecting our member companies: our managers and their staff at all levels.
IPPAG is endeavoring to embrace this global call for Sustainability: by raising awareness, providing guidance and helping its members, but also all its partners, to step up to the challenge. We seek to drive positive change throughout our industry.
Within the breathtaking setting of the Neemrana Fort in Rajasthan and building on the strength and value of local knowledge: the group welcomed a selected panel of Indian Partner Suppliers: and listened to their perspectives on what Sustainability means to them, and how this is incorporated into their businesses.
The conversation was then directed towards the Indian mindset of ‘Jugaad’ or ‘Frugal Innovation’ which is highly relevant and inspirational in the context of bettered Sustainability. As a country, India has always operated with this mindset: ‘seeking opportunity in adversity / doing more with less / thinking and acting flexibly / and keeping it simple’.
Members were able to apply these principles to their own processes, particularly regarding product selection: by co-creating a ‘PLE(A)SE be more SUSTAINABLE’ scorecard: a thought process that can be applied to all product choices by looking at ‘Packaging / Location / Essentiality / Alternatives / Story / and End of life…’
Making better choices, product by product, combined with an unwavering focus on ‘Audience – Intent – and Purpose’ is the key to more Sustainable practices within our Industry, and IPPAG is supporting its members, partners and suppliers to do so.
The week continued with member testimonies on their latest company highlights: again with a focus on Sustainability: sharing internal plans, client campaigns, and supplier collaborations.
IPPAG’s annual Autumn meeting is also the opportunity to dig deep into how each of our member companies are led: and the week culminated in a workshop orchestrated by a renowned Indian speaker Nilima Bhat, a leading figure in the Conscious Capitalism movement and author of ‘Shakti Leadership’: a concept that reaches into ancient spiritual and mythical teachings: to revive feminine qualities in leadership: generative, cooperative, creative, and empathetic. As explained by IPPAG’s Chairman Mr Thomas Davidsson (Wackes AB, Sweden): ‘with Sustainability as the top challenge for our industry, and being in India: we felt that it was the right time and place to explore this theme. A well-known quote from Albert Einstein says that ‘No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it’ and this was perfectly experienced throughout our week in India.’
For General Manager Florence Mosnier, who was also celebrating her ten years with the group, with its wide scope of activities and committed efforts, IPPAG is truly embodying its four pillars:
‘IPPAG shares, IPPAG exchanges, IPPAG has Vision and IPPAG Cares.’
‘Our India meetings were the culmination of several years of discussions on the future of our industry and how each and every individual can and must play their part. Leaders are those who ‘know the way, go the way and show the way’: which is what IPPAG stands for in this industry.’
