World Summit 2009 Presenters: Seth Farbman

Seth Farbman serves as Senior Partner and President of OgilvyEarth, the sustainability marketing agency of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide.

Seth advises corporations on global marketing strategy, which has increasing included sustainability as a key growth driver and product and brand differentiator. In order to give the soundest advice, he has surrounded himself with some of the leading thinkers in the sustainability space-- members of The OgilvyEarth Lab^TM, a "living library" of knowledge.

Seth's views on sustainability are simple: it is an economic and social imperative that has less to do with "charity for the planet," and much more with improving the quality of life for all its inhabitants. And since he believes the corporation is the dominant institution of the 21st Century, it makes sustainability one of the greatest business opportunities of our time. Seth's lessons in sustainability started early: schooled by his parents-- a designer and a doctor-- about the impact one's environment has on prosperity, health and happiness.

Before coming to Ogilvy, Seth helped several U.S. wireless communications start-ups become corporate giants, like AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless. He has led marketing and communications departments in developing new products, creating brands and keeping customers happy.

Today, he works with a range of organizations that use sustainability to have a major impact on the global markets and the world's population, like DuPont, Coca-Cola, Kraft and Siemens. He is also leading the development of "Hopenhagen," the global United Nations campaign designed to create popular support for the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in Copenhagen later this year.

Seth shares time between New York City and Richmond, Virginia, where he lives with his wife and three-year-old son. He travels often, offsets his carbon regularly, but still feels guilty about it always.