Smyle launches Cycle to help brands tackle sustainability challenges in the creation of experiences

Cycle enables brands to continue creating incredible experiences – but in a more responsible and sustainable way.

Leading creative agency Smyle has launched Cycle, a new service that offers socially conscious brands a methodology to accelerate their sustainability journeys through innovation and action. Available in two formats – Baseline and Bespoke, Cycle places sustainability at the heart of planning, design, delivery and evaluation of events.

Cycle takes a holistic view of events in order to deliver experiences that are – and feel – sustainable. It evaluates the environmental impact of elements such as the materials used, waste created, energy and water consumed, travel and transport involved – even the types of food and drink offered. That’s not all, the overall event environment, individual welfare and social and community impacts are also evaluated.

Changing the game

Sustainability lies at the heart of Smyle’s DNA, with the agency becoming one of the first to gain ISO 20121 certification for event sustainability in 2013. Its 2025 goal is to become the most sustainable creative agency in the world.

Smyle’s 2025 sustainability goals:

• Reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions on internal operations by 50%
• Reduce GHG emissions by 30% on all client work delivered
• Minimise waste & replace all single-use materials with circular economy equivalents
• Foster health and well-being in everything we do

In the future, every Smyle activation will include core sustainability practices, establishing a new business as usual. The company calls this its Cycle Baseline. And for those brands that want a more tailored approach, Cycle Bespoke flexes and scales its approach to meet specific sustainability objectives and budgets.

Cycle has been developed in partnership with leading sustainability expert David Stubbs. ‘I am delighted to have been part of the development of Cycle because it puts sustainability at the heart of how we should be thinking about planning and delivering events,’ he says. ‘By focusing on the impact of events on people and planet, Cycle will make a huge contribution to innovation in the events industry and deliver meaningful change.’

Case study

Smyle used the Cycle philosophy to support one of its key clients, a global tech brand, with the delivery of a bespoke facility to activate their presence at the 2020 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The team set out to significantly reduce, and measure, the environmental impact of their activation, with an emphasis on eliminating plastic waste. A two-story, fully demountable pavilion was created with a focus on using materials in their raw form, built using reused and recycled materials, and with a design intended on minimising power and water use, and maximising heat and energy efficiency. The menu was locally sourced, and 100% vegetarian. Post-event, Smyle delivered a thorough sustainability report for the client, providing learnings that would inform a new global strategy in planning more sustainable events in future.

Cycle’s sustainability focus can help marketing departments contribute to the reduction of their business’ overall carbon footprint. It promotes sustainable behaviour in creative work, supported by reporting and measuring the impact of events for continued improvement.

‘By measuring success against sustainability goals Cycle sets ambitious targets for continuous improvement,’ says Dominic Thomas-Smith, Managing Director at Smyle. ‘Now is the time to act, and rapid, collective, global action – including initiatives such as Cycle – can transform ‘business as usual’ to a more sustainable business model.’