Two new consultancies have launched this month to meet the continuing demand for CSR advice. The move is being seen as a sign of the importance of CSR to the communications sector.

The Engine Group is rolling out a company named Green Mandate. Robert Nuttall, the former managing partner of CSR agency Clownfish and ex-head of CSR at Marks & Spencer, will be at the helm of the new consultancy, which is in the process of signing contracts with clients in the automotive, retail and soft-drink sector. He will rep­ort to Sacha Deshmukh, CEO of Engine’s public affairs and PR agency Mandate Communications. Deshmukh said: “We’re not seeing a difference to the client base in terms of CSR – it’s still generating strong dem­and.”

Meanwhile, Ogilvy & Mather has launched OgilvyEarth. The outfit’s first piece of work will be a social media campaign for Dec­ember’s UN Climate Change Conference. “The biggest issue on the planet is the environment,” said Ogilvy PR Europe MD Ash Coleman-Smith, who will head up the London office of OgilvyEarth. “People may not be prepared to pay for things that are environmentally friendly short-term. But that doesn’t mean their opinions of environmentally friendly organisations will change.”