The various companies in GLH operate across a range of different sectors, including fashion retail, marketing agencies and public sector organisations. They all operate according to their own environmental policies. The building itself is subject to an additional set of policies relating to waste and energy management.
Strategy – broader business issues the company is facing
Each company within the building faced similar environmental challenges, in particular with finding cost-effective ways to improve their credentials without fundamentally altering their infrastructure. They were also struggling to create a unified creative theme for their environmental messaging that would be eye-catching and easily understood by the many different types of employees in the building.
Objectives of the campaign:
- Create a creative concept around which all environmental messaging could be communicated.
- Reduce waste throughout the building and increase recycling.
- Engagingly communicate individual green messages to encourage members of staff to behave in a more environmentally-friendly way.
The target audience
- Everyone within the building, from juniors to senior management
Wunderman’s aim was to show that everyone can contribute to a greener working environment and that being green can actually be really fun.
Media strategy
Posters
Posters took a variety of facts relating to the building’s wastage and visualised them in an original, creative way. The posters were placed in strategic areas within the building – for example posters relating to waste paper were placed next to the printers.
Email
Emails were sent out on a regular basis covering a variety of green topics and introducing the idea of the ‘Green Team.’ The tone was light and non-judgmental and offered interesting and simple tips on how to become ‘greener’ in your daily life. Readers were encouraged to contribute their own tips, which were then incorporated into the subsequent emails.
Events
Green Events were held in communal areas to create a fun and rewarding atmosphere for environmental messages to be communicated. They included a ‘Rubbish Art’ event where guests created artwork from old carrier bags, clothing etc.
The campaign initially ran for a month before the national ‘Green Week’ but the resulting activities became so popular they spilled into the following two months. The Green Team emails are now a regular bi-monthly occurrence.
Results
- Posters generated huge awareness
- 1476 people out of 3000 subscribed to Green Team emails (almost 50 per cent response rate)
- Consumption of paper at GLH reduced by 23 per cent
- 70,000 pieces of disposable plastic cutlery (annually) replaced by permanent metal cutlery
- 76 per cent of personal waste bins removed to encourage recycling
- 177,950kg of CO2 saved (equivalent to 1595 trees)
In summary, Wunderman has changed the collective attitude towards the environment in GLH to one of positive involvement. And crucially, all of this was achieved within three months.
