The Brief
There are 36,000 sewer blocks a year in Scotland that’s 100 a day, every day. Scotland's national water provider wanted to talk to the public about a subject which no-one even wants to think about. They wanted three things. 1. For people to rethink what we flush down loos and pour down sinks. 2. Call on people to bin wipes and other bathroom rubbish and reduce blockages by 10% and 3. To prevent harm to our rivers, beaches and marine life.
The Idea
While people find the idea of sewage treatment ‘icky’ (and they actively want to avoid the issue), the idea of connecting to nature plays well. They don’t want see local river walks spoiled or the food chain contaminated with plastic. Not surprisingly, plastic is seen as the villain. The idea was to link what you do at home and the impact on nature with clear behaviour change call-to-action.
When Nature Calls there’s a world to save.
Please bin the wipes and join the wave.
The Result
The response was immediate. Across the campaign period sewer chokes reduced by 14%. Averaging 500 fewer blockages a month. Over the campaign period, the Scottish Water saved around £700,000 and Tesco and Boots announced they would stop selling wipes containing plastic. All while protecting nature.
The campaign when on to win a raft of awards including: Marketing WeeK, Marketing Star Awards, Marketing Society Awards, The Drum Marketing and Content Awards