PROBLEM
In 2019, 76% of the population in Quebec said they were ready to do their bit for the climate. One year later, in the context of the pandemic, behaviours have changed very little, bar the increase in shopping locally and the fall in car and plane travel. It became evident that there was a need for education amongst Quebec residents who understood still very little around how certain behaviours can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
SOLUTIONS
Insight
One common thread unites us all however, it is difficult to change one’s opinion. We tend to reinforce our points of view by taking into consideration only the information which confirms our beliefs; and by ignoring any which discredits or contradicts them. We needed to put our trust in the woke generation, those ready to upset our routines and to redefine social norms: Gen Z.
Strategy and The Big Idea
We wanted to give the impression of a social pressure being circulated to encourage us all to question our daily habits. We interacted with young people on TikTok and encouraged them to share what they are doing themselves to help the planet. Afterwards, these videos were rebroadcast by credible news outlets to help address the subject amongst older adults. By positioning young people as our message ambassadors, we were able to show that they had already understood the impact of their individual choices on the planet.
Execution
We took advantage of a trend on TikTok which, at the point of our campaign design, had reached three times the number of users it had at the beginning of the pandemic. Ten comedy sketches presenting ideas chosen by the organisation were created, and users were invited to share their choices via the Stitch function which enables collaboration between users by allowing integration of scenes from original videos, into new ones. These clips were then shared on news sites. A variety of made-to-measure content was created with a number of different partners in order to ensure an understanding of the challenges faced, from various different angles. To further inform the target audience, a custom microsite containing additional information was developed and shared- on social media via display advertising, and also via SEM. A competition was also launched, in partnership with Quantum eBikes, to encourage engagement and newsletter sign-ups.
Synergy
Continuing with our research, we saw that Quebec residents who were ready to make changes to their lifestyles for the benefit of the environment, were harder to come by outside of large urban areas and where the average household income was under $60,000. These were the criteria which allowed us to build a strategy which would maximise media efforts in targeting less aware audiences, and therefore make a real difference.
Challenges
Since October 2021, Google and Facebook have tightened their policies in order to help fight against the dissemination of fake news regarding the climate. The algorithms automatically categorised our messages as ‘political’ which meant they were either blocked or that publication was limited. Particular care was therefore needed, along with a variety of optimisations, in order to manage the success of our uploads.
Creativity
Addressing these serious topics in an amusing yet vital and accessible manner by collaborating with content creators, was at the heart of the campaign’s creativity. The Stitch function and the use of the same intro across all videos allowed us to portray uniformity and visual recognition between all creators, as well as to increase the chances of creating a trend, more easily than if we had simply published ten different clips. By inserting our message into the daily lives of young people, we encouraged them to play the role of ambassadors to their peers. We also shared the same content to news outlets in order to display to adults how the truth often comes from the mouths of babes.
Innovation
The real innovation behind the campaign was the choice to target the younger generation with our messages. TikTok, with its expertise in short, ‘snackable’ content and multitasking, was the perfect platform to use in order to reach them effectively. This generation is also big on personal expression via social media, and this is illustrated by their contribution towards all manner of causes. By adding their interest in creating a better world to the mix, we then had all the ingredients we needed to launch the ideal campaign strategy. When it came to collaboration, we chose to work with popular TikTok personalities and content creators, Andréanne Fortin, Citron_Rosee et Douaa. Their followings meant we could reach a larger audience, and the use of video allowed us to play to viewers’ emotions, and increase the memorability of our messages.