FROM FAT TO FUEL

TitleFROM FAT TO FUEL
BrandFINNISH CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, NESTE, K-GROUP, LASSILA & TIKANOJA, RINKI, HONKAJOKI,
Product/ServiceCIRCULAR ECONOMY, NESTE MY RENEWABLE DIESEL
Category G02. Low Budget / High Impact Campaign
Entrant MILTTON Helsinki, FINLAND
Idea Creation MILTTON Helsinki, FINLAND
PR MILTTON Helsinki, FINLAND
Production MILTTON Helsinki, FINLAND
Production 2 NESTE OIL Espoo, FINLAND
Production 3 THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY FEDERATION OF FINLAND Helsinki, FINLAND
Production 4 K-GROUP Helsinki, FINLAND
Production 5 LASSILA & TIKANOJA Helsinki, FINLAND
Additional Company FINNISH PACKAGING RECYCLING RINKI Helsinki, FINLAND
Additional Company 2 FINNISH WATER UTILITIES ASSOCIATION Helsinki, FINLAND
Additional Company 3 HONKAJOKI Honkajki, FINLAND
Additional Company 4 FINNISH ENVIRONMENTAL INDUSTRIES Helsinki, FINLAND
Additional Company 5 RURAL WOMEN’S ADVISORY ORGANISATION Vantaa, FINLAND
Credits
Name Company Position
Timo Niemi Miltton Head of Planning
Henri Kunnas Miltton Account Director
Hanna Kinnunen Miltton Art Director
Maria Kuorikoski Miltton Creative Copywriter / Creative
Juuli Laitinen Miltton Client Executive
Mihail Donchev Miltton Digital Specialist
Pasi Viitanen Miltton Graphic Designer

The Campaign

We invited Finns to recycle the leftover fat from their Christmas hams by donating it to charity. The leftover fat is an annual problem and tips for getting rid of it in a responsible way flood the Finnish media every holiday season. For Christmas 2016, we introduced a new way of dealing with it by setting up special recycling points just for Christmas ham fat. The fat was then processed into 100% renewable diesel, with a 90% lower CO2 footprint when compared with regular diesel. The fuel was then sold to consumers and all the proceeds were donated to charity organisations. As our clients represented the entire chain from collecting, transporting and refining the fats as well as distributing the final product, this allowed us to demonstrate the entire process of circular economy while engaging consumers directly in a fun and memorable way.

The Brief

Campaign overall budget: 61,000 euros. • 30k logistics and infrastructure • 6k concept and visuals • 5k campaign site • 4k shareable visuals • 10k media relations • 4k blogger activations • 2k social media promotions

Creative Execution

Buzz around the activation was kicked off early in October and continued all the way over Christmas through extensive PR. As many companies were involved in the activation, owned and earned channels were at the heart of the promotion. A unique campaign infrastructure was set up by the participating organizations. Two and a half weeks before Christmas, collection points for households’ leftover ham fats were set up in 18 towns across Finland at grocery stores and petrol stations, while bloggers, media and consumers continued to spread the message. The activation peaked on the day before Christmas, when most Finns bake their hams. Visibility was secured across television, radio and digital channels to maximize participation.

Results

In 2.5 weeks, 40,000 individual households donated their leftover ham fat to the campaign. It amounted to 12,000 kilograms of fat, which was turned into 10,000 litres of 100% renewable diesel, enough to drive four times around the planet. It made over 14,000 € for charity. Due to the limited media budget, our focus was on earned visibility. The story was discussed in Finnish media 155 times. Each story repeated the campaign details, goals and clients, in addition to giving consumers instructions on how to participate. Client representatives were interviewed extensively by major news outlets. Traditional media amounted to a combined reach of 26 million (5 times the country’s population), excluding all international press. On Twitter, the campaign reached over 240,000 users. It was one of the most talked about individual stories before Christmas. In a poll conducted in January 2017, 65% Finns said they were aware of the campaign.

With a simple idea built around on a new product about to be launched by one of our clients, we got 40,000 Finnish households to collect the leftover fat from their Christmas dinners and donate it to charity. Together, we created the world’s first Christmas diesel. By creating an event that would activate consumers to directly take part in the recycling process, we were able to raise awareness for the potential of circular economy among Finnish consumers and created a positive consumer movement as well as one of the most viral campaigns of the holiday season.

We wanted to reach and activate Finnish consumers as widely as possible. Most Finns celebrate Christmas and during the holiday season, they consume a massive 7 million kilograms (more than 1.2 kg per capita) of ham. This was a topic that was relevant to almost everyone. With our limited budget, we made use of the wide network of companies we were working with, and created easily shareable tools for challenging friends and colleagues. By tapping into an existing national debate on the best way to get rid of leftover ham fat, we created a light-hearted news story, suitable for the weeks leading up to Christmas. The combination of ham fat and a charitable Christmas campaign was surprising and humorous enough to make it a lasting topic of discussion. To make the campaign approachable and participation easy for practically everyone, we kept its tonality light, fun and simple.