THE FIRST SHOE MADE FROM RECYCLED GUM

TitleTHE FIRST SHOE MADE FROM RECYCLED GUM
BrandAMSTERDAM METROPOLITAN AREA / I AMSTERDAM
Product/ServiceGUMSHOE
Entrant PUBLICIS Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation PUBLICIS Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Credits
Name Company Position
Jonathan van Loon Publicis Amsterdam Art Director
Daniel Ashkol Publicis Amsterdam Copywriter
Mischa Schreuder Publicis Amsterdam Creative Director
Ramon Stalenhoef Publicis Amsterdam Creative Director
Dave Fransen Publicis Amsterdam Designer / Photographer
Manon van Otegem Publicis Amsterdam Account Director
Garezi Septara & Shaquille Gunther Explicit Wear Shoe designers
Pieter Wolter Good Sounds Music & Sound Supervisor
Jurriaan Balhuizen Good Sounds Composer
Pauline van Die MSL Group Account Director
Bob Bruinenberg MSL Group PR & Creative Advisor

Why is this work relevant for Integrated?

Gumshoe is all about creating awareness about the gum litter problem in a very unique and attracting way. That’s why we launched a small amount of Gumshoes. Which functioned as a tangible product for websites and traditional news outlets to start the conversation about the gum litter problem. Online people were presented with a short video of how the Gumshoe was made. To make change in a behaviour way we hung up special bins in which people could dispose their gum. By sharing a picture with #Gumshoe they had the chance to win a pair of their own.

Background

Every year 1.5 million kilos of chewing gum finds its way on to the streets of the Netherlands. Cleaning the gum costs Dutch municipalities millions of euros. It takes 20 to 25 years before chewing gum is completely gone and many animals suffocate in the waste. City marketing organisation I amsterdam wanted to create awareness about the gum litter problem amongst gum users.

Describe the creative idea

We discovered gum is made from a synthetic rubber. What makes it a suitable material to manufacture new products. So, we collected gum from all over Amsterdam and turned this useless waste into something useful. We created a product people actually want from something no one cares about: The first sneaker ever made from chewing gum. Which turned out to be a perfect conversation starter and incentive to make people think about their own behaviour.

Describe the strategy

With the Gumshoe we wanted to reach chewing gum users. Youngsters to be specific. Traditional campaigns that used to run about littering didn’t achieve their goals, and first and foremost didn’t reach the target audience. But how do we reach them? We didn’t want to point fingers and decided to approach them with something they already love: sneakers. In addition to increasing awareness, this will also create sympathy and genuine motivation to solve the chewing gum problem together. By combining their interest with the problem and presenting a visually pleasing and very shareable item, we let the mouth-to-mouth communication, PR and social media do the rest.

Describe the execution

The first step was to seed Gumshoe on a local level: Amsterdam-based media. We gave Metro Amsterdam the scoop and quickly other local media covered the news. Local politicians and stakeholders soon followed. The second step was to leverage this local news and contact national media. We’ve contacted the biggest newspapers and broadcasters and distributed a press release to become more visible on a national scale. This generated an enormous buzz on social media and online, which gave us a platform to seed in on a global level. With success. From the Netherlands to Brazil and from China to the US people heard about Gumshoe. Renowned websites even shared case movies made from the existing footage. Within the first days our website got flooded with pre-orders. To make people really change their behaviour we hung up special recycling bins. By disposing their gum they could win a pair of Gumshoes.

List the results

Within a week the website got flooded with pre-orders and we reached over 600.000.000 unique persons with our message. From Germany to Ukraine and from China to the US people heard about Gumshoe. The Gumshoes were sold within a week. Sportlife, the largest chewing gum producer in the Netherlands, will partner with us and finance upcoming campaigns against gum litter and we have just signed with Asics to produce Gumshoes around the world. Starting with New York, London and Tokyo. With this initiative, we didn’t just try to solve the problem, but also make people think about the fact how to treat their city and environment with respect.