OPERATION CLEAN UP NATURE

TitleOPERATION CLEAN UP NATURE
BrandE.LECLERC
Product/ServiceTHE ANNIVERSARY OF THE CLEAN UP OPERATION
Category B04. Business Citizenship / Corporate Responsibility & Environmental
Entrant BABEL STRATEGIE ET COMMUNICATION Paris, FRANCE
Idea Creation BABEL STRATEGIE ET COMMUNICATION Paris, FRANCE
Media Placement BABEL STRATEGIE ET COMMUNICATION Paris, FRANCE
PR BABEL STRATEGIE ET COMMUNICATION Paris, FRANCE
Production AGENCE MARIE BASTILLE PARIS, FRANCE
Credits
Name Company Position
PAUL WAUTERS BABEL CREATIVE DIRECTOR
KAMEL MAKHLOUFI BABEL ART DIRECTOR
MARTIN HARGREAVES AGENCE MARIE BASTILLE ILLUSTRATOR

Why is this work relevant for PR?

20 years ago, retailer E. Leclerc launched a national clean up, mobilizing volunteers to clear up woods, rivers and meadows. 500'000 volunteers collect tons of waste every year. But after 20 years, there was no more news value, and a part from some local newspapers this amazing event gained no attention from the press at all. This exhibition reignited an interest and raised awareness about the scope and scale of the event. We reminded the nation that France’s landscapes and light have inspired artists from all over the world, and clean nature should be considered a part of French culture.

Background

Problem: French retailer E.Leclerc wasn’t getting the attention it deserved for having created the single biggest nature cleanup operation in the country. Only local press mentioned it, and often the name of the event was used, disconnected from the E.Leclerc brand. Brief Remind people that E.Leclerc was an eco-pioneer 20 years ago, abolishing plastic bags 15 years before anyone else and mobilizing 500’000 volunteers every year to clean up the environment. Objective: Regain the fading attention from the press, the public and the local governments for this 20-year old initiative that has made a tremendous positive impact on the environment. Put the name of the event on everyone’s lips and reinforce the link between the event and the brand E.Leclerc.

Describe the creative idea

An art exhibition in key metro stations in Paris showcased iconic works of artists and art movements inspired by French nature, but in a degraded version, s(p)oiled by waste dumping. We chose some of the most popularly admired pieces for full shock effect. It's an appeal to French national and cultural pride, a reminder that France's nature has inspired the biggest artists across the planet, and that keeping nature clean, is protecting France's and the world's cultural heritage. A brochure like a museum catalogue was distributed in the metro stations, explaining E.Leclerc's initiative, the results of 20 years of cleaning up, a word of thanks for the volunteers. Full page ads were placed in the national press.

Describe the strategy

In order to shift the public's view of the operation, to engage beyond school audiences, and to find a stronger echo in the national media, the agency created an activation that gives a major role to visual content to encourage TVs to film & broadcast, medias and people to take pictures and share them, especially on social networks. Our response was thus directed towards an IRL activation (in real life) which was an alibi for PR & social media communication. We imagined a "cultural object" in its own right to celebrate this anniversary, and created the unique Collection Clean Up Nature. A collection that used all traditional codes of cultural objects : an exhibition, artworks, a tycoon, a catalog) to reach out new targets and audiences, beyond environment specialists.

Describe the execution

We worked on an activation that mixes earned & paid media - Paid media to ensure maximum visibility with a campaign displayed in 4 tube stations for a week to present the exhibition, a relay of the media campaign in the national & local medias- We have imagined, in the manner of major exhibitions in Paris, a poster, an introductory statement to support the understanding of artworks and educational tags for each work. These tags tell the lifespan of each type of waste in nature, and recall the good gestures to preserve the environment - Earned media, via a PR campaign, with a large media outreach and a good penetration in key opinion leader medias and qualitative talks with journalists. An activation campaign on social networks in paid & community management to give access to works to the greatest number, capitalizing on the immersive features offered by Facebook

List the results

A wide visibility overall: • metro display campaign - full platform in 4 stations - which reached 5.6 million users • media campaign which reached 42 million people aged 15 and over (22 million unique contacts) • social media campaign (CM + media) - 11.5 million impressions and 5.2 million unique contacts for people aged 15 and over In PR, we succeeded in entering new columns within national media, to secure interviews with Michel-Edouard LECLERC, spokesperson & tycoon of the exhibition, while securing very large visibility within local medias. In the end, the campaign was even featured in art magazines and praised for the quality of the artwork.