7 brands campaigning for Earth Day 2022

CMO rounds up several Australian and global brands investing in sustainability themed campaigns and experiential activities in recognition of this year's International Earth Day


Sustainability and striving for more environmentally conscious choices is only increasing in importance for consumers, so it’s no surprise to find a number of brands across the spectrum getting behind any global celebrations supporting such efforts in order to boost their credentials and standing.

International Earth Day was established back in 1970 and claims to have mobilised more than 1 billion individuals to action supporting a better future for the planet as well as 75,000 partners.

As the world celebrates Earth Day on 22 April 2022, CMO took a look at some of the ways Australian and global brands are embracing the spirit of the movement in campaigns and experiential activations.

Sendle’s grizzly earth check

A 10-foot-tall cardboard box installation of an endangered grizzly bear and cub designed to showcase the true cost of online shopping’s popularity is the centre piece of Sendle’s Earth Day campaign.

The Australian-based logistics business has set up the installation in Seattle with the supporting hashtag, #thinkbeforeyouship. The sculpture was commissioned from Canadian-born artist, Laurence Vallieres, who uses discarded or recycled cardboard in his work, and the campaign is being executed in partnership with sustainability brand specialist agency, Republic of Everyone. The grizzly bear was chosen as mascot because there are only 1500 of these creatures left in the US, outside of Alaska, due to habitat loss and changing climate conditions.

Credit: Sendle


Sendle chief marketing officer, Eva Ross, said the campaign was prompted by the ecommerce boom off the back of the Covid-19 pandemic and the need for more sustainable solutions to reduce environmental impact. In the US, 5000 packages are shipped every second.

“The campaign aims to drive awareness of the environmental impact of our online shopping addiction. We all feel the effects when stuffing packaging into our bins at home, but the unseen damage comes in the form of the carbon emissions of the delivery of our online purchases.” Ross said. “The cardboard is a symbol of our packaging – an integral part of the ecommerce industry – and the Grizzly Bear is an example of the threatened species that come about through climate change. We hope this symbol impresses upon everyone to think before you ship and to choose a more sustainable option.”

While the marketing chief was keen for people to see the sculpture in-person, Sendle has also worked with partners to bring the campaign to people online and via social channels. This includes behind-the-scenes footage of Vailleres constructing the bear as well as ‘grizzly’ branded social assets. Sendle said it’s also orchestrating talks for small businesses on how they can reduce the harm of shipping.

Sendle is a B-Corp certified company and claims to have offset the carbon of 31.5 billion kilometres of parcel delivery to date.  

Pinterest takeovers showcase creators focused on sustainability

Closer to home, Pinterest Australia has launched an Earth Day takeover of its platform and across all editorial spaces in order to showcase ideas from creators providing tips and how-tos on more sustainable consumer practices.

Credit: PInterest

 

The aim of the campaign is to give Pinners how-tos and tips for dressing, living, eating and travelling more sustainably. More than 20 local creators are being highlighted in the takeover including Hello Emilie, Kika Lateef, Dan Churchill and Lakkari Art. The social media platform has also launched a new Creator Originals five-part series locally in partnership with creator, Hello Emilie, to take its users on a journey across locations that represent the fragility and beauty of the Earth. Again, the content is debuting in line with Earth Day.

 

In addition, Pinterest said it’s engaging with creators around the world under the theme, ‘Inspire a Better Future’, featuring a Creator Original series centre around educational content and actionable tips for making more sustainable choices across Pinterest’s top categories of food, fashion, beauty, wellness, home and travel. Sustainability-themed content has been curated and is discoverable within the search tab of the Daily Inspiration section using relevant topics such as ‘eco-friendly living’ and ‘sustainable living’. A Pin to take users to an article of the day is also use until Earth Day.   

Third-party brands are another part of the takeover mix, such as Escape.com.au with its own Creator Original series for Earth Month, the first Aussie brand example on the platform.  

According to Pinterest, searches in Australia for ‘Earth Day Activities’ have increased by 63 per cent year-on-year, while searches for ‘recycled art’ have also increased 34 per cent. Globally, Pinterest cited searches for ‘zero waste tips’ are up 6X, ‘recycling clothes ideas’ are 4X higher and ‘recycled home décor’ is up 95 per cent compared to last year.   

Qlik makes it an Earth Week  

Business analytics platform Qlik, is going for a full week of Earth Day activities to promote sustainable habits.

Grouped under the 2022 Earth Day theme, ‘Invest in our planet’, activities across the week are all about helping Qlik employees directly reduce the company’s carbon footprint and promote more sustainable activities and consumption behaviours. Employee were given the choice of signing up to multiple activities, all tracked via Qlik’s platform, such as choosing a plant-based diet, carpooling or other shared rides, cleanup activities around their location, picking up trash while jogging and walk (known as ‘plogging’ in Sweden) and sustainability quizzes to test knowledge around the environment.

Credit: Qlik


“We are not just focusing on April 22. We are having an entire ‘Qlik Earth Week’ to help our company and people reduce their carbon footprint and sustain our water, air and land for future generations,” said Qlik executive director and VP of Sustainability and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Julie Kae. “We will also be awarding Qlik employees who demonstrate our commitment to a resource-friendly, low-waste, climate-conscious world, and facilitating staff donations to environmental non-profits, or The Nature Conservancy.”

This year’s program is a step up for the business, which has been recognising Earth Day for several year. Qlik also joined the UN Climate Ambition Alliance’s Race to Zero campaign last year, partners with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and has been a partner of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and COP26 climate conference since 2019.  

Finding the Headspace to be one with nature

Mental health and mindfulness app, Headspace, is getting into celebrations for International Earth Day 2022 with a new collection of content dubbed ‘Being in nature’.

Credit: Headspace


The content is designed to explore concepts of nature interconnectedness as a psychological construct, unpicking humanity’s shared place within nature. The collection is led by nature and meditation experts and explores beliefs, attitudes and behaviour towards nature.  For example, there’s a video on ’Nature Bathing’, narrated by explorer and healing guide, Eileen Hall. This immersive content is set on Holkham Beach in Norfolk and sees Hall exploring its natural beauty while talking about her life and the relationship between embracing mindfulness and nature. Carlos Alberto is also leading a meditation, ‘Connected to Nature’, while Headspace’s meditation teacher, Dora Kamau, has created the new ‘Earth Appreciation’ content thread.

The content push also aims to raise awareness of things such as global pollution rates and scientific facts about the state of the Earth’s health.

“Scientific evidence points to a relationship between feeling connected to nature and mindfulness, and the benefits this can have on an individual,” said Headspace App chief content officer, Morgan Selzer. “Beginner meditators, in particular, are suited to exploring this connection between nature and mindfulness, as it can softly focus attention on the environment, whole distracting from thoughts and emotions.”

Saving 1 million items of clothing from landfill

Australian circular fashion startup, AirRobe, is pledging to save 1 million items of clothing from landfill in the next year as the world celebrates 2022 Earth Day.

The ambitious goal is being supported by more than 100 brands, including Australian designer, Viktoria & Woods. AirRobe aims to encourage more brands to make a commitment to sustainability and take leadership towards a circular ecosystem by joining the movement. It’s also just signed a sustainability partnership with the Viktoria & Woods brand.

Credit: AirRobe


AirRobe noted the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world. According to the World Economic Forum, an estimated 85 per cent of all textiles end up in landfill annually, enough to fill Sydney Harbour every year.

“The success of our pledge will be measured against the number of items our consumers add to their Circular Wardrobe, allowing them to easily extend the life of their clothing through either renting, reselling or recycling through AirRobe,” said founder and CEO, Hannon Comazzetto.

Ask Alexa to plant a tree

Amazon Alexa has partnered with environmental charity, One Tree Planted, for its Earth Day campaign this year in the US.

The brand is encouraging US users to ask, “Alexa, grow a tree” to donate $1 to plant one tree through One Tree Planted. Customers can also keep track and view how many trees they help to plant through their Amazon Pay account. Alongside consumer donations, Amazon is donating $1 million to plant a total of 1 million trees between April and December 2022.

Credit: One Tree Planted


“Trees play a vital role in creating clean air and water, maintaining a healthy climate, and providing habitats for wildlife. That’s why we are making it simple for Alexa customers to help support reforestation efforts by donating a tree just by using their voice,” the company stated on its website.

Creative insights on living a sustainable lifestyle

Getting ahead of International Earth Day, image and video library provider, iStock, released fresh research revealing 95 per cent of people surveyed in Australia and New Zealand are personally practising sustainability.

According to its findings, this number peaked in the Spring of 2021 (at 96 per cent), when governments from more than 30 countries pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 at the 2021 Leaders' Climate Summit, organised by US President, Joe Biden’s administration. 

Insights are based on consumer sentiment of more than 10,000 individuals globally gleaned through iStock’s three-year-old creative insights platform, Visual GPS. Specifically, this indicated a level of consistency in people’s commitment towards living a sustainable lifestyle, showing percentages above 90 per cent since the summer of 2020 to 2021. Findings also showed recycling is still considered the most prominent way for ANZ consumers to make a positive impact on the planet (78 per cent), followed by reusing, repairing, buying second-hand, using eco-friendly products, and making homes energy efficient (46 per cent).

However, while people increasingly believe they've made personal progress towards living a more sustainable lifestyle, six in 10 said their government could be doing more to combat climate change. Seventy per cent believe businesses should take the lead if the government fails to.

“Our research also shows while consumers are carrying out some positive actions in their day-to-day lives, they still lack understanding of how such important issues like climate change, impact their daily lives,” commented iStock global head of creative insight, Dr Rebecca Swift. 

“This represents an opportunity for small businesses and entrepreneurs to show their communities how they are committed to sustainability, how they can support their customers to be more sustainable via their offerings and demonstrate the benefits of having a more sustainable lifestyle.”

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You can also follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, follow our regular updates via CMO Australia's Linkedin company page 

 

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