To discover the impact, Reckitt marketers compared two productions and found that the virtual studio saved 75% in carbon emissions as well as a fifth of the time on the shoot. “We had to train our creative teams in advance—and in my counsel—that when they write the story, they put no limit to what they can imagine.”
Communicating sustainably
With regulations looming internationally around how marketers can communicate their sustainability credentials, more scrutiny is being applied to brands in an attempt to stamp out greenwashing, an issue that Reckitt will face to various degrees as it outlines its carbon-reduction pledge.
It opens a new space of creativity, putting creativity on steroids.
Fabrice Beaulieu, Reckitt
As a company that has operated in the world of healthcare for more than a century, however, Reckitt is no stranger to regulation.
Beaulieu’s own role has a policy aspect to it. He sees a difference in expectations between European and U.S. consumers, but the demand for a sustainable way of business is universal.
This starts with applying the U.N.’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) under the single parent brand of Reckitt rather than across the brand portfolio. This allows for the execution and messaging to remain authentic. Embed Sustainability is one of six SDG imperatives within the company’s growth strategy.
He cited the detergent brand Vanish and its ongoing campaign against fast fashion as one example of how a single brand is contributing to the overall Reckitt target.
In 2021, a campaign to promote Vanish Oxi Advance featured piles of discarded clothes lying around in urban areas, with messaging about how, on average, a piece of clothing is worn just 10 times before being thrown away.
That campaign continued in February with the #ReSkinChallenge, using some of Europe’s best-known gamers and streamers to encourage consumers to re-wear their clothes while raising awareness about textile waste.
Created by Havas London and Havas Play, the campaign also saw gamers set their communities a challenge to play wearing their avatar’s very first, or default, outfit (known in gaming circles as “skin”)—with the brand donating £20 to Oxfam for each stream shared.