The Brief

To convince community leaders in Asia that the Sun is a viable and renewable energy option to burning wood for cooking. These opinion leaders could be reached in two ways: 1. Through direct mailing using NGO databases. 2. Direct contact at community centres. The strategy we chose was not merely to tell and explain – but to demonstrate the power of the Sun and the ease with which it can be harnessed.

Creative Execution

We had a very limited budget for execution – but a much larger one for distribution. The postcard format worked well in this situation where the bulk of the budget could be devoted to mailing, transport and delivery. The postcard was also easy to store, transport, mail, and distribute – and familiar with postal services in developing regions. Finally, the postcard, by virtue of having two sides, was perfect to deliver both parts of the message: explanation and demonstration.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

To convince people we needed a message with two parts: first to explain the facts; then to demonstrate the alternative – the Sun – at work. To achieve this we designed a mailer that uses both sides of a classic ‘postcard’. One side set out the case against wood in words. And the other was the reflective surface of a Solar Cooker that demonstrated the power of the Sun. The response would be measured in terms of actual demonstration – we aimed for 80%.

Results

100% of the mailers were distributed through mailings, and direct contact. Over 80% were actually assembled into solar cookers to show how easy it is to harness the Sun. Their success is best measured by the simple fact that we are currently producing a second batch for distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa.