The Brief

Rising global consumption is one of the biggest threats to our planet. We’re now buying more and wasting more than ever—with over 4 trillion gallons of industrial waste produced each year. Our brief from Life Nutrition was to encourage customers to make a small donation to help offset the environmental impact of every purchase. However, we knew that whilst 89% of people are willing to donate, less than 1% actually do. Our strategy therefore was to make it super easy for (both existing and new) customers to donate.

Creative Execution

The strength of the idea was strong and simple: turning a simple barcode upside down can turn an environmental problem on its head, quite literally. It was appropriate to the brand too. The brand’s new direction is ‘Best for Life’. Could there be anything better for life than protecting the planet for future generations?

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

For the first time ever, we introduced Reversible Barcodes on our products—a barcode that can reverse the environmental impact of every purchase. The way it works is simple… When customers make a purchase and scan it as normal, they pay the normal price. But if they turn the barcode upside down, one extra dollar will be charged and donated to Greeners Action—one of Asia’s leading environmental protection groups—to help offset the impact of every purchase. The campaign aimed for 25% of customers to voluntarily reverse their barcodes.

Results

In the first month alone, 63% of customers voluntarily made a donation by reversing their barcodes. Sales volume went up by 19%—making it Life Nutrition’s most successful promotion campaign to date. What’s more, Life Nutrition is now rolling out Reversible Barcodes in other countries. So this is just the start.