Why is this work relevant for PR?

The campaign helped strengthen NEPA’s brand image as an eco-friendly outdoor brand, while ef-fortlessly showing off their high-quality waterproof product. Because of Rain Tree’s intuitive de-sign, anywhere the “tree” stood immediately transformed into a media channel. The campaign gained 1,080,860 accumulated video views, 230 PR news and 1,226,297 social buzz. Search vol-ume for NEPA grew by 30% even in the off season and sales of NEPA’s waterproof products also increased by 15%. People who’ve seen the campaign responded that they became interested in NEPA and had improved attitude towards the brand.

Background

In South Korea, more than 200 million pieces of disposable plastic umbrella bags being wasted every year. Whenever it’s raining out, there’s a plastic umbrella bag dispenser in front of every building, free for use. The reason why plastic umbrella bags are being so widely used is because people do not realize how their mindless behavior directly impacts the environment. Also, even for those who are aware of its environmental consequences, it is still difficult to stop using them be-cause of its convenience. In an effort to reduce plastic waste, NEPA, an eco-friendly outdoor cloth-ing brand, made reusable waterproof umbrella bags out of leftover fabric and printed green leaves on them. They were provided at building entrances, along with a tree-shaped hanger for drying them on their way out.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Inspired by their own waterproof outdoor products, NEPA created reusable waterproof umbrella bags with leftover waterproof fabrics that were thrown away during production. Instead of dis-posable plastic bags, reusable umbrella bags were provided on stands on a rainy day, and a spe-cially designed tree-shaped bag hanger stood for the reusable bags to be hung to dry after use. Be-cause of its intuitive design, people immediately perceived that they were helping the environment through a simple act of using and returning the recycled “leaf” to the “tree”. Anywhere a Rain Tree stood immediately transformed into a media channel. By witnessing the tree growing into a fuller tree, people realized what using less disposable plastid bags meant for the environment.

Describe the strategy (30% of vote)

NEPA replaced the existing plastic umbrella bags with leaf-printed reusable umbrella ones at the usual places where plastic umbrella bags used to be provided - museums, cafes, book stores and public institutions. NEPA wanted to create an intuitive experience of what using less plastic prod-ucts does for the environment, and also to change the public behavior of over-using disposable plastic umbrella bags in the future.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

On 26 June 2018, the rainiest season in South Korea, the first Rain Tree was placed in NEPA’s retail store. In less than one month, it became a nationwide success with museums, cafes, books stores and even public institutions taking part in the campaign. The Rain Tree is still being used whenever it rains, contributing to less plastic wastes. To reach those who could not experience Rain Tree in person, NEPA uploaded a campaign video and executed paid boost on Facebook and Instagram to spread the message. (Timeline: from 26 June-22July & 6 Aug~19 Aug, Media spent: 10,000 USD)

List the results (30% of vote) – must include at least two of the following tiers:

The Rain Tree campaign started in NEPA’s retail stores, but soon became a nationwide success with museums, cafes, book stores and other public institutions also taking part in the campaign. After the Rain Tree experience, people preferred recycled bags over the existing disposable plastic bags and some even asked if they could take it home with them. The campaign had positive impact on strengthening NEPA’s brand image as an eco-friendly brand, while effortlessly showing off NEPA’s high-quality waterproof products. Paid boost video on Facebook outperformed by 174.82% more reach than expected, as the video went viral on Fa-cebook and Instagram. It resulted in 1,080,860 accumulated video views, 230 PR news and 1,226,297 social buzz. Search volume for NEPA grew by 30% even in the off season and sales of NEPA’s waterproof products also increased by 15%.

Please tell us about the social behaviour and/or cultural insights that inspired your campaign

South Korea has heavy rainfall in summer, and it is common to see Koreans use disposable plastic umbrella bags to put their wet umbrellas to prevent slippery floors. But with more than 200 million disposable umbrella bags being discarded every year, it has become one of the most serious envi-ronmental problems in the country. South Korea's eco-friendly outdoor clothing brand, NEPA, wanted to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags. Inspired by their waterproof clothing line that could stand against even the pouring rain, NEPA came up with an idea to make reusable umbrella bags from the recycled leftover waterproof fabric scraps. With the recycle Rain Tree "leaves" (bags) effortless showing off NEPA's high-performing waterproof products, the campaign successfully helped enhance NEPA’s image as an eco-friendly brand.