Why is this work relevant for Media?

In 2021, as part of its Dirt for Good brand purpose, Omo wanted to empower Chinese consumers to get dirty for a clean future. All too aware of greenwashing, Omo wanted to actually do something, not just say it, while enabling consumers in China to participate to scale the efforts. Harnessing the potential of China's social media, Omo was able to encourage and reward tourists for playing their part, while creating a visually striking OOH brand asset that symbolised the scale of the problem.

Background

OMO shifted the articulation of its brand purpose to Dirt for Good. With this purpose, the brand’s role focused on supporting those who get dirty doing good for people and the planet. This is because, in China, - especially post pandemic, dirt is a sign of heroism: the police, the fireman, the nurses and everyday heroes. We wanted to shift attention onto these ‘Protectors’ – the ones who help those around them, and have the marks to show for it. In 2021, as part of its Dirt for Good brand purpose, Omo wanted to empower Chinese consumers to get dirty for a clean future. It needed to find a way to actually do something to respond, not just say it, to the global climate crisis domestically in China, while scaling its efforts by enabling consumers to get involved. It additionally wanted to lift its Brand Sustainable Living Index to 51.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

We found one area where there was growing attention on those making a positive contribution: the environment. Both from a consumer and government perspective, sustainability and environmental protection have been increasingly important. At the same time, the Chinese Government was implementing new policies to protect the environment including a commitment to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. OMO’s Clean Future business strategy set a holistic plan to act more sustainably across the entire product cycle. This was led by a €1 billion, ten-year investment to replace ingredients derived from fossil fuels in their laundry product formulations with ingredients from renewable or recycled sources by 2030. The core opportunity was to make Omo a protector linked to the environment, and inspire our audience to make an impact themselves in an area of key importance: China's major rivers, which begin in the mountainous Qinghai region.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Omo found inspiring environmental ambassadors who had spent months collecting plastic waste in Qinghai, who were not afraid to get dirty for a collective clean future. OMO knew it would need to find a partner to enable many people to participate and make a contribution. So, Omo signed a three-year partnership with Green River, a leading Chinese NGO founded in 1995. Given the post-COVID rise in domestic self-drive holidays in this remote area, OMO found an opportunity to empower tourists to follow suit of the environmental ambassadors, transforming them into an army of Dirt for Good heroes. To do this, Omo sponsored 7 Protection Stations across Qinghai, asking tourists to collect, deposit and recycle trash collected along their journeys at one of the 7 protection stations.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

To acknowledge Dirt for Good heroes for getting dirty, Omo and Green River rewarded tourists who deposited trash at the protection stations with an official post on Weibo - giving them significant social credit as a Protector - while also rewarding them with eco-friendly samples. Before long, OMO literally had a mountain of plastic. This mountain, constructed at the protection station in Qinghai out of recycled trash, put in stark reality the size of the plastic problem and became a photo location in of itself along the Qinghai Lake driving route. This became a brand asset we took to Shanghai to educate urban consumers on the scale of the problem and invite them to volunteer. Omo's heroes and the plastic mountain in Qinghai were filmed for two Omo branded videos on social while Omo's partnership with Green River was amplified across eCommerce channels and with point of sale material.

List the results (30% of vote)

Omo inspired over 850,000 consumers to participate in responding to the global climate crisis, the start of a journey to recycle 300,000 tons of plastic while protecting over 1 million square meters of land in Qinghai. Online, Omo was able to generate over 638 million impressions via over 100 articles, driving 5.2x greater engagement than targeted while increasing the social index +300% - giving Omo much higher visibility across Weibo, Baidu and WeChat versus category competitors. Finally, by making a long-term commitment, OMO was able to engage five major industrial partners to overhaul the manufacturing ecosystem. This resulted in the launch of the first recycled packaging which was launched across eCommerce, O2O and in-store.

Please tell us how the brand purpose inspired the work

OMO shifted the articulation of its brand purpose to Dirt for Good. With this purpose, the brand’s role focused on supporting those who get dirty doing good for people and the planet. This is because, in China, - especially post pandemic, dirt is a sign of heroism: the police, the fireman, the nurses and everyday heroes. We wanted to shift attention onto these ‘Protectors’ – the ones who help those around them, and have the marks to show for it. OMO’s Clean Future business strategy set a holistic plan to act more sustainably across the entire product cycle. But, OMO wanted to not only minimise impact in the future but correct the damage from the past. This was led by a €1 billion, ten-year investment to replace ingredients derived from fossil fuels in their cleaning and laundry product formulations with ingredients from renewable or recycled sources by 2030.