Keep It Clear campaign

8 November 2011 16:00hrs

Keeping it Clear – how Anglian Water are leading the way in sustainable customer behaviour change

UKSMC presentation page 2

‘can deeply personal behaviours that have been happening for more than 20 years be changed?’

‘can you beat language and culture barriers to help people adopt new behaviours when they don’t need to care?

facing change


YES!

￭  concern about blockages increased from 69% to 100%

￭  92% agree we have a shared responsibility to act

￭  around 75% make an extra effort to dispose of items appropriately

￭  blockages reduced from 3.3 per week to 1.3 per week


the problem

￭  10,000 tonnes of FOG and unflushables in Anglian Water sewers at any one time ￭  causing 15,000

blockages a year ￭  and @300 sewer

pollution incidents ￭  at an economic

cost of over £7m a year


1. understand the context • evidence review and operative interviews to analyse causes, identify local hotspots and learn from others

2. understand the audience and behaviour

• profile target groups • qualitative research to understand motivations, benefits and barriers and define behavioural goals

3. develop strategy and pilot interventions •  identify key messages and channels, create materials and test in Peterborough

our response: social marketing to change behaviour

5. refine and roll out learn from what has worked well and roll out regionally

4. evaluate impact • quantitative pre and post survey to measure changes in awareness, attitudes and claimed behaviour (200 per wave)

• analyse blockage data


using the sewer as a bin

what goes down there: where some of it comes from:


quantitative survey among 200 domestic customers shows: ￭  8 in 10 flushing

tampons every time or most times

￭  around 60% flushing wipes and sanitary towels at least sometimes

￭  8 in 10 disposing of FOG from food waste down the sink, toilet or drain every time or most times

source: quantitative customer survey in street: base 241 June 2011

identifying the causes

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Used cooking oil

Soups, sauces or gravy

Milk, shakes, yoghurts or smoothies

Sanitary Towels

Tampons

Tampon applicators

Panty Liners

Personal Cleansing Wipes

Household Cleaning Wipes

Nappies

Cotton Buds

Condoms

Plasters And Bandages

Every time Most times Sometimes Never


understanding audiences

domestic analysis of wipes and san-pro consumers identified two key groups: ￭  mums aged 25-34 with babies and toddlers ￭  mums aged 35-45 with teenage daughters ￭  engaged through 6 focus groups and 1-1

interviews with teenage girls and mums

food service establishments analysis of local blockage data showed

hotspots around: ￭  independents – restaurants, takeaways, cafes ￭  national chains – fast food outlets, pub

restaurants, supermarket rotisseries ￭  engaged through 10 interviews with national

chains, visits to 25 independents and 6 depth immersion sessions to observe behaviour


spontaneous associations with blocked drains...

Smelly Water bills

Plungers

Pipes

Dirt

Drain un-blocker

Rats

Dirty water

Blockage

Sludge Toilet waste

Disease Dyno-rod

sewage

bad smell

cost poor hygiene

having to get hands dirty!


decisions are based on:

assumptions ￭  a consistent lack of knowledge about what should

not be flushed or poured leads to assumptions ￭  “disposable” sanpro is interpreted as flushable

habitual norms ￭  behaviour is habitual and flushing/pouring

becomes the norm experience ￭  if an item has not caused any problems

in the past, there is no reason to stop beliefs ￭  perceptions of hygiene: many feel that

flushing san-pro items is more hygienic than the bin (at home) and most don’t want to touch san-pro bins (in public places) ￭  perceptions of consistency: if an item is

considered 'runny', it is easier to pour it away

“anything you think won’t disintegrate I won’t put down, but everything

else is fair game.” (older C2DE mums)

“you don’t want to put things that are really runny in the bin, it’ll probably leak all over the floor when you

go to take it out!” (younger BC1 mums)

“if it’s liquefied then it will go down the sink.” (older C2DE mums)


motivation analysis: consumers

reason: these kinds of blockages happen near me

probability of attention emotion:

it helps the water flow so I can use it again because I need it and love it

social proof: people like me are acting

personal benefit: it avoids the risk of smells, embarrassment, cost, time, inconvenience and getting my hands dirty

easy to act: I know what to put in the bin and what can go down the sink or loo

probability of action

control: it’s my choice

commitment: this is like my commitment to recycling


FSE stakeholder sample

mixture of local independent cafes, takeaways & restaurants & national chains…


understanding behaviour: FSEs

all had recent experience of blockages – caused by toilets, not FOG

independents ￭  blockages fixed at the owners expense –

costly and disruptive to business ￭  high levels of concern among those

experiencing frequent blockages -  "I don't know how to deal with it really” -  “we have been constantly plagued

with blockages, causing us to close several times”

￭  all aware that blocked drains are unhygienic - “can get you shut down by the EHO” ￭  one regularly rodded his own drain –

a preventative approach driven by fear

chains ￭  less worried about blockages – no fear of

cost as maintenance team will sort it out ￭  feel powerless to control staff :

“I can't physically monitor all the sinks all day long and police what is and isn’t put down them”

￭  “the maintenance is already in place and being paid for, it's just a matter of calling them to unblock any drains/ sinks etc…”

￭  even if we have to close “it isn't really very costly and the situation is usually sorted very quickly, so we aren't closed for very long…”


motivation analysis: FSE

probability of attention fear of loss:

risk of a fine

personal benefit: it avoids the risk of smells and lost business

easy to act: I know what to put in the bin and what can go down the sink or loo and how to get my oils collected

probability of action

control: I have all I need to act

social proof: others like me are doing it

sense of identity: this is the kind of responsible thing we do


developed programme strategy from recommendations

Launch (media/stakeholder)

Stakeholder/media/opinion former engagement

Awareness

Evaluation

FSE Consumer

Rolling aw

areness (re-fram

ing waste w

ater and keeping people in

touch with progress)

Community outreach and ownership

‘Easy to act’ communications

(inc microsite)

Free collection

raise awareness of the problem

create a personal conviction of the need to act

make it easy to act/create communities of interest

measure and reinforce

Reframing strategy

Community outreach and ownership

‘Easy to act’ communications

(inc microsite)

(Free) hygiene bags etc

Opinion former engagement area by area

‘World beneath our feet’

communications

Responsibility deal

* establish Zero Waste policy


Peterborough: two key areas

Central (3000+ households)

Stanground (3000+ households )



Video can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/LoveEveryDrop


domestic customer: key results

customers concerned about blockages

customers making an extra effort to dispose of waste appropriately

customers claiming to never flush panty liners

we all share responsibility for reducing blockages

52% 92%

69% 100%

51% 72%

25% 60%

domestic source: quantitative customer survey in street :base 226 pre 241 post March – June 2011

FSE : source 56 and 52 smae timing

pre campaign post campaign


food service establishments: key results

customers claiming they use sink strainers all the time

customers claiming they use sanitary protection signs in their loos

customers claiming they scrape plates before washing

73% 98%

38% 64%

60% 73%

pre campaign post campaign

domestic source: quantitative customer survey in street :base 226 pre 241 post March – June 2011

FSE : source 56 and 52 smae timing


reducing blockages in the targeted pilot areas

blockages down from: ■  3.3 per week pre pilot ■  1.3 per week during and post pilot ■  seen consecutive weeks with no blockages for the first time this year

blockages



Video can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/CorporateCultureLtd



a parting thought…


business provides the life support of nations…

drink

food energy

water transport fuel

medicine roads clothes

homes information technology


as more businesses get that achieving long-term success tomorrow, means helping customers act today to…

eat well

move more

save water save energy

use sustainable transport

recycle more

waste less help others

collaborate more


“ consumer use of our products accounts for 68% of our greenhouse gas emissions… consumer action is a lot less expensive than technology, and a lot quicker to take effect than legislation… the business benefits from (helping consumers act)… are not soft ones about reputation or image. They are hard measures of growth and margin improvement.” Paul Polman, CEO Unilever

…and the signs from business leaders are good…


…then corporate social marketing can help change the world…

Business

Keep It Clear campaign