Green Day Britain

The challenge of working towards a sustainable future is a challenge for everyone, including companies, and particularly with energy companies. EDF, who had recently announced a large collection of environmental initiatives and had also became the first sustainability partner of the London 2012 Olympics. To continue with its green achievements, EDF wanted to promote its credentials as the UK’s lowest carbon generator of electricity, and raise awareness of its sponsorship commitment to London 2012.

The last time London had hosted the Olympics was in 1948. Although it was a city still struggling to recover from the second world war, London managed to host the games due to the collective participation and generosity of the public. EDF decided to re-ignite that post-war spirit of community, and bring the nation together with a sense of renewed purpose – to make Britain greener.

Armed the insight that individuals often find it hard to change habitual behavior patterns, but that groups working towards a common goal can motivate individuals within that group, EDF attempted to instigate behavioral change on a massive, nationwide scale. The overriding goal was to lower Britain’s carbon footprint by the time of the next Olympic games.

10 July was designated Green Britain Day. Using the teamgreenbritain.org website, visitors could join various communities that each focused on a different area of sustainability, such as Team Energy (focused on energy efficiency), Team A to B (focused on car sharing schemes) and Team Swap (dedicated to recycling). The iconic image of a green Union flag appeared in multiple ambient locations and TV spots. Websites Jeeves and Facebook both adopted Green Britain Day elements, and national free-sheet paper Metro adopted a green masthead. Celebrities, members of the Royal Family and politicians involved themselves in some of the 975 PR projects across the country.

The public responded to the call to action, and 700,000 people signed up for Team Great Britain, 800 schools participated and 12,000 people attended a Green Britain Day concert organised by Heart fm. Apart from raising environmental issues, the EDF brand also benefitted from the exercise, with a 28% increase in brand awareness. The brand also registered as the most recalled sponsor of the Olympics, and marked a 21% increase as the brand that “lead the way in green energy”.