Time’s up for single-use plastics in Wales
On 30 October 2023, Wales introduced a landmark
ban on the sale and supply of certain single-use plastic
items-a bold step in the nation’s climate journey.
Our campaign aimed to raise awareness of this change, ensuring businesses and the public were informed, prepared, and inspired to embrace a more sustainable future.
Our challenge: making the message matter
We were tasked with:
- Increasing unprompted awareness among senior decision-makers from 22% to 40%.
- Raising prompted awareness from 44% to 60%.
- Boosting campaign awareness among businesses and the public to 40%.
- With limited time and a broad audience-from business owners to everyday consumers-we needed to act fast and make every message count.
Our strategy: ‘Together, it’s our business to clean up Wales’
We built the campaign around a unifying message that encouraged collective action. Our strategy focused on:
- Decision-makers responsible for implementing the law.
- The wider public, especially those working in affected sectors.
We used a phased approach:
- Early messaging prompted businesses to run down stock.
- As the law approached, urgency increased: ‘Time is running out for single-use plastic.’
- Post-law, we reinforced awareness and offered support.
Creative that inspires collective action
To stand out, we used a bright, bold visual style and a lively tone. Our hero asset-a stop-motion animation featuring banned items-made the law easy to understand and memorable. We also produced bilingual and community-language materials, posters, leaflets, and a stakeholder toolkit, all aligned with the Climate Action Wales brand.
Smart Spend. Real Impact
The campaign delivered exceptional results:
- Prompted awareness among businesses: 85% (+25% above target)
- Unprompted awareness: 76% (nearly double the baseline)
- Preparedness: 72% of businesses felt ready (+36% above target)
- Public awareness: 49%, with 30% recalling the key message
- Support for the law: 78% of businesses and 77% of the public
- Digital channels drove over 100,000 clicks, with Google Search achieving a 36.69% CTR. Facebook delivered 5M+ impressions, and YouTube reached 83K views. TV and radio added scale, reaching millions across Wales.
From awareness to action
This campaign didn’t just inform-it empowered. Businesses took steps to prepare. The public embraced the change. And Wales moved closer to its goal of becoming a global leader in sustainability.
