JOURNAL
Changing behaviour in five steps.
DEC 2024
Five steps.
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1 Start with a clear purpose.
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2 Understand your audience.
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3 Make it measurable.
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4 Be creative.
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5 Empower your audience.
In the face of global challenges like climate change, behaviour-change campaigns are essential tools to inspire collective action. Follow these five steps to shift mindsets and foster long-term impact.
Start with a clear purpose
Every successful campaign begins with a defined purpose. For example, GenOcean aimed to not only inform people about ocean protection but also to inspire tangible actions towards restoration. This clarity of mission allowed the campaign to maintain a consistent focus across platforms, ensuring its messages resonated.
The Trash Isles campaign petitioned the United Nations to recognise ocean plastic as a ‘nation’ to spotlight the scale of plastic pollution. Both campaigns focused on making complex issues accessible, empowering audiences with knowledge and purpose.
Know your audience and design effective messaging.
Understand your audience
Understanding audience perspectives is pivotal to designing effective messaging. GenOcean tapped into regional insights, adapting its storytelling for diverse cultures and contexts. For instance, in coastal regions, the campaign highlighted local livelihoods reliant on the ocean, while in urban areas, it emphasised the global interdependence of ecosystems.
A parallel approach can be seen in the Love Food Hate Waste campaign in the UK. By using survey data, it tailored its messaging to address specific barriers to reducing food waste, like time constraints or lack of awareness. Insights like these ensure campaigns connect with audiences on a personal level.
Make it measurable
Creative storytelling is essential, but pairing it with data analytics ensures campaigns remain impactful. GenOcean used visually stunning underwater footage alongside evidence-based calls to action, capturing both hearts and minds.
Metrics such as audience engagement, reach, and conversion rates provide insights into how well the campaign resonates with its target audience. Tools like Google Analytics or social media dashboards enable real-time tracking, helping teams refine strategies on the go. Additionally, qualitative feedback, such as user surveys or testimonials, complements quantitative data, offering a holistic view of the campaign’s impact and areas for improvement.
Embrace diverse mediums and tap into creativity.
Be creative
Tapping into creativity means embracing diverse mediums to amplify campaign messages. Viral videos, such as The real price of water, emotionally resonate while reaching millions. Art installations, like Greenpeace’s ice sculptures of children melting in the sun, provoke thought and urgency.
These creative approaches break through the noise, captivating audiences and making messages unforgettable, while fostering deeper engagement with the campaign’s objectives.
Empower your audience
Behaviour-change campaigns are most effective when they empower audiences with practical steps. GenOcean provided simple, achievable actions, such as reducing single-use plastics or joining local clean-ups. By making solutions accessible, the campaign motivated individuals to feel part of the solution.
Likewise, the Stop the Traffik campaign against human trafficking used geolocation technology to enable users to report suspicious activity in real-time. This blend of awareness and empowerment turned passive viewers into active participants.
