Wear wool not fossil fuel – the Woolmark campaign examined

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Hi, and welcome to Sustainability Solved. The Sustainable Business Podcast. I'm Will Richardson. Today, as the cost of living crisis bites, we ask how important environmental messaging is to consumer choice. Is sustainability a luxury for a few or the only way ahead for brands? I'm joined by Will Thacker and Fran Dox from Twentysomething, the creative company behind the captivating Woolmark Wear Wool, Not Fossil Fuel campaign. In the ad, figures emerge dazed from a pool of oil and strip off to reveal wool clothing underneath. The video aims to educate consumers about the environmental dangers of synthetic fibers. Welcome both of you, and congratulations on the Woolmark campaign. Can I start by getting you to introduce yourselves and explain your role in the campaign? Maybe Fran, would you like to go first, please?

Yeah, of course. Thanks, Will, and thanks for having us on this. My name's Fran Dox. I'm a strategy partner at Twentysomething, so I look after all things strategy-related, which is usually trying to work out what the business objectives are, what we need the campaign to do, how we can speak to the audience in the way that they will be most receptive to our message, and how we can make sure the campaign is as effective as possible. So my role in this particular campaign was designing and heading up a lot of the research. So I did a lot of speaking to people before we got into the creative side of things and really understanding what the actual problem was that we needed to communicate to people.

Brilliant, thank you. Will?

My name is Will Thacker, creative partner and co-founder at Twentysomething. I'm essentially the creative director of the agency. I look after an amazing creative team. who had come up with most of the brilliant thoughts. I'm there to shepherd it essentially through to making sure we're hitting all the business objectives and strategic points that Fran's laid down and sort of really creating engaging, exciting storytelling.

Fran, this campaign was launched off the back of some research that Walmart did. Can you share what they discovered about consumers and sustainable fashion?

Yeah, absolutely. So the first thing that they told us when they came to us about this brief was that they'd done some research to say that back in the '80s, around 17% of all fibers were synthetic fibers. And by 2030, we were going to get to around 80% of all fibers in the market being synthetic. And this was a huge issue, obviously, because synthetic fibers are really bad for the planet. They're made from oil, and they are causing a lot of sort of climate issues. But what they were also sort of finding was that people kind of knew that synthetic fibers were, you know, not natural. They kind of knew that they weren't very gentle on the planet, and yet they were still buying them in their droves. And so they said to us, well, you know, what do we say to people that is going to get them to change their mind and change their behavior? How do we really sort of drive it home to people? Because these messages about wool being natural are not really working. So we had a hypothesis at the very beginning, which was that while people sort of knew almost intellectually that synthetic fibers were bad for the planet, they didn't really make that connection, as many of us don't, with the clothes that they were wearing, and the fibers they're made of, and then that impact. So if I was to sort of ask you, what's in your cupboard? You would say, I have t-shirts, I have some jeans, I have a jacket. You wouldn't necessarily say, I have silk, I have cotton, I have polyester. And so what we really needed to do as part of the campaign was make that link, that connection really clear for people that the things that they were buying and putting on their body were made of something and that thing itself had an impact. And that's where, you know, a lot of Will's brilliant work with the director, Céline Jauric, was all about making it incredibly visceral and making people feel it on their skin and almost be slightly disgusted by it as well, which I think is a really important part.

Okay, and Will, how do you begin with the creative vision for this campaign?

Yeah, I think that visceral feeling and Of just trying to actually tangibly make people feel the difference of the fabrics and the origins of the material was sort of a huge part. And there was a lot of reference we found of people weirdly covered in honey and paint and this type of thing. And there was something really claustrophobic about that. And although we were sort of talking about oil as a sort of material and the source of the problem, there's a huge problem the other side of it, of it suffocating our planet as well. So there's some really nice links there conceptually that we can make and take people on this journey. I think there was one fact which I'm probably going to get the numbers wrong, but there's the X amount of millions, hundreds of millions of barrels of oil used in—

150 million barrels of oil per year.

There you go. That people really sort of got hold of in research groups as well. Like they were like, wow, I just, there was no idea that this fossil fuels was like a source material and there was that quantity of it. I mean, I think a lot of people were really engaged with greenhouse gases and the fashion industry becoming a problem that way. I think sort of their sort of carbon footprint's the same as sort of France, Germany, England, and another country all put together. But people just hadn't really started to consider or think about this idea of or the source of the material that they're wearing. And we wanted to take that sort of barrels of oil fact and make it something tangible and something real. And one of the creatives— I think we were on a call again with Søren Jorek from Studio Birthplace, who are the directors— and one of the creatives sort of crunched some numbers and got to a point about how many Olympic-sized swimming pools there might be. And that felt much more real, like something that everyone's seen, you know, like it's a— It's a space that most people in the world have seen, and it's still huge. And when you go into those places, the vastness and the depth of that pool, and to experience that and, you know, and then to tangibly change that to oil and have people immersed in it, soaked in it, I think was the sort of start point of the creative.

There's quite a few people in my team, and obviously I'm surrounded by a huge amount of vegans and people that don't want to. And I, and I just want to just ask, has that come into this research? Because it's— it can't be black and white. And so how does, how does the fact that, you know, we should be and will be using, using animals— let's face it, we use them— less. How does that come into this argument?

I think it's a really interesting point. And I think Walmart as a company will hold up their hands and be as transparent as possible around their eco-credentials. I think bringing in animal husbandry and the way that we treat animals, I think is really important. And as an organization, they're very much trying to strive for the best animal husbandry as possible. In terms of what vegans' standpoint in the world, there are plenty of products that in the world of choice, the choices that we make that are not vegan-friendly as well. And I think this material choice has really come down to, you know, like you can either be on that side or the idea of vegan-friendly fabric. There is obviously fabrics that are not driven from oil-based but are not driven from animal products as well. So they're out there as choices. I think from Walmart's point of view, this is very much driven at this fossil fuel problem and the continuing growth of that. It is dominating the materials that we're using and it's continuing to dominate the materials that we use.

Okay, that's interesting. Okay, thank you. I mean, does the age of your target consumer matter when launching an environmentally focused campaign? And I mean, are some ages more willing to listen?

Yeah, definitely. I think the sort of younger consumer, and when I say younger, I'm not sort of saying not necessarily just Gen Z, I think it's sort of millennials below. tend to be a bit more receptive, tend to be a bit more switched on about environmental issues. I think you also tend to find that the youngest end tend to be a bit more optimistic, actually, and a bit more action-oriented. There can be a bit of sort of feeling of jadedness, really, in the kind of older generation. But yeah, absolutely, you certainly see a lot of action in the kind of younger generation.

Natural England published the results of a survey recently that said those with a higher household income were more likely to agree that looking after the environment was important to them. So is sustainability a luxury for the few, particularly in a cost of living crisis?

Yeah, I think it is, especially if you're shopping for new items. Of course, there's a whole sort of resale industry which is massive. But when it comes to shopping for new clothes, a wool jumper can cost 4 times as much as its polyester equivalent. But I don't think that the problem is so much that people on lower incomes tend to live less sustainably. I think the problem is much more systemic in that we have such deep levels of inequality in the first place, and that people on lower incomes are sort of forced into overusing resources because they need to survive. And I think the really sad thing is that that's quite a vicious cycle because people on lower incomes tend to be the worst affected by climate change. You know, maybe they live on floodplains because housing is cheaper in that space. And it's just a real sort of systemic problem that I think we need to kind of address from the top down as well.

Twentiesomething has worked on environmental messaging for several brands. Do you think that sustainability matters to consumers for some product areas more than others?

Yeah, I think, I think there's some areas that are much closer to home. I think they're the sort of brands and products that people literally consume or put into their bodies or put on their bodies or rub onto their bodies. I think people are really conscious on that thing because I think it literally affects them. Um, and so I think that's a big area that's had a bigger push. And I think, you know, the sort of organic side of things from food has obviously grown sort of faster than other sustainable messages. But I think that's the sort of big area that definitely people relate to a lot better.

Yeah.

And Will, what do you think the future holds for brand messaging? Are we going to continue to see environmental issues at the fore?

Yeah, I mean, we all can't— none of us can hide from the problems this world's facing. And The alarm bells are going, and we cannot hide from that. And I think brands of all scales are going to have to start making huge impact on that. That can't just be from a messaging point of view; that needs to be down to manufacturing processes, how they're creating their products, how they advertise it. These need to change on all levels. You know, I think you could sort of see sort of big brands, say like. SC Johnson sort of buying and investing in Method, you know, had some backlash against the sort of core fans of Method, but these huge multinationals need to be seen and also want to have brands that are ready to be future-facing as well. You know, I think that P&G have made a pledge about recycling packaging and it should all be recyclable or reusable, plus 100% renewable and zero net waste by by sort of 2030. You know, that's some quite big goals and good goals. And I think they are much more as a business level than a sort of marketing comms level, but I think they're amazing places to start talking about from a brand. And then I guess you also see this sort of badging that we've started to see with like B Corp, 1% for the Planet, climate neutral certificate. You know, like I think these are visible badges that people are starting to look for. And more and more.

One of the things that I find really interesting is the nature of that message and how it's changing. And this was something that we really kind of had in the back of our mind when we were creating the Walmart work, which was that, you know, so previously there used to be a lot of comms that were almost quite finger-waggy and sort of saying, you know, oh, don't do this, don't, you know, don't have plastic straws. And there were this sort of constant feeling of Oh, we're all messing it up, and these are the new rules. And what we wanted to do with the Walmart ads, because we tended to find that when you said messages like that, people would either kind of turn off from it because they would say, well, you just made me feel like a bad person, or they would disassociate from it and sort of say, well, you know, I'm not that kind of person. So when we created the Walmart work, we were very conscious to create almost this feeling of surprise. And there was no sort of blame in it. There were just these people that kind of emerged and looked at this oil on their arms in this kind of sort of shocked moment, as if they're not necessarily complicit in it. It's something that has really just sort of occurred and emerged, rather than something that we were telling people, look what a bad mistake you've been making all these years. And I think, yeah, the nature of those messages are much more a level, you know, we're all in it together trying to change things rather than you as an individual having to start.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And Fran, a part of your role is keeping an eye on consumerism and digital footprints for the youth markets. What changes and trends do you see emerging?

Yeah, I mean, there's definitely a move towards sustainable brands, so brands like Allbirds and Everlane in the US doing incredibly well. There's been a real resurgence of interest in, you know, brands like Patagonia and North Face. And also, as I sort of mentioned, the secondhand fashion market is growing hugely. So it's currently valued at around $40 billion, and I think it's set to double by the next few years. Unfortunately, you also have this kind of swing of the likes of brands like Shein, who are still doing phenomenally well. They're outstripping H&M and Zara, and, you know, they're growing at sort of a massive rate. And I think that's also due to this kind of TikTokization of consumerism, where, you know, well, often these brands are using very sophisticated algorithms to show you products that are super relevant for you and really kind of sucking in that consumer that wants to wants to show a different outfit on, you know, Instagram or TikTok every day. So there's almost like these 2 forces at play at the same time, and we just gotta hope that the sustainable one wins out.

And when we talk about sustainable, it seems to me that this podcast we've been talking about environment more than sustainable. I mention it because one thing we've not talked about is how much we pay the workers in the factories in any of these companies. So Patagonia, North Face, and the fast fashion brands. So how do we address that problem? Because it is systemic, and it's not even systemic within the fashion industry, actually. It's systemic within any manufacturing, in inverted commas.

Yeah, I mean, it's It's such a big one. I think it's related to the environment problem, so particularly with Woolmark, for example, you know, what we're trying to do is really raise the profile and desirability of wool that will ultimately have a knock-on effect for the farmers of wool as well, that will ultimately help the planet in turn. So it's one of those things that's kind of everything is linked.

Do you think education is a part of it. And Will, I'm actually going back to something that you just talked about in one of the previous questions about B Corp, 1% for the planet, but you mentioned climate neutral or carbon neutral. And from a business that, you know, within the Green Element Group, we recognize that being climate neutral is kind of BS, to be honest with you. that there is nothing to it. It's a very good CSR strategy, but it's not an environmental strategy. And so therefore, how does that play in with the work that you've done, that education piece?

Yeah, I mean, I think the work for Walmart in general, like that campaign, it's like a 3-year campaign. So this first point was educate on The problems of synthetics or where they come from. The next year would be hopefully about engaging retailers and doing partnerships with them and educating them. And then the third year that we haven't quite got to yet, how that spools on. But like, I think there's a big job with consumers generally, also back to the sort of badging thing about what all this stuff means. Is it real? Does it have any effect? You know, yeah, carbon neutral is It's just a huge thing to even attempt to achieve. And as you said, it's a lot of it's a load of bullshit, basically. So, but are people fooled by this? Do they understand it? Is it greenwashing? And I think that we all need to go on that journey. And, you know, like, I'm a consumer myself, and I try my very best at home to choose the right products. And you learn things all the time. Um, we even had a Chat with a lady who runs sustainability company the day, and I thought I was doing very well on my toilet paper selection. And then she said, "You do realize that bamboo is is shipped all the way from China every time." Basically, it's only grown there. So this is the right way to go forward: is recycled paper from the UK, made in the UK, low shipping costs, you know, like low transportation costs. These are the things how you reduce it. We're all fooled. You know, everyone looks at bamboo and goes, "That's." a saving grace, and it's like, it's not.

So—

I wouldn't say you're fooled because that's not fair. It's so nuanced and so complicated because in some instances transportation can actually not be even— there's no point even looking at it as a part of the equation because it's such a low part of the equation. And then in some instances it isn't. It's really hard working in this industry. Don't feel like you're being fooled or anything. I think that It's a— and it's also continually learning as well and changing and evolving. So I think I'm trying to make— don't, yeah, don't feel bad. And the listener, I don't want the listener to feel bad either.

I think this is one of the real problems really, isn't it? That we as humans kind of live off of shortcuts for information to understand how the world works and to navigate it. And that's really how, you know, how brands work. So if somebody just puts the word green or eco or something on a product, we're quite quick to kind of go into it because otherwise we'd have to kind of read the packet every single time. And so greenwashing is rife because it can be, because that's how we operate. And that's a really sort of sad thing, I think. And as consumers, we really do have a responsibility to kind of step in and really do the homework, like you say.

Since the pandemic, recruitment has been very competitive for businesses. Do you think a brand's environmental messaging matters to staff as well as consumers?

Yeah, I mean, as a company, we were fed up with the sort of the norm of our industry, and we wanted to create something new. And part of that was sort of taking control of our own destiny of the types of companies that we wanted to work with. And that wasn't to set out to work with sustainable or people or planet-first brands. And that's still not in our sort of core pillars of what we'd like to do. We want to work with future-facing brands and brands that are going to be around the next 20 years, and a lot of them seem to be brands that are focused on sustainability. But as we have become quite picky with who we work with, and that filtering system has meant that we actually have quite a nice portfolio of companies, and it's quite attractive to talent and young people coming into into our business. And I think one of the proudest things that we've achieved in the last 3 years as well.

Brilliant. And Will, you've worked as creative director for a number of agencies and brands. Have you seen brand messaging change over the last 20 years or so?

Yeah, I mean, hugely. When I first became a sort of art director in my first sort of job, in my first agency, you know, and for years really, I didn't ever see a sustainability brief or really an eco campaign or anything like that. And I've spent my time, and that's why I've made the decisions that I do now. I have spent some of my time selling burgers and sugary alcoholic drinks and cars and things like that. And I think I work in a business of consumerism in some ways. And now I'm trying to make better choices of that. In terms of the messaging that I think has changed, I think a really interesting way of looking at this is creatives' portfolios over the years. So in our industry, you put together a portfolio and you take it around to different creative directors, different agencies, and you present the work that you're into and your ideas. And I think that at the beginning, when I started out, it was full of— you wanted disruptive brands and you wanted disruptive messaging, and it was almost 2 fingers up to everything, you know, like you wanted to go through a portfolio very quickly, and it was in some ways quite shallow in that sense. There was a key insight to a fair brand, but it got my attention and I related to it, to that product. And then probably around 2010, I would say, you started to have this word purpose come along. And in these portfolios, you started to see brand ideas, sort of like Coca-Cola doing this project for wells, or, and these, you know, speculative ideas. but there was sort of purpose bolted onto brands. And I think now when you look at young creatives' portfolios, they're full of brands that have that sustainability, that purpose, that people and planet built into the business. And I think that's sort of where the messaging sort of tracked over the years.

Brilliant. And finally, both Will, Fran, other than your own projects, can you name a recent environmental messaging campaign Which you thought was very effective?

Yeah, one of my favourites that I actually used a couple of times as a reference point when we were developing the Walmart work is Address Pollution. So it was a few years ago, but it was a site saying addresspollution.org, and you basically go on it and put your own postcode in, and it gives you a very, you know, it's a beautiful interface clear reading of how much pollution is, you know, what's the air quality level at your house. And I thought it was just a really simple, beautiful way of making it really real and really immediate to people and something that they could share and something that they could then send to their MP. And I love the kind of interactivity of it and the way that it had action built into the message. So that's something that, you know, we're definitely looking at.

How do we start creating REI, the outdoor company, American outdoor company, about 7 years ago boycotted Black Friday and it said Opt Outside. They basically closed all their stores on that day and it's sort of grown and grown and now they close everything. Everyone has their day off, it's paid, they send their employees outside, the distribution Distribution locations are closed, the headquarters are closed, the call centers are closed. And on a day of mass consumerism, as a big brand to opt out, I thought that was a wicked campaign and it showed some purpose and a statement that we're not going to get sucked into this, another, another big spin day for us to spend money.

Brilliant.

Yeah, yeah, it's very good.

Well, thank you both very much for coming on this podcast.

Thank you. Thanks for having us.

Thank you, Will. That's it for this edition of Sustainability Solved. Thank you to my guests, Will Thacker and Fran Dox from Twentysomething. I'm Will Richardson at Green Element. For more information on the Walmart campaign, Twentysomething, and the Green Element, please check the show notes. If you have any feedback or questions, you can get in touch with us @GreenElement on social media. And don't forget to follow this podcast in your favorite app or write us Thanks for watching this review.