Wunderman “Greensaver”
100 computer monitors left on overnight waste loads of energy (120Wh) and pump out plenty of CO2 (51.6kgs). As part of WPP’s green mandate, they wanted to develop a campaign that would help their agency and their clients persuade their employees to switch theirs off, which will reduce their company’s carbon footprint, save energy and boost green credentials. Their idea communicates the right message, in the right place, at the right time. The screensaver – which activates after five minutes of inactivity – is the perfect medium to persuade employees to switch off their monitors. And the video footage of appliances (microwave, boiling water and colour copier) dramatises the high amounts of energy your monitor is wasting. Screensavers need to be aesthetically pleasing for the user and, on a practical level, use all pixels on the screen to prevent pixel blow-out – so this is also a fully functional application. They created a screensaver and installed it onto every employee’s computer. Using some rather startling facts, the screensaver creates a visual illusion: that inactive monitors around the office have been transformed into everyday objects associated with high energy use – such as a microwave or a colour copier. The desired outcome was to persuade employees to switch off their monitors when they go home. Immediate drop in number of monitors left on overnight – from approximately 60% to 5%. Annual energy saving for London office is an estimated £18,000. (Costing under £5,000 to build, it pays for itself three times over every year.) C02 saving equates to 58 tonnes, proving that a high impact message with the right use of media can have a hugely positive impact. Over 4,000 downloads from our public site within six weeks of launch, so it has spread virally. It’s also being successfully employed by Ford, P&G and Land Rover and has won at UK creative awards.
Agency: Wunderman London, United Kingdom.
CATEGORY: Public Service/Social Welfare
