When P&G formulated Dawn 50 years ago, its goal was to create the best product that is effective on grease and gentle on skin. Then, wildlife rescuers discovered Dawn’s cleansing-yet-gentle properties worked best to clean wildlife in the wake of oil spills. Ever since, caring for vulnerable bird and mammal populations has been core to Dawn’s sustainability efforts.
As the category leader with a legacy of saving wildlife, P&G championed Dawn’s efforts within the Company’s Ambition 2030 stewardship goals. The plan outlines P&G’s commitment to enabling positive environmental and societal impacts while demonstrating value for consumers and the company.
Dawn’s Goals at the Sink:
- Enable a 25% reduction in in-home water usage related to handwashing dishes in North America.
- By 2025, use widely recyclable or reusable packaging.
- P&G has already made progress on its sustainability journey by converting to 100% renewable energy at manufacturing sites and reducing water usage in manufacturing by 35%.
Dawn’s Goals at the Shore:
- Protect and care for one million birds and marine mammals
- Invest in educational programs that teach people how they can help create a cleaner world wildlife
- Inspire and empower one million people to become Wildlife Heroes
In our research, we identified “eco-anxiety,” a mental health condition impacting 67% of Americans ages 18 to 23, according to a 2020 study by the American Psychology Association. That anxiety especially impacts parents. According to P&G’s ‘It’s Our Home’ study, two-thirds of parents with young children at home are concerned about the impact of climate change on future generations. This made us wonder, what if we could reach people before eco-anxiety set in?
P&G’s ‘It’s Our Home’ study also found 85% of parents wish they could learn simple ways to do more at home to protect the planet, versus what they are currently doing. Furthermore, a recent study from Brown University concluded that routines and habits in children, including household chores and responsibilities, are unlikely to vary after the age of 9.
What if we crafted empowering and inspiring content, designed for children, to help them learn simple sustainable habits and behaviors? What if we could show them — before it is too late — that from the sink to the shore, small changes can make a big impact? With our commitment to Ambition 2030 spanning the next decade, could we bring the next generation on this journey with us?
To build a mutually educational and inspirational campaign, we sought to complement our longstanding nonprofit partners' (International Bird Rescue & The Marine Mammal Center) expertise by enlisting a new partner who could help us teach children about wildlife conservation authentically. We collaborated with Jenna Bush Hager, a well-known advocate for child literacy, but also equally passionate about sustainability.
Marrying Hager’s children’s literacy insights and passion for the great outdoors, with International Bird Rescue and The Marine Mammal Center’s wildlife conservation expertise, we decided a children’s book was the ideal way to cultivate the next generation of wildlife heroes.
We surrounded the announcement of Dawn’s sustainability commitments and co-created a children’s book with an array of media and engagement driving tactics.
Earned Media
- 114 placements
- 2.76B impressions
- 90% include at least 2 key messages
Paid Media (Minecraft)
- 14M total campaign impressions
- 994,000 social media impressions1
- 2M in-game app impressions
- 648,000 video impressions
- 456 creations shared
- $10,000 donated
Influencer
- 18 influencers + 1 celeb
- 1.9M organic impressions
- 6% engagement rate
Dawn Instagram
- 5,500 hero video views
- -29 owned social posts
- 90,000 owned social impressions
- 4.6% average engagement rate
‘The Wonderful World of Blue’
- 10,000 impressions
- 7,500 page views
- 1,800 video views
