Sport4Climate.
This brief was an entry for the D&AD New Blood Awards 2021 challenge set by Connect4Climate for their sub brand Sport4Climate. I was challenged with encouraging sports fans across the globe to come together and help tackle climate change. I chose to focus the brief on football since it is the most popular sport in the world and will be one of the most affected sports by climate change soon. My secondary research revealed that 23 of 92 English football league clubs will face partial or total annual flooding of their stadiums by 2050. I chose to use the upcoming 2020 Euros (postponed to 2021) as part of the campaign concept to help reduce the impact of climate change during such a popular event.
The Problem.
Using my secondary research, I was able to discover that on average, 70% of carbon emissions from a single fixture come from fan travel. The Champions League final alone would generate nearly 10,000 tonnes of carbon. In the absence of a crowd (due to Covid-19), it is estimated that under 3,000 tonnes would be generated.
The Challenge.
How can I create a guerrilla marketing campaign to enhance the match day experience and encourage sports fans across the globe to come together to tackle climate change?
The Logo.
As part of this challenge, I decided to rebrand Sport4Climate to help engage more sports fans with their mission and bring Sport4Climate into a modern era. The logo was rethought and developed into a style that sports fans could recognise and relate to.
The Campaign.
#Letschangetactics encourages football fans across the globe to use public transport as much as possible throughout the duration of the 2020 Euros. But what better way to do it than to turn it into a competition.
Fans can compete against other nations in the 2020 Euros to use public transport the most, which in turn helps reduce traffic congestion and CO2 emissions on match days.
What’s great about the campaign is that anyone can take part, even if you aren’t really into football. Fans simply scan QR codes placed in train stations, subways and bus stops when they use public transport, which generates points for their chosen nation.
The App.
The app allows users to designate points to a nation of their choice competing in the 2020 Euros. QR codes scanned on match days are worth 5 points, QR codes scanned on non-match days are worth 1 point. This encourages fans to continue to help their nation tackle climate change even on days when matches aren’t being played.
The Personal Touch.
To encourage fans to use public transport more frequently after the 2020 Euro period, the app allows fans to follow their ‘stats’ whilst using public transport. Kg of CO2 saved, points generated from scanning QR codes, and money saved from using public transport instead of personal vehicles, are just some of the fascinating statistics personal to each user.
