Procter & Gamble - Ariel Turn to 30

The campaign was launched in 2006, and aimed to get customers washing their clothes with Ariel at 30 degrees as a long-term change in behaviour. This focus builds on the realisation that the carbon impact of washing clothes is more bound up in the temperature of water used than it is in the manufacture of washing powders & liquids.

The campaign was run in partnership with the Energy Savings Trust. Although a number of other companies added their own ‘turn to 30’ messages by the second year, independent research showed that 88 percent of consumers who  changed their behaviour to wash clothes at 30 degrees associated the message with Ariel. In addition, when the Energy Saving Trust asked where people had seen its logo, a quarter of people attributed awareness to Ariel campaign materials.

Procter & Gamble showed through this campaign that, once consumer performance concerns about low temperature washing are addressed, positive marketing can be used to encourage sustainable shifts in behaviour. Before the campaign, customers believed that only washing at high temperatures would obtain good results – a real barrier to changing behaviour. By promoting the benefit of its cool cleaning technologies, Ariel was able to overcome these barriers, not only helping to reduce the carbon emissions associated with washing, but also saving consumers money at a time when energy prices have gone up – a win for everybody.