I came up with the marketing strategy and campaigns to get as many people as possible to move away from recycling and do something to support Friends of the Earth’s Plastic Free Future campaign. I did research – and commissioned a national survey – to work out how best to approach the campaign.

My strategy targeted two main groups: 1) grassroots supporters, getting them to spread the word and lobby locally; and 2) reaching a new, younger audience and inspiring them to live without single-use plastics completely. And I wanted to get both audiences to support The Plastic Pollution Bill: the first ever plastics bill to be put through parliament.

We helped local groups campaign in their towns and cities and  lobby their MPs to support the plastics bill. I worked with Friends of the Earth’s activism team to create comms, emails, events, posters and social media.

For brand new audiences, I created the #PlasticFreeFriday challenge with hints and tips, flyposting on billboards in Manchester, Bristol, Peckham and London. We put on ‘Plastic Unwrapped’ events in Brixton, London, with guest speakers. And we tested new ways to raise money online.

‘Our plastics pollution petition being our most successful ever, and we have significantly grown our social media following over the last year, in large part as a result of the marketing approach.’

Corrina Cordon, Head of Brand, Marketing and Audiences, Friends of the Earth, April 2019

The events sold out. The campaign reached over one million people. Friends of the Earth’s Instagram followers grew. I got new partners like Pinterest, House of Hackney, Grand Designs live, Iceland and Wagamama involved. And, most importantly, we brought longstanding Friends of the Earth supporters and a new, younger and more diverse audience together to back the campaign.