Neal’s Yard Remedies is a world-leading ethical organic health, beauty and wellbeing company.
Organic ingredients aren’t sprayed with deadly neonic’ pesticides.
The challenge
Cool and aloof. This was how some customers saw Neal’s Yard Remedies, the leading ethical organic health and beauty brand. A customer engagement campaign was needed. And it needed to be good, as the country was still reeling from the biggest recession in living memory.
The solution
An upbeat campaign informing customers that our precious bees are in danger, and calling on them to: sign a petition to ban deadly pesticides - neonics, raise money through purchases of a hand cream, grow bee-friendly plants and choose organic.
The result
A campaign that’s still running 10 years later. That’s raised awareness and more than £250,000 for bee causes. That helped get a pesticide banned, and also launched a new range for a new younger audience and changed customer perception of this ethical organic brand.
Neal’s Yard Remedies needed a big idea
In 2011 the global economy was a mess. The sub-prime housing market crash of 2008 had caused global financial chaos. Like many industries, retail was suffering.
Neal’s Yard Remedies was a 30-year-old natural and organic beauty, health and wellbeing brand. It was one of, if not the original organic beauty brand, and had a loyal following.
But these were tough times. The company had recently conducted customer research and discovered that some felt it was cool and aloof; the brand’s iconic dark blue glass bottles made their shops less inviting than other brands. Sales were reflecting this. Something needed to be done.
It was decided that a customer engagement campaign was needed. Something that would run for a year, raise money for a good cause, connect with customers and help reposition the brand in customers’ minds.
How to choose which good cause to support
As an ethical brand, Neal’s Yard Remedies has a lot of great stories to share, including how they support organic farming, environmental causes and disadvantaged communities around the world.
But I couldn’t help feeling that after the tough last few years, something closer to home was needed. Ideally, something that would make a difference in the UK as well as abroad. That customers could really get involved with, and that would make a meaningful difference to everyone.
At the time, there was a little known world-wide problem.
Bee populations were in massive decline.
Colony collapse, where entire hives of bees died, was occurring around the world.
Why are bees so important?
Bees and pollinators, as this isn’t just about honeybees, are said to be responsible for one in three mouthfuls of the food we eat. This includes fruit, vegetables, spices and even meat (via animal feed).
Our bees and wild pollinators aren’t just a nice to have, they’re vital.
At the time, little was known about the decline in honeybee numbers, allowing Neal’s Yard Remedies to become an educator and problem solver in one campaign.
The idea I’d proposed was liked and we quickly got to work turning it into a campaign, starting with researching everything I could find about the problem, causes, solutions and how Neal’s Yard Remedies could help.
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Deadly Neonicotinoids
It quickly became apparent that a key factor in the dramatic declinle in bee numbers was the use of a group of pesticides known as neonotinoids, or neonics for short.
Already banned by many countries, they were still being widely used in the UK. And many felt they shouldn’t be.
You can find out more about neonics here.
We had our cause. Now we just needed everything else.
Campaign name
It was agreed that we’d raise money through sales of a new product, a hand cream. This and the campaign both needed a name.
I created a shortlist of possible names, checking each for existing copyright. One favourite was trade marked, and while it had lapsed, another solution would be safer.
Bee Lovely It summed up the cause. It included an instruction – albeit spelt slightly differently. It was short. Memorable. And nobody had trademarked it. The campaign had a name.
Visual impact
The design team created the fabulous eye-catching design that was both positive and relevant, and which really jumped out of the sea of deep blue bottles.
Launch campaign material
I got to work writing the pack copy, catalogue copy, website product copy and an in-store launch campaign. Much of the copy I created is still being used today.
How can we make the biggest possible impact?
We wanted the campaign to be bigger than just helping bees. We wanted to save them. So we decided we needed to do all that we could to get these deadly pesticides banned, and with our customers’ support, we felt we could do it.
A petition was created calling for the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, The Rt Hon Caroline Spelman, to ban neonics.
Petition postcard - 120,000 customers signed to show their support
The front of the postcard gave the story behind Neonics
How to tell a complicated story?
Most people weren’t aware of the problem, so we needed to act as educator first. But how?
It was no use trying to tell a complicated story in-store, people didn’t have the time or focus.
Would people read it on the website? Possibly. But that still wouldn’t reach enough.
The Little Book of Bees - a small booklet packed with bite-sized information was the solution. Somewhere to share information and include collaborators such as activist and campaigner Sam Roddick. To set out the problem and solutions.
Shoppers could pick it up for free, pop into their bag and read it on the bus, at home, in the car, whenever. It would also be shared with their kids, friends, whoever.
And we could include a postcard petition as a fold-out on the last page. Perfect!
Did it work?
Yes. Big time! The campaign instantly became a huge success. The press loved it. Awards judges loved it.
Most importantly, customers loved it. They signed the petition. They entered the photography competition. They bought the hand cream. They changed their minds about the brand.
What has the one-year Bee Lovely campaign achieved?
The hand cream quickly sold out.
The campaign launched in the US.
120,000 people signed the petition calling for a ban on neonicotinoids, which we delivered to 10 Downing Street (I’m the one on the far right)
Not long after delivering the petition, the first Europe-wide ban of neonicotinoids was announced. Coincidence?
The campaign won a few awards
It won a lot of fans
It helped to position the brand as a campaigner, one that cares about people and the environment, and is doing something through its actions as well as words.
From a single campaign product a whole new product collection and category was launched, an entry point for new and younger customers.
To date, more than £250,000 has been donated to bee lovely causes around the world. And it’s still going strong!
And most importantly – while helping to save the bees, it also helped to build customer engagement and change the way people viewed the brand.
I couldn’t be more proud that my original idea, and much of my original copy, is still being used and making a difference 10 years later!
“Michelle delivered great results for the business, creating memorable, bestselling product names, launch campaigns and beautifully-crafted copy. Michelle would be a great asset to any business and is a pleasure to work with – I’d recommend her to anyone.”
You can see the timeline on Neal’s Yard Remedies website
If you have a problem that needs fresh thinking and copy that stands the test of time, please get in touch and let’s have a chat. Talking is where all the best solutions begin.