The Relationship
LBi has worked with British Gas on the Generation Green programme since its inception in late 2007. The project was launched as part of their ongoing environmental work, aiming to bring together pupils, parents, teachers, and schools to help make the world a greener place. As a digitally led project, LBi and British Gas shaped the strategic direction together, which made sure an engaging and robust digital platform was delivered.
The Work
With greenwash a very 21st century phobia, we realised that this was a very crowded marketplace. Therefore British Gas needed a programme that could cut through and engage the audience in an original and compelling way. So the concept behind the website we created was simple: schools, parents, and pupils had to make pledges based around carrying out real green tasks for which they would be rewarded in the form of leaves. These leaves could then be redeemed online for green prizes for the school. As an extension of the programme, we also developed 'Professor Green and the Eco-Rangers': a visually rich, interactive game with a customisable character and school leaderboard.
The 'green thing' was driven home in a context that every child could enjoy and understand.
The Outcome
www.generationgreen.co.uk launched in April 2008 to great interest from schools, children, the media, and the interactive community. An extensive TV and online advertising campaign generated traffic from day one. Over 9,600 schools registered (with a potential influence on more than 3 million children), and more than 20,000 lesson plans were downloaded, resulting in well above 300,000 hours of teaching. 100,000 activities were completed (ranging from appointing light monitors to long-term carbon reduction programmes). And as we speak, 27,000 schools have now reduced their carbon footprint.
Tags: award-winning, branded experience, Centrica, client, gaming, Generation Green, green, social, strategy, tech
Cresta Joy
I’m loving our trophy from Cresta for Generation Green. Its big, made of clear acrylic and in the shape of my initial – all that makes me happy.
Well done to the team – this was an epic project – providing hundreds of thousands of hours of learning material for over 3.5 million children. Be Generation Green and defeat the evils of fossil fuels.
Tags: Awards, Cresta, Generation Green
zim zimma, who got the keys to my bima
We’re looking for gongs rather than keys to be honest, as we have 4 nominations in the forthcoming BIMA awards.
Online PR: British Red Cross, Refugee Week 2009
Sector – B2C: Electrolux, Palais de Tokyo Art Home
Sector – Charity & not for profit: D&AD New Blood
Sector – Informational: Generation Green
Let’s see how we get on. And apologies to Beenie Man.
Tags: Art Home, BIMA, British Red Cross, D&AD, electrolux, Generation Green, Refugee Week
LBi scoops Best B2B at the Revolution awards
LBi has won Best B2B campaign at the prestigious Revolution Awards for Generation Green and the eco rangers game. Judges who comprised of senior staff from agency and client side said that the campaign was a “clever initiative to get schools and children engaged with British Gas in a subtle way while educating them on environmental issues in a fun, interactive and playful manner.” The campaign has been successful – more than 8000 schools (35%) have registered with Generation Green to date and teachers have downloaded more than 13,000 lesson plans and hosted more than 750 ‘green’ assemblies. This means that 3,168,515 children across the UK were potentially impacted by the programme. The popularity of the Green lesson plans with teachers has resulted in British Gas providing over 303,000 hours of learning in UK schools.
British gas wanted to convince schools it is committed to the environment. During the summer of 2008, schools and their pupils were asked to take part in the campaign with the promise of a reward at the end of the summer term.
Using good versus evil, LBi released a series of five online games over a ten week period to teach the kids about the environment. The thinking behind the campaign was that children use the internet to try out new things before putting them into practice in the real world. LBi created a fictitious world in which ‘Baron Fossilosis’ had turned human beings into ‘Mindless wasters’. Led by Professor Green the aim of the project was to save the planet.
Global Chief Creative Officer Chris Clarke is proud of the work. “The Generation Green work is close to our hearts at LBi. It’s great to be involved in educating kids on such an important issue and it’s even more enjoyable proving that creativity and technology provide the most powerful way of doing that, especially if you believe as we do, that it’s creativity and technology which will ultimately resolve the climate issue”.
Tags: Awards, B2B, featured, Games, Generation Green, Marketing to children, Revolution awards
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