Return-It Launches a New Youth Campaign Focused at Changing the Behaviours

A new campaign by Return-It taps into peer judgment in an effort to motivate BC’s youth to clean up their recycling habits when they’re out and about.

The new campaign targets 18-24 year olds, a group which our key research findings show are contributors to a significant number of beverage containers thrown into the garbage instead of being returned for recycling.

Based on the insight that young adults often make questionable decisions, Return-It uses humour to reinforce the correct behaviour, peer to peer.

No Questions. Return-It.

How good are your recycling habits when you are on the go? While it’s convenient to collect beverage containers at home, our recycling habits need to be much better when we are out and about.

Whether you are on the go, hosting a BBQ at the beach, or scootering in a local park, it’s not always convenient to recycle your beverage containers. Still, recycling your drink containers is never in question.

To reinforce this important message and address the audience that contributes to a large percentage of unrecovered beverage containers, Return-it created a new humorous campaign that targets 18-24 year olds and uses various scenarios depicting what happens when we make questionable choices.

The campaign showcases several questionable decisions and, in the end, reminds us that trashing beverage containers is not the right choice. Keep reading to find out more about how and where the campaign will air throughout the summer.

Where Youth Watch Videos

According to research, 36% of 18-34 year-olds watch Connected TV on a weekly basis, while YouTube remains the most popular video viewing platform. Additionally, 44% of the Twitch audience, a popular streaming platform, are between 16-24 years old.

To reach viewers on the above platforms, Return-It produced a 15-second online spot. In the video, a group of young men are guided by the help of peer judgment. The hero in the video initially decides to throw away his empty beverage container, but once he sees his friends’ shock and disapproval, he realizes how poor his decision is and quickly changes his mind and his behaviour. Sometimes we all need friends who remind us about the importance of recycling and cultivating better habits.

See below for our 15-second online spot.

Where Youth Scroll

TikTok and Instagram Stories are popular mediums where youth spend time watching short-form videos.

Research shows that over 40% of TikTok’s audience is aged 18-24, while 31.5% of Instagram’s audience is comprised of individuals aged 18-34. What’s more, an average of 95 minutes a day are spent on TikTok, while 75% of Instagram users watch stories daily, making these two platforms perfect choices for our campaign.

To make sure our message was conveyed in the most effective way possible to reach this group, we created short yet memorable videos starring our main characters from the 15-second spot.

Visit our YouTube channel to review the shorts.

Where Youth Party

While beverages are not typically consumed in their original container at bars and restaurants, we are able to reach a very concentrated group of the target audience through restobars.

Our restobar posters will be posted in the washrooms at several restaurants and bars across BC. So, if you go out to a bar or out for a dinner in the next few weeks, keep an eye out for these digital posters in the washroom of your favourite bars and restaurants.

Where Youth Tune-In

Three-in-five Canadians aged 18-to-34 (59%) are listening to music on a streaming service, making it a perfect place to share our message.

Last month, we recorded two 30-second audio streaming spots. Both follow a similar vein to the YouTube and Connected TV spots. See if you can recognize the knock off celebrity voice imitated in the spots.

The messaging is light and relatable yet clear - some decisions are questionable, but trashing your beverage containers simply isn't. Don't trash them, return them.

See below for one of the radio spots.

Where Youth Find Love

Did you know that 53% of Tinder app users are aged 18-34? To target youth on Tinder, we created a "How questionable is your dating game" quiz.

The quiz prompts users to swipe either left (as in dislike) or right (as in like) on questionable hypothetical dating strategies to complete the quiz. The quiz ends by asking how the user feels about returning their beverage containers. In the end, the user can see how their results rank amongst others' responses, and there is a button that leads to our Return-It landing page to find a Return-It location near you.

Motivating BC Youth to Clean Up Their Recycling Habits

The campaign is now fully in market, and we are excited to see how much it will reinforce youth behaviour.

We all make questionable decisions, but recycling your empty beverage containers is always the right choice.

Stay tuned to our social media channels for more updates on how and what we are up to. Thank you for recycling!