HypnoCat Did It: How We Won at the Campaign Ad Net Zero Awards
Last night at the Campaign Ad Net Zero Awards, our 'Recycle Your Electricals' campaign with Material Focus took home the win in the NGO / Charity category.
The recognition validates something we've believed from the start: sustainable behaviour change at scale requires more than good intentions - it demands strategic partnership, uncomfortable questions, and the courage to challenge convention.
The Real Problem Hidden in Plain Sight
Britain has a waste crisis most people don't see.
Over 103,000 tonnes of electrical items hit the bin each year, while 880 million unwanted gadgets collect dust in homes across the country. These discarded devices contain valuable materials - lithium, copper, gold - that could power the circular economy. Instead, they're feeding landfill sites and causing fires in waste systems.
The data revealed a clear disconnect. While 88% of people believe recycling matters, only 43% find it easy to recycle electricals. Most want to do the right thing but find the process confusing. So we asked the difficult question: What if the problem isn't that people don't care, but that we're making it too hard?
That question changed everything.
Challenging the Brief
Material Focus came to us with a familiar challenge: how do you shift entrenched behaviour around something as mundane as recycling old cables and chargers?
The traditional approach would be two big campaign bursts - create noise, generate awareness spikes, move on. But our research revealed something competitors like Back Market had already proven: continuous presence works better than sporadic campaigns.
So we challenged the brief.
Instead of short-term awareness spikes that fade, we built an always-on strategy that embeds recycling habits into daily life. We targeted the 88% of people already recycling paper and plastic but not necessarily electricals, providing consistent prompts at times when they're naturally open to change.
The Strategic Breakthrough
Using the Fogg Behaviour Model, we identified the gap: people needed consistent prompts on how and where to recycle.
We aligned our messaging with life moments that create natural decluttering opportunities - having a baby, moving house, starting university, changing jobs. These personal transition points are when people are already in the mindset for change.
Our two-pronged media strategy addressed both awareness and action. Large-scale channels like TV, Out-of-Home, and Radio reached people unaware of electrical recycling options. Then we amplified through high-dwell time formats and intent-based targeting via Social, Display, and Digital Audio to drive direct action among people already primed for engagement.
But we needed to disrupt behaviour around a traditionally boring chore.
Enter HypnoCat - Recycle Your Electricals' fluffy brand messenger. We adapted HypnoCat across channels, from his TV debut to OOH, radio, podcasts and paid social. His memorable nature helped cut through the clutter of environmental messaging that often feels preachy or dull.
Research revealed that 18-34s have the highest awareness but lowest action. This became our key focus for behavioural change. We launched the 'Great Cable Challenge', encouraging people to bag up and recycle at least one cable. One simple, achievable action that made the task feel manageable rather than overwhelming.
If each of the 44 million adults in the UK who recycle other materials recycled one cable, we'd have enough to circle the earth once. That scale of impact drives everything we do.
The Commercial Impact
The results proved sustainable behaviour change at scale.
Recycling increased by 6% year-on-year in 2022/2023, then by 7% in 2023/2024 - the highest amount recycled in the last five years. 41% of adults are now recycling ALL of their electrical items, compared to 26% in March 2023. That's a 15-point uplift in two years.
We achieved a 100x search increase for "Recycle Your Electricals" at a cost per action of 60p.
54% of the UK recognised at least one element of the campaign. Crucially, 28% now recognise ALL campaign elements - up 8pp since October 2024, a clear signal that our consistent presence is cutting through.
The D19 Difference
This campaign exemplifies our approach to strategic partnership.
We asked uncomfortable questions about conventional wisdom. We built transparency into every decision, using the IPA Carbon Calculator to measure and offset 90.59 tCO2e from our media plans through verified Gold Standard projects.
The award validates what happens when you combine strategic challenge, full transparency, and a client committed to measurable impact. Material Focus trusted us to question assumptions, and together we proved that better media isn't just possible, but necessary.