Company: A.S. Watson Group
Company Description: A.S. Watson Group is the world's largest international health and beauty retailer operating over 16,000 stores under 12 retail brands in 28 markets, with over 130,000 employees worldwide. For the fiscal year 2022, A.S. Watson Group recorded revenue of US$22 billion.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Influencer Marketing
 Nomination Title: Go Green with Watsons: Making Sustainability Sustainable
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
Campaign Period: 27 Jan – 31 May 2023
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated campaign or program, OR written answers to the questions for this category? CHOOSE ONE:
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 209 words used.
Sustainability is easier said than done but attitudes don’t necessarily translate into action. Going green takes additional effort. However, effort is often scattered making sustainability unsustainable. As a trusted health & beauty retailer, Watsons is committed to taking on the challenge of galvanising individual efforts to create a larger long-term green movement .
As the world’s largest health & beauty retailer, Watsons has a social purpose of “Look Good, Do Good, Feel Great ” , Watsons aimed to leverage our influence through our global community of customers to drive and inspire behavioral changes that can make a positive impact to our planet. Watsons launched the Go Green with Watsons Campaign during 27 Jan – 31 Mar 2023, targeting our Gen Z customers in Asia including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.
Instead of marketing a product or service of Watsons, the key objective of the campaign is to encourage everyone to walk the talk and make green efforts a part of their everyday lives – making sustainability really sustainable . Watsons partnered with MIRROR and a number of influencers from the 4 markets to create resonant content with local audiences, leveraging their fan base and influence in the local market to drive them to take green action with Watsons towards a better world .
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 248 words used.
Collaborating with MIRROR as our Green ambassadors, Watsons presented sustainability in a fun, accessible, and practical way to create a global movement that brings individuals together to take collective action. Live streaming the carbon-neutral event in Hong Kong allows overseas audience to interact with Watsons and the influencers instantly, boosting overall engagement.
Alongside mega influencers like MIRROR, Watsons worked with micro-influencers who are advocates of sustainable living with highly engaged audience that shares the same interest in green-living topics. By sharing a common purpose of environmental protection, the campaign was able to raise greater awareness and reach to a wider audience. The micro-influencers helped Watsons to tap into each market's unique culture and tailor the sustainability message to resonate with local audiences.
To inject fun and excitement into the campaign, Watsons used edutainment and gamification to educate, inspire, and motivate the audience. The co-created theme song "GO GREEN" was released to promote the 3R's with its fun, catchy SKIP IT, BRING IT, and KEEP IT green taglines. This music video went viral among the fans and was viewed over 711K times, generating a significant amount of awareness for the campaign.
The exclusive In-App game enabled fans to engage virtually with MIRROR members via daily quizzes, WhatsApp stickers, and a chatroom complete with voice messages from the band. This approach was successful in creating a sense of community and encouraging users to upload photos of their sustainable actions to the User-Generated-Content gallery and feel connected to a larger movement.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2019. Even if your initiative started before 2021, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2021 only (up to 250 words):
Total 216 words used.
The campaign has effectively harnessed the power of social media and influencer marketing. Social tags #GoGreenwithWatsons and #TeamGreen reached 68M people with 32M positive reactions, 210K engagements over 1K posts, generated HK$23M PR value.
Using a multi-channel edutainment approach, Watsons made sustainability fun and engaging for customers. The in-app game was particularly successful, with the function to estimate the carbon emission savings for each green task performed by the user, Watsons can then matched the carbon savings and sponsored carbon offset projects. As a result, more than 300,000 green actions were recorded by customers, the Watsons App has also recruited over 670,000 first time users over the campaign period.
The campaign was well-received by the audience and resulted in noticeable behavioral changes. In-store plastic bag usage at checkout declined by 14% , and sales of Sustainable Choices products, ranging from personal care to cosmetics, increased by 20%, indicating a shift towards sustainable living habits by choosing environmentally-friendly products.
Overall, Watsons reinforced their sustainable brand position, becoming the No.1 Most Sustainable Retailer in Asia Brand Equity Index . The use of social media influencers has strengthened the campaign, allowing it to reach a wider audience and amplify its success, with a proven track record of customers shifting towards green habits and making sustainability more sustainable.
- You have the option to reference here any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
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