The UK’s greenest delivery company* unveils its ‘Footprints’ advert

Royal Mail launches its carbon conscious advert created for the 2022 Sky Zero Footprint Fund

Sky Media announces that the Sky Zero Footprint Fund finalist, Royal Mail, will unveil its ‘Footprints’ advertising campaign – encouraging UK consumers to send their parcels greener.

Using the £250,000 media value that Royal Mail won from the Sky Zero Footprint Fund in 2022, its TV campaign will run from 27th February until 27th March 2023 on Linear and VOD platforms, with a mix of channels and programming across Sky Media’s portfolio.

The brand’s 30” TV creative was unveiled for the first time to the panel of judges at the Sky Zero Footprint Fund Showcase event on 7 December 2022, where it was highly commended for its premium production values and the campaign’s potential impact on UK consumers and the wider delivery industry.

Sonia Sudhakar, Managing Director, Marketing and Digital at Royal Mail, said that the business is “committed to raising awareness about the real carbon impact of our parcel deliveries. Now, with the help of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund and AMV BBDO, we’ll campaign for our entire industry to do the same, thereby empowering customers to help tackle climate change – today!”

Sam Williams, Head of Strategy at AMV BBDO, added: “Over 4.2 billion parcels are sent in the UK every year, but we rarely ever stop to think about the impact on the environment of the things we send. The campaign seeks to wake us up to this reality by dramatising one of the key differentiators for Royal Mail, the fact that the 2/3 of their parcels are delivered on foot, this enables them to have a dramatically ‘lighter’ carbon footprint than the competition. It brings this truth to life through the medium of dance; a mesmerising urban ballet. And then it ends with a very clear call to action to send it greener.”

During production, creative agency AMV BBDO and Royal Mail worked with production house, Thirty-Two and Anonymous Content, to adopt more sustainable production decisions and practices. This included minimising travel (within M25), minimising large-scale art production and post-production, and signing up to Ad Green to calculate and monitor the carbon impact of the production.

Here are some insights that informed Royal Mail’s campaign and creative execution:

1. 70% of consumers would choose a more sustainable delivery option. IMRG Consumer Home Delivery Review 2021
2. 40% of consumers would be willing to pay more for a sustainable delivery option IMRG Consumer Home Delivery Review 2021
3. 2/3 of Royal Mail’s parcels are delivered on foot or by park and loop (by 90,000 posties who walk over a billion steps a day), which allows them to maintain a carbon footprint that’s less than half of their competitors.

Interested in giving it a go yourself? Click here to register your interest in hearing more about Sky Zero Footprint Fund 2023, ahead of the launch.

Serious Tissues Announced as £1m Grand Prix Winner of the 2022 Sky Zero Footprint Fund

• Sky announces that Serious Tissues has won Sky Zero Footprint Fund’s 2022 Grand Prix £1m prize
• The award-winning fund is a £2m advertising initiative, which uses TV’s voice to inspire behavioural change for a more sustainable future
• The other four finalists Ecosia, Homethings, Royal Mail, and WUKA have already secured a £250k media value, which will be used to support their sustainable initiatives. The brands all presented their advertisements during the showcase. All ads will be unveiled in early 2023

Sky has revealed Serious Tissues as the Grand Prix winner of its 2022 Sky Zero Footprint Fund initiative – a £2m advertising fund which supports and aims to inspire others to join the journey to Net Zero Carbon. The fund was established in 2021 to aid the acceleration and amplification of initiatives to drive behavioural change and tangible impact towards a more sustainable future.

Serious Tissues, which produces 100% recycled toilet roll, was selected as the winner of the Grand Prix £1m media value prize ahead of Sky’s other four finalists – Ecosia, Homethings, Royal Mail, and WUKA – at a showcase held yesterday. All five shortlisted businesses have already secured £250,000 as part of the scheme with Serious Tissues receiving an extra £750k in media value.

“Winning this prize is absolutely game-changing for us,” said Chris Baker, Co-founder of Serious Tissues. “It’s tough starting a business, going up against huge players. So many brands are looking to disrupt and would benefit from the power of TV to reach mass audiences. We are so grateful to have been given this opportunity by Sky to access TV advertising in such an early stage of our business, something we never thought was possible.”

Martin McAllister, Co-founder of Serious Tissues added, “We want to congratulate all of the finalists for not only their brilliant ads but also their efforts towards a sustainable future. It has been an absolute blast getting to know everyone through the process and are already excited about making the most of the prize.”

The decision was made yesterday (Wednesday 7th December) at the Curzon Soho in London following presentations from each brand, where they unveiled their sustainable ads. The winning campaign was selected by a panel of expert judges with extensive experience in advertising, creativity and sustainability. Judges included advertising legend Sir John Hegarty, Su-Mei Thompson (CEO of the Media Trust), Stephen Woodford (Chair of the Advertising Association), Fiona Ball (Group Director of Bigger Picture at Sky), Gideon Spanier (UK Editor in Chief of Campaign), Juliet Davenport (Founder of Good Energy and Author of The Green Start-up), Bruce Crouch (Executive Creative Director of Hatch London), and Tara Chandra (Co-Founder and CEO of Here We Flo).

Judges were extremely impressed with all the final creatives presented, but after a tough deliberation, Serious Tissues secured the Grand Prix million-pound prize because of its “category-changing product” and the compelling way their mission was displayed throughout their advert, written and produced by Wonderhood Studios, with Brilliant Artists and Oh Studio.

Sarah Jones Director of Planning at Sky Media commented, “We’re thrilled that we were able to bring back the Sky Zero Footprint Fund for a second year. This takes our total investment to £4m of advertising value that’s helping drive sustainable behaviour change.

All five of our winners will play a key role in encouraging the nation to make changes to help the planet, using the power of TV. I want to issue a huge congratulations to Serious Tissues for winning the £1m Grand Prix, against a group of outstanding pitches.”

The five winning ads were all produced following best practice advice and recommendations from the Advertising Association’s AdGreen programme. The ad campaigns will roll out in early 2023.

Winners of this year’s £2million Sky Zero Footprint Fund revealed

• Five brands have been announced as winners of the £2 million sustainable advertising initiative
• This year, Ecosia, Homethings, Royal Mail, Serious Tissues and WUKA have been selected by an esteemed judging panel to win £250,000 each in media value, helping fast-track their sustainable initiatives
• The five brands will now move into ad production and the final stage of judging in December, which will see the most compelling creative securing a total of £1 million in media value.
• Established by Sky, the Sky Zero Footprint Fund supports brands committed to a more sustainable future by helping to amplify their positive environmental messages using the power of TV and advertising

Sky has announced the five winners of its Sky Zero Footprint Fund, a £2 million advertising fund which uses the power of TV advertising to amplify business initiatives that are driving positive behavioural change for a more sustainable world.

The campaign champions the adoption of tangible steps towards a sustainable future. The five winning brands were selected because of their pitch’s display to inspire change, with each one demonstrating sustainable values that align to Sky’s own. Sky Zero‘s pledge is to go net zero carbon by 2030 and inspire others to join the journey.

Each of the winning businesses has been awarded £250,000 in media value. They will now move into ad production, ahead of a final stage of judging in December, which will see the most compelling creative securing a total of £1 million in media value.

Fiona Ball, Group Director of the Bigger Picture at Sky, said: “Last year, the Sky Zero Footprint Fund resulted in five great adverts and brought disruptive brands to TV for the first time. It’s exciting to see this year, yet again, so many inspiring brands are committed to making a difference. Each of the winning brands from this year’s Sky Zero Footprint Fund delivers a critical message that aligns with ours; that sustainable can be attainable. And, with the opportunity to use the power of TV advertising, this message is amplified, ultimately driving positive change.”

The five wining businesses are (alphabetically):

• Ecosia
• Homethings
• Royal Mail
• Serious Tissues
• WUKA

A panel of respected industry experts, with credentials in advertising, creativity and sustainability, assessed 15 live pitches from the shortlisted brands on Wednesday 10th August at the Thinkbox headquarters in Chancery Lane. Each brand was judged on the merit of their creativity (ability to capture the attention of the nation), impact (the potential to drive real, tangible behavioural change) and sustainable credibility (their authentic commitment as a business to improve future sustainability).

Sarah Jones, Director of Planning at Sky Media, said: “It has been such a privilege to discover so many brands who are helping pave the way to a more sustainable future. The standard of pitches we saw on judging day was excellent – with inspiring origin stories, shocking statistics and brilliant business ideas. Thank you to all the brands who took part and to our fantastic judging panel for their expertise and guidance. We believe our final 5 have a huge opportunity to make an impact within their categories and beyond through the power of TV.”

This year’s judging panel included three new additions with Tara Chandra, Co-founder of Here We Flo who won the Grand Prix £1 million ad spend last year; Bruce Crouch, Executive Creative Director of Hatch London and the creative behind Here We Flo’s award-winning period drama concept; and Marianne Matthews, Sky’s Head of Responsible Business.

The panel also included the return of advertising legend Sir John Hegarty, Stephen Woodford (Chair of the Advertising Association), Karen Blackett OBE (Country Manager at WPP & GroupM UK CEO), Jo Fenn (Founder of AdGreen) and Sarah Jones (Director of Planning at Sky Media)

Sophie Dembinski, Ecosia’s Head of Policy & UK, said, “We’re thrilled to have been selected as one of the winners of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund. With Sky’s support, Ecosia will be able to reach and enable millions more people across the UK to fight the climate emergency by planting millions more trees and regenerating forests around the world at a crucial time for the planet.”

Tim Keaveney, Founder of Homethings, said, “We’re fizzing with excitement to be in the final 5 of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund. This campaign will be a game-changing step on our journey to change the way the world cleans, helping us to educate consumers that shipping water is bonkers for the planet whilst refilling with tap water makes sense.”

Sonia Sudhakar, Managing Director, Marketing and Digital at Royal Mail, said, “We’re thrilled to be shortlisted by Sky’s Zero Footprint Fund. As the UK’s greenest delivery company*, we are committed to raising awareness about the real carbon impact of our parcel deliveries. Now, with the help of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund and AMV BBDO, we’ll campaign for our entire industry to do the same, thereby empowering customers to help tackle climate change – today!”

Chris Baker, Founder of Serious Tissues, said, “We’re seriously excited to be one of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund winners and especially amongst the amazing company of the other brands on the shortlist. TV has the power to make sustainable switches mainstream, showing how something as small as changing your toilet roll to Serious Tissues can have a massive impact. Fingers heavily crossed for the final in December.”

Ruby Raut, CEO and Co-Founder of WUKA, said, “We believe the future is girls and the future of periods is sustainable period underwear so having the Sky Zero Footprint Fund team believe our vision is an incredible start on our journey. Supporting our campaign means supporting generational impact, a lasting positive impact for both women’s health and reducing our collective footprint on the planet.”

All five winning ads will be produced using insights, tools and learnings from AdGreen. Part of the Advertising Association, AdGreen supports the ad industry shift towards net zero, eliminating the negative environmental impacts of production. Established by Sky, the Footprint Fund is part of the Sky Zero campaign to be net zero carbon by 2030.