2016 Winners & Finalists

Case Summary
If you’re the leading solar company in a category with limited brand awareness, how do you convince American homeowners to choose SolarCity? Better question, how do you convince them to adopt a whole new way of thinking about energy? The solution: introduce an unforgettable—and unconventional-- creative device to make solar normal: Ra, the bird-headed God of the Sun. Okay, maybe normal isn’t the right word. But since SolarCity puts the infinite power of the sun to work in consumers home with Ra, brand awareness of SolarCity has increased 18%.

Case Summary
This is the story of how a small New Zealand waste collection business experienced eight months of growth, thanks to one auspicious weekend. By turning organic waste into currency, the ‘We Compost Weekend’ overcame indifference about composting to inspire widespread participation, giving something back to everyone. Aucklanders got free items in exchange for their food scraps; participating businesses enjoyed a flurry of trading activity; We Compost saw a bump to its fledgling business that hasn’t stopped growing since; and 80 tonnes of emissions were saved from entering our atmosphere.

Case Summary
A new draft Development Plan by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai proposed 173acres of the Aarey green belt to be cut or displaced.SaveAarey.org had been fighting against this part of the plan for a couple of years. We launched the ‘Rakhis From Aarey’ campaign that borrowed from the Indian festival of Raksha Bandhan (Bond of Protection) where brothers pledge protection to their sisters.Rakhis were sent to celebrities, politicians and other influencers asking for their protection.The movement’s voice gained momentum till the plan was eventually rejected in its current form.

Case Summary
Every year, 30,000 African elephants are butchered for their ivory globally, then smuggled and laundered into country, making Thailand the world's second largest unregulated ivory market. Moreover, Thai governments dusted this 'elephant issue' off to the back burner. The objective was to rekindle that 'pressure', not from the media, but from the only force the government cannot deny, its people. The campaign removed 'Chor Chang',meaning elephant in Thai from the Thai alphabet. This campaign put 'Chor Chang' back on the agenda and Thai government finally passed the Elephant Ivory Act.

Case Summary
Sachet packaging has provided Filipinos with better economical access to various products in the retail economy, so much so that it is used in 80% of consumer products such as powder detergents. Unfortunately, improperly discarded sachets from different manufacturers also comprise 10% of the 15 tons of garbage collected daily –contributing to the waste and flooding problem. Unilever Surf took on the challenge of instilling better waste disposal habits among its consumers, especially moms, through a nationwide Sachet Recovery Program that incentivizes the exchange of sachets with free SMS credits.

Case Summary
Due to improper agricultural practices in Turkey where 96% of the population drinks tea life of tea plant is endangered. Lipton conducts social, economic, environmental studies within Sustainable Tea Agriculture Project. Since society is unaware of the problem, raising awareness was our top priority. In 2014 we achieved to raise awareness by assigning the women tea farmers as our spokespersons. In 2015 we launched a social movement, created a signature petition through the platform we designed. More than 1mil people signed the petition and the problem is more widely adopted.

Case Summary
Santander’s ‘Summer of Cycling’ campaign raised awareness of Santander’s sponsorship of the London cycling scheme and helped create a valuable public service, resulted in an increase in cycling journeys in London during the campaign period, shifting citizens to a greener mode of transport.

Case Summary
Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA) provides a comprehensive solid waste management and resource recovery system to Onondaga County in New York state. To increase awareness of simple, yet collectively impactful sustainable actions, a community outreach campaign was developed to shift the community’s behavior toward more environmentally sustainable waste reduction actions and influence positive change today and in the future. Onondaga County has achieved a recycling rate nearly double the national average, increased attendance and amount of material collected at waste collection events, and exceeded expectations on the number of classrooms that have implemented its environmental education program.

Case Summary
The United States is home to some of the largest tech giants AND the dirty data centers they use to power some of the world’s most popular platforms (think Pinterest, Netflix and Airbnb, just to name a few). These U.S. data centers support the GLOBAL infrastructure of these platforms, allowing a focus on the U.S. market to have international impact.