Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) waste schemes are being rolled out around Australia by local councils and the City of Parramatta tapped us to roll out theirs. The program could save up to 85% of landfill waste in the area, turning the food and organics scraps into compost to feed local parks and gardens.
Thanks to ethnographic data, we knew that the most important things to Sydney’s rich multicultural West was food and family. So we positioned the new FOGO bin as a member of the family that had a seat at the family dinner table too. And what better way to bring the family together over food than with a catchy jingle.
If you want people to change their behaviour, you can’t make it a chore. It must be presented as simple and easy. And when it comes to the weekly drudgery of taking out the rubbish — an actual chore — it should be fun. Fun rubbish, what a concept.
Parramatta is a migrant hub and bursting with multicultural and multilingual flavour — especially Indian, Korean and Chinese — with 53.3% of residents born overseas. Areas with strong migrant populations retain their traditions and connections to culture in their new homes; traditions like family, food and music. We needed a campaign that transcended the typical advertising tropes and tap these higher values so that everyone in Parramatta would resonate with our message.
With a new FOGO kitchen caddy and new collection schedule for the green bin, that was a lot of change for the average suburbanite. So we included the new bin system as a member of the family, personifying both the caddy and the green bin to be members of the family. Our campaign platform, Feed It To FOGO, was brought to life in a catchy jingle that summarised the what, how and why of the new bin system. This extended to explainer videos, letterbox drops, street posters and even a children’s colouring book.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land upon which we create, the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.