In observance of this year’s World Earth Day theme, “Invest in Our Planet,” Blue Totem Communications helped Yahoo raise awareness about digital decluttering and how people can positively impact the environment through the #YahooEarthDay: Declutter with Yahoo campaign.
Singapore has been lauded as one of Asia’s most sustainable cities. That said, the city-state still faces unique hurdles, including water constraints, land scarcity, energy limitations and carbon consciousness, amid the looming global threat of climate change that calls for action on every front.
Digital activity on the internet, in particular, contributes 4% of worldwide carbon emissions. With 97% of Singapore online, digital clutter, such as the influx of emails sent and received, is a significant yet often overlooked source of digital carbon emissions.
Many Singaporeans are aware of sustainability issues but struggle with adoption – especially among the younger generation. While most understand the need to adopt green practices, they also feel that practical considerations such as convenience and cost are barriers.
Yahoo, a global internet pioneer, wanted to raise awareness of digital and offline sustainability practices that could help lower carbon footprint and position Yahoo Mail as an email solution that enables regular email decluttering through its specific features. Yahoo, a global internet pioneer that actively champions that sustainability is everyone’s business, teamed up with its Singapore PR agency, Blue Totem Communications, to develop a holistic advocacy campaign for Earth Day, honouring this year’s World Earth Day theme “Invest in Our Planet”.
The campaign leveraged Yahoo’s reputation as one of the top online news sites in Singapore and Malaysia and its wide audience reach across both countries to educate new and existing Yahoo users in the region on how they can create a positive impact on the environment, – highlighting Yahoo Mail’s features that can help audiences practise digital decluttering every day.
Planting the seeds for sustainability
Blue Totem and Yahoo launched the campaign, #YahooEarthDay: Declutter with Yahoo. This involved revamping the existing microsite with new and engaging content that would empower readers to become sustainability champions. The campaign featured articles, infographics, and actionable insights, and provided clear ideas and solutions for adopting a greener lifestyle, including upcycling and reducing clutter in daily life. This included tips on how Yahoo Mail’s features could help with simple greening efforts, including digital decluttering.
To deepen the campaign’s impact, Blue Totem Communications arranged a strategic partnership between Yahoo and Terra SG, a social enterprise specialising in eco-education.
One of the microsite’s engagement tools was a fun #YahooEarthDay quiz that tested participants about sustainability and decluttering, offering tips on how to make the most of Yahoo Mail's features for digital decluttering. The questions were carefully crafted with the answers made available in the microsite to encourage people to explore the site’s original content and read the curated articles.
Participants were encouraged to share their sustainable living and decluttering tips, with rewards for the most creative responses.
Social media influencers and sustainability advocates helped boost excitement and participation by creating authentic content, sharing their decluttering experiences, and encouraging their followers to visit the microsite and participate in the quiz.
The campaign was further boosted on Yahoo's social pages, EDMs, and banner promotions on its sites.
Closing the loop on the #YahooEarthDay experience, Yahoo co-hosted an exclusive, in-person sustainability upcycling workshop with Terra SG for quiz winners based in Singapore. This hands-on session taught participants to create custom wallets from PVC banners that would have otherwise ended up in landfills. They also learnt the principles of upcycling and how the practice reduces waste, providing them with a holistic learning experience on sustainability.
Overall, the #YahooEarthDay campaign succeeded in raising awareness about digital decluttering and other sustainability practices people can adopt in their daily lives. It achieved:
6.7 million unique reach
12.6 million impressions
33.4k social engagements
20.2k unique users on Yahoo's owned-and-operated sites
26.4k page views on owned-and-operated sites
Over 250 follower comments on influencers' social pages
The #YahooEarthDay quiz drew over 1,000 participants from Singapore in just three weeks, with 34% of participants achieving a perfect score. Having answers for the quiz available within the articles helped not only drive views for the articles, but also promoted education and learning. The fully attended Terra SG workshop was positively received by participants who shared that the experience provided them with a better understanding of upcycling and sustainability.
The #YahooEarthDay: Declutter with Yahoo campaign is a testament to how a holistic advocacy approach can raise awareness, inspire action, and empower individuals to contribute to a sustainable future. Through engaging content, strategic partnerships, influencer collaboration, and interactive quizzes, Yahoo, with the support of Blue Totem Communications, successfully bridged the gap between awareness and action among audiences.
