The Start-Up Journey – Putting the Jigsaw Together
Six months after becoming established as a Community Interest Company, Sizzle faces the challenge of turning broad founding principles into reality. Our first campaign seeks to replace peat in horticulture with more sustainable alternatives. Delivering on this ambition has raised five fundamental questions.
1. How to build a movement?
We understood from the outset that systemic change can best be achieved by actively involving influential organisations and individuals at all levels of the decision-making process from government to citizens.
We started by undertaking a listening exercise with key players to understand their views on how the transition from peat could be achieved, the role they could play and the obstacles and opportunities this presented.
We undertook this exercise with no preconceived views and no ‘organisational baggage’ which encouraged people to openly share opinions. We compiled a summary report of our findings setting out thoughts on how the transition from peat could be hastened. These views were tested in a meeting with 15 organisations from across all sectors and led to the submission of a successful funding bid.
Encouragingly the initial cohort of organisations is growing ensuring the campaign is informed by all sections of the supply chain, reducing the risk of duplication and maximising the reach and impact of activities.
There are now two challenges. The first is how can we keep the consensus together during the transition from a conceptual approach to delivery? This is the point at which organisations need to consider putting the aims of the campaign above their desire for individual profile and branding. The second is how can we more constructively engage with national government. They were involved in the initial listening exercise but have stepped back despite requests to participate. They are an integral part of the solution, so their lack of involvement is a risk.
2. How to be a credible insurgent?
Sizzle does not have extensive knowledge of the horticultural sector but has got deep experience in creating successful and impactful collaborative campaigns. This lack of sector specific knowledge was helpful during the listening phase as we were able to ask fundamental questions.
Moving into the delivery phase the situation has changed and we require sector knowledge to be credible. We have addressed this by identifying and recruiting four recognised experts to lead different workstreams covering everything from legislation to composting trials. These individuals are essential as they help to retain a collaborative approach and can challenge organisations to step out of their usual comfort zones.
3. How to change products and systems?
Core to Sizzle’s approach is how to change the way that products are delivered to make it as easy as possible for most people to do the right thing environmentally. For the transition from peat this means finding a more sustainable alternative which is no more costly and which gardeners understand how to use. We are addressing this in two ways.
We will be running trials using a range of alternative materials to peat to test their effectiveness with both amateur and professional growers. The results of these trials and the new ‘recipes’ created will be shared to help drive change across the sector.
We have created a legislative work stream exploring how the ‘rules of the game’ can be changed making it easier to use more sustainable alternatives to peat and to promote a circular economy approach more broadly for bio waste. We believe that this change to the legislative framework is essential to create long-term impact.
4. How to authentically test the approach?
We are convinced that we need to illustrate that our approach works in the real world requiring us to find a location to deliver the trial and test the messaging. Such a trial can only be successful if there is real engagement and involvement from key local stakeholders. To achieve this, we put out a call for areas to nominate themselves to be the trial location. This generated interest from a small number of locations with the selected area being chosen due to the diversity of organisations willing to participate.
5. How to achieve cut-through?
To create impact our aim is to make as much noise as possible raising the profile of the challenge with decision-makers and the wider public. Compelling and innovative messaging will be at the heart of the campaign and we are already working on a playful interactive display to attract attention in high footfall areas.
More importantly, we are thinking about unexpected places where our messaging could authentically land and which influencers and partner organisations can help us deliver this ambition. Our hope is that this approach will reach new audiences with surprising messages that will provoke conversation and change.
To summarise
On a personal level, the development of the campaign has been challenging and enjoyable. It is the first time I have looked at the wider systemic issues that are driving existing habits and sought ways of addressing them at every level. I will be intrigued to see whether this more systemic approach coupled with the knowledge I have gathered on creating compelling marketing and behaviour change campaigns can create fundamental change. Only time will tell….