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Absolutely amazing! We are so happy with the outcome of this campaign.
Charlie Enright
Head of Retail Marketing, Barnardo’s
Organisation type
Charity/third sector
Sector
Environment and sustainability
Service
Barnardo’s asked us to inspire a shift in public behaviour around the purchase of summer fashion and occasion wear — encouraging people to buy second-hand instead of new. The Summer Fashion for Every Occasion campaign set out to highlight the environmental impact of “single-use fashion” while driving more people into Barnardo’s charity shops. Our target was eight to twelve pieces of national media coverage — a goal we far surpassed.
The UK is the biggest consumer of new clothes in Europe. Our research revealed that in summer 2019 alone, Brits planned to spend £2.7 billion on 50 million summer outfits they’d only wear once — a huge waste of money and materials.
We reframed this issue by linking it to the public conversation on single-use plastics, offering journalists and audiences a fresh, relatable way to understand fashion waste. Our story introduced the idea of “single-use fashion” as an equally pressing environmental concern.By focusing on summer fashion and offering a simple call to action — shop second-hand at Barnardo’s — we combined a strong behavioural insight with a clear solution. A Barnardo’s summer lookbook and short film featuring sustainable fashion influencers amplified the message across stores, social media and online channels.
The campaign exceeded every target. We generated 262 items of coverage, including 27 national stories (against a target of 8–12), reaching an estimated 222 million people.
More importantly, the campaign drove an additional £118k in sales, equivalent to 26k new customers, directly supporting Barnardo’s work with vulnerable children. While other retailers saw slow summer sales, Barnardo’s stores outperformed the sector — evidence of both immediate impact and longer-term attitude change.Our influence extended well beyond the campaign period, with Glamour magazine referencing Barnardo’s as part of a growing sustainable fashion movement.
“
Absolutely amazing! We are so happy with the outcome of this campaign.
Charlie Enright
Head of Retail Marketing, Barnardo’s
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