CAN’T AFFORD TO COMMUNICATE? CAN YOU AFFORD NOT TO ... · factors that can impact on their success, most notably consideration of the ability for the public to participate. When

EnviroComms | Thought Leadership Programme: 1

CAN’T AFFORD TO COMMUNICATE? CAN YOU AFFORD NOT TO COMMUNICATE?

STEPHEN BATES

EnviroComms, 3 The Capricorn Centre,Cranes Farm Road, Basildon, SS14 3JA

SUMMARY: In an ideal world, there would be no need for source separation of waste. Instead, residents would revert to a single bin for all waste with effort, energy and investment directed towards the resources and technology needed to collect this waste, separate it, clean it and recycle it. It is after all, the waste management industry that knows implicitly what can and can’t be recycled, why and how. It has the knowledge and skills to turn rubbish into a commodity and how to ensure it is of the highest quality to attract the highest price. Why entrust such an important part of the process to ‘amateurs’ – the public - and often, unwilling ones at that? Such a utopian state may well be realised in years to come but for the foreseeable future, politics, policy and funding (to name a few) create barriers to such opportunities and ones that require the detailed participation of residents to overcome. So, for the time being, source separation is the only viable option and with this, comes the need to educate the public about what they need to be doing and the further away from a single bin collection system a council goes, the greater the need to inform the public why and how to use the system correctly. Over the past ten years, acceptance of this has been absolute and a clear correlation exists between those councils performing well with diversion and those that have invested the most in communications. However, the public sector is now facing the need to make drastic savings and all forms of public outreach are in the firing line. This is not uncommon in both the public and private sector. Accountants tend to see marketing as a cost, not an investment and one that if cut, has a near instant, positive impact on the bottom line, unlike redundancy that can take several months, sometimes longer, to realise any fiscal benefit, but doing so can be a false economy. Recent research (Frankenberger & Graham, 2003) indicates that advertising creates a firm asset by contributing to financial performance for up to three years in the future. Further, increasing spending on advertising during a recession leads to benefits that exceed the benefits of increasing advertising during non-recessionary times. The message is clear; “when the going gets tough, the tough get marketing!” This approach also applies to waste management. Landfill diversion is cheaper than usage; a gap that we know will grow considerably over the coming years. Thus, it is doubly important to divert more during recession as the cost savings have a greater positive impact and given the critical importance of public participation, communications remains a critical success factor. Added to this is that inertia in a shift towards public acceptance of resource recovery has been attained and needs to be maintained. Failure to do so will have hugely negative financial and logistical connotations later on. Again, we can draw an example from the private sector in Coca-Cola, the world’s most recognisable brand. Despite its global ubiquity, the company still spends in excess of $1.8billion annually advertising it. They have cut this in the past but found that


when they have done so, the brand looses significant market share to Pepsi. If this can happen to the world’s biggest brand that has been around for well over a 100 years, consider what impact a cut in budget will have on a local recycling scheme that has yet to reach its 10th anniversary. Of course, this is easier to say than do and few local authority waste managers would disagree with the need to engage more with residents. But the fact remains that cuts are and will continue to impact on this area and the challenge facing councils today is communicating more for less. The intent of this paper is two-fold. It aims first to empower waste managers to defend against cuts and argue a stronger case for financial leniency, even increased funding for communications and engagement. Secondly, it aims to provide practical advice to enable increased value to be gained from communication, even where budgets are reduced.

1. STRATEGIC BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE

1.1 Defining the role of Behavioural Change

It can be argued that the term Behavioural Change has become interchangeable with other actions believed to mean or achieve the same thing. Awareness, education, public outreach, stakeholder engagement, communications and many more besides, are all used in the same context, despite them doing very different things in very different ways. To move forward, it is important to re-establish the essence of behavioural change; that of it being the core strategic objective when waste management moves towards resource recovery targets. Behavioural Change applies both to institutional (internal) behaviour, where operations have to change to accommodate new procedures and public behaviour where a shift in actions and attitudes is required for new schemes to work or existing schemes work more efficiently. Awareness, education, outreach, etc., are the tools (or tactics) deployed to achieve the strategic objective. Adherence to this concept can yield significant cost benefits, for example. • The need for tactical communication methods are identified further upstream in the planning

process and the budgets needed to deploy them. This provides the opportunity to reconsider complex schemes if the budget to communicate them is not available. It would be a waste of time and money to deliver a scheme that fails to realise its potential if there is no money available to educate the market on how to use it.

• All too often, waste strategies and systems are developed in isolation from the influencing factors that can impact on their success, most notably consideration of the ability for the public to participate. When this happens, campaigns are developed that have to try to “sell” a system to the market first, rather than simply encourage diligent participation. That takes longer and costs more. By embracing behavioural change as a key strategic objective even to the point of placing this ahead of the development of waste strategies, waste policies can be developed that stand the greatest chance of success without the need for overly onerous communication budgets. To use a commercial analogy, consider the automotive industry. No motor manufacturer will even begin to develop a new model of car without first satisfying themselves that there are sufficient people likely to buy it.


Key action • Participatory planning, be it for an entirely new collection system or adaptation of an

existing scheme, should be undertaken with greater consideration to the ability of the public to participate. Schemes are thus designed that suit the market (the public) not just the operational requirements.

1.2 Identifying the 4 social common denominators that define the process of behavioral

change

In waste, it is often said that there exists no ‘one-size-fits-all-solution’. Each country, region, community, street, home even, has varying and unique requirements that create enormous challenges when planning what is largely a regionally homogenous service. With communications, at a tactical level, the same is true. The messages that will stimulate the market in one part of town will be different to another and conventional marketing wisdom shows the more targeted and relevant a campaign to the target audience, the more effective it will be. At a strategic level though, it is possible to apply some homogeneity by identifying four common, social denominators that apply in relation to behavioural change, regardless of demographics, location or any other accepted social differentiators: • people are lazy • people do not like change • people do not trust government • people want to improve their lives. Let us explore each of these further.

1.2.1 People are lazy

Human beings are programmed to preserve energy. If there are two options of attaining the same goal with one being slightly easier than the other, it will always be the easiest option that’s taken. We see this being captitalised on in the commercial sector and a good example is car insurance.

Each year, shortly before a policy is due for renewal, the company will write to the policyholder advising of the renewal date and a quotation for a further 12 months cover. This letter will say that unless the company hears otherwise, then the policy will be renewed automatically and payment recovered in the same way as previous years. Thus, in order for that company to retain the business of the customer for a further year, the customer has to do precisely, nothing. In a waste context, it is important to understand laziness in behavioural change strategies. For example, Figure 1 shows a recycling bin in Nicosia, Cyprus. It contains a detailed graphic of what can and can’t be put in. However, despite this, there were significant problems with contamination and side waste. The reason was that whilst local residents were made aware of the bins and the recycling service, it wasn’t until they approached them that they knew what materials were accepted. Very few people would therefore be prepared to stand beside the containers, particularly on hot days (which are plentiful in


Cyprus), sorting their waste and instead, simply placed all waste in one bin or besides them.

Figure 1 Information needs to be provided before people arrived at the bins. A simple leaflet delivered to homes explaining the system would be a very cheap way to solve a very expensive problem. In the UK, even the highest performing authorities are still able to capture more material by understanding the “lazy phenomenon”, highlighted with what can be referred to as the “Bathroom Bin Syndrome”. Households will use a number of smaller bins around the home, lined with an old carrier bag that gets removed when full, tied and placed into the normal bin, regardless of its content. Additional effort is required to re-sort the waste into recycling streams and the thinking “it’s only couple of shampoo bottles” often applies. A simple advertising campaign can have a great impact on people’s thinking to shift behaviour in this respect.

Key actions • Consider schemes in the eyes of the public, not from a waste manager’s perspective.

Are you providing a scheme that requires the least effort possible? • Consider why participation and capture rates are poor in relation to the effort

required of the market. Are you simply asking too much of people? • In accepting that source separation requires additional effort, consider how you can

reposition the alternative (non participation) to require even greater effort. Make non-participation more difficult than participation.

1.2.2 People do not like change

Human beings are creatures of habit, they take great comfort in the status quo and can become exceptionally vociferous should this ever be challenged. As an example, consider the level of public anger when something as socially inconsequential as a sweet changing


its name (Opal Fruits to Starburst, Marathon to Snickers, etc.). Pressure groups are formed, MPs are lobbied and campaigns run to muster support. Behavioural Change is sometimes referred to as Change Management for which a great many models exist, the most common being the Kubler Ross transition (grief) cycle Originally titled 'The 5 Stages of Receiving Catastrophic News' these stages are: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.

We all go through this (or a similar) process numerous times a day. A dead car battery, the loss of a parking space, a wrong number, the loss of a pet, a new waste collection system. On the latter, let us put this into the context of a council introducing a new material stream for recycling (food waste):

Denial – “There’s no way I’m having a slop bucket in the house!”

Anger – “Bloody council! – why am I doing the work I pay them to do?”

Bargaining – “OK, I’ll give it a go but only dry food. I’m not having smelly leftovers go in the bin”

Depression – “This is ridiculous – like I haven’t got enough to do!”

Acceptance - “Well, it’s not too bad once you get used to it”.

A key task of communications is to deal with denial, anger, bargaining and depression before a scheme is introduced so that by the time of launch, people are ready to accept it. It’s important therefore to understand the reasons why people may be averse to accepting change as this can then be used to drive elements of the communication process that overcome these issues much earlier on. When Rother District Council announced that it would be introducing a multi-material (multi-container) kerbside collection scheme, there was concern amongst some residents about their ability to cope with the new system. The perception was that capacity was being reduced and they would not be able to dispose of their waste without contravening the no side-waste rule. In fact, total waste capacity was increased, just split across three containers rather than one. Understanding this enabled this message to be given greater emphasis in the communication material and so overcome one significant barrier very early on. Bristol has a tendency towards resisting change so a campaign used this as the primary message to support the introduction of the new kerbside recycling scheme, demonstrating that change is a good thing by showing items we once loved but would never consider reverting to today (Figure 2).


Figure 2

Key actions • Understand that different people react differently to change but that all people will

react. • Establish the reasons why there may be a resistance to change as early as possible.

This will enable the messages to be adapted to deal with this and lead to a more rapid acceptance of new schemes.

• Consider carefully how you use the word ‘change’. ‘Evolution’ or ‘development’ can mean the same thing but convey something far more progressive and positive and something that more people are willing to be part of.

1.2.3 People do not trust the government

A survey conducted by The Guardian in March 2010 revealed that just 12% strongly trust the government with local government faring little better at just 14%. The MPs’ expense scandal may be identified as a reason for this but people have long held those who govern them in distain. A poll conducted in 2008 by World Public Opinion showed then that 67% of British people did not trust the government. Waste is the one government service that impacts directly on every single person, every day. The efficiency and effect is directly correlated to the efficiency and effect of the council that is providing it, hence, whilst waste may not be the biggest vote-winner, it has the capacity to become a definite vote-looser if things go wrong. Behavioural change and the communications used to bring about change can have a profound effect on people’s attitudes towards local politics. If the public are aware of why recycling schemes have been introduced, know how to use them, are provided with appropriate means to participate and thanked for doing so, then they remain contented and retain a sense that the policy and politics behind it are good. This has significant, positive knock-on effects when the council seeks to bring about changes in other areas of local life. It would not be inappropriate to consider a local waste and recycling service to be the predominant advertisement for politics at a local and regional level. Consider the following two statements in this respect.


“The council provide a brilliant recycling service so I have every faith in them” “The council can’t even provide a decent recycling service so why would I think they could manage anything else?” If we accept that all recycling and waste collection schemes are good, then the only issue where they are considered as being poor is one of perception and perception can only be addressed with communication. Key actions • Understand the political landscape and consider what effect this will have on

people’s attitudes to new schemes or changes to existing schemes • Ensure that elected members are aware of the ramifications of reduced or poorly

deployed communications in relation to political stability 1.2.4 People want to improve their lives

Human evolution is marked by the constant desire for improvement. Individually, we want to improve our lives – be better educated, wealthier, healthier, live longer, be happier, get a better job. Collectively, we want to be safer, more united, more stable. We want cleaner air to breathe; more space to play…… the list is endless.

Behavioral change should be positioned in such a way as to facilitate one or more of these life-improvement goals and use these as the core, driving foundations in the communication activities.

Example: Halton Borough Council launched an expansion of its kerbside recycling service in March 2009, at the height of the recession and in an area with long-term economic issues. The communication strategy focused on these areas by placing the link between improved recycling and reduced costs at the top of the message hierarchy. (Figure 3)


Figure 3 Key action • Consider how people in the target area want to improve their lives and then consider

how the services provided can contribute to that aim. Then incorporate this into the communications.

2. TACTICAL BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE (COMMUNICATIONS)

2.1 Establishing cost-value ratios in communications

The financial structure of past campaigns has tended to use subjective budget setting techniques; a need for a campaign arose, a budget to a level deemed appropriate was set and the campaign deployed. Additional budget was then made available to undertake research to assess how effective the campaign was. This created a high-risk scenario as the value of campaigns was determined by little more than gut-feel or the subjective value the council placed upon such activity. The only time justification for expenditure was made followed the post-campaign analysis, by which time, it was too late should the results have proved negative. It can also be asked how additionally effective the campaign may have been had the budget for assessment been applied to the campaign it was assessing? It is clear that moving forward, the way in which communication budgets are allocated, needs a more robust, strategic and realistic approach. Using an Environmental Externalities model [for example and give reference?], it possible to establish true cost:value ratios for this purpose. This approach identifies the direct and indirect costs associated with waste management, specifically those applied to the disposal to landfill. The direct costs include: Landfill tax, gate fees, energy costs and logistical costs. The indirect costs – the ‘externalities’ relate to GHG emissions, trees, energy, etc. Monetary values can then be applied to each of these factors obtained from various government sources (such as “Guidelines to DEFRA / DECC's GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting”) and calculated in terms of a performance increase in recycling.


Example: An area of London with 30,000 people in high-rise flats. Participation in communal recycling is very low so a campaign is needed to encourage greater use of the services. Experience elsewhere indicates that an integrated approach of container optimisation, doorstepping, direct mail, advertising and events will yield an increase in recycling of between 10% and 15% but require a budget of £35,000, which the council says is cannot afford. However, by using the Environmental Externality model, a 10% increase in recycling is shown to deliver a cost saving of around £8.50 per capita - £255,000 in total. In light of this, the council can now not afford to invest the budget. It is also worth considering that because this model uses clear performance parameters to establish the costs savings, there is no need to apply further budget to assess the campaign effect as the performance uplift is directly linked the existence of the campaign – providing of course there are no other influencing factors running at the same time. It should be noted that adoption of Environmental Externalities to allocate budget does require the council to become institutionally entrepreneurial. No authority receives a direct bill for the amount of GHG produced as a result of waste management operations (yet!) so there needs to be an acceptance that despite this, the costs remain relevant and real. Even if this proves difficult to achieve, other direct costs can still be used to judge the value of communication budgets. On the above example, this would still yield a saving of over £110,000 so the £35,000 budget remains valid. Key actions • Internal perceptions of marketing and communications needs to change from being a

cost to one of investment. • Develop value analysis to determine appropriate communication budgets. • Stimulate an institutional shift towards a more entrepreneurial approach


2.2 Access existing free-to-use communication channels

An important recommendation to local authorities is to look more closely at the channels that already exist to reach key markets and make better use of these to maximise reach at little or no cost. These channels typically include (but are not limited to):

• staff/ elected members • parish / town councils • resident / tennant associations • volunteer / community groups • schools

We can apply a group structure to these as follows. Controllers. Those that control the physical aspects of service, typically; staff,

members, etc. Influencers. Those that can influence public perceptions and thus acceptance of

schemes, typically; resident and tenant associations. Advocates. Those that can be used to promote schemes and encourage diligent

participation, typically; volunteer and community groups, schools, etc. By understanding this grouping method, it is possible to stimulate their participation in an appropriate manner but is critical that they are engaged as early as possible in the planning process. Areas of activity these groups can be used for include (but are not limited to): • consultation assistance • information distribution • direct engagement • help centres Key actions

• Identify key internal stakeholder groups and consider their position in terms of control, influence and advocacy.

• Develop a defined internal stakeholder strategy and deploy early in the planning process

• Don’t forget to thank groups and individuals when they have provided input to projects.

2.3 Challenge procurement protocols

A key issue facing councils is the often poor provision of existing, in-house skills and resources in terms of behavioural change and communications. Over the past 10 years, a number of specialist and competent agencies and consultancies have emerged to fill this gap but existing procurement policies prevent them from being used to their full potential.


Tendering removes emotion from the purchasing process yet communications is the one discipline where emotion plays a very important part in the development processes. Additionally, agencies are perfectly placed to offer advice on where costs can be saved but to do so, need to be engaged much further upstream in the planning processes, again something that tendering can prevent. By the time an agency is selected and deployed, many strategic and tactical decisions have already been made and are irreversible so this does not allow scope to consider better value, cheaper alternatives. Example: A council was scheduled to expand its recycling service to a further 10,000 homes and required an information pack to be written and produced. It created a brief that specified exact requirements and sought quotations from suitable suppliers. An agency was appointed on the cheapest option of £25,000. The agency advised that the requirements were not appropriate to the need and proposed an alternative approach costing just £11,000. However, the council was unable to alter the specification due to information already distributed referring implicitly to the requirements here. Key action

• Challenge existing procurement protocols to enable the engagement of external service providers far earlier.

3. KEY ISSUES AND ACTIONS

• Waste is a fundamental part of everyday life for everyone. Its ubiquity means that it can become “invisible” in terms of its overall impact and the role (or civic duty) of the individual upon its management.

• People will only adapt to new requirements if they are aware of the reasons, the ramification of non-compliance and given the means to change (both cognitive and physical).

• Behavioural change needs to identify the motivations and habit drivers that need to be understood and accessed in order to bring about a positive shift in actions (the 4 social common denominators).

• A common mistake is to view behavioural change as simply raising awareness. It is a strategic tool, not a tactical one. It is an essential element in the overall planning process that needs to be deployed at the earliest stage possible.

• Behavioural change strategy drives tactical delivery (advertising, public outreach engagement, etc.). This requires appropriate budget allocation that is correlated to the extent of the change required. The more complex the systems that people are required to use, the greater the extent of tactical communication required and thus cost.

• Recognise that communications budget is an investment, not a cost. A reduction in communication activity due to budgetary constraints is a false economy, which will lead to much higher costs in the medium to long term.

REFERENCES


Frankenberger, K.D. and Graham, R.C. (2003) Title Marketing Science Institute. Published by? Where published?

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CAN’T AFFORD TO COMMUNICATE? CAN YOU AFFORD NOT TO ... · factors that can impact on their success, most notably consideration of the ability for the public to participate. When