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Zavy + StopPress Social Scoreboard: How brands are generating positive sentiment by banning plastic

In this look at the Zavy + StopPress Social Scoreboard, we take a look at the importance of tying brand activity into issues New Zealanders care about.

According to Zavy, social media marketers need to focus on the type of activity and content creates a greater ROI and grows their brands. Equally important it says, is looking outside the brand activity and pages to understand what New Zealanders are talking and care about in their ‘natural’ conversations, not just how they respond to marketing messages.

“This provides a crucial feedback loop in creating content that people find relevant as well as aligning your brand to the appropriate social issues and causes,” says Zavy. “In turn, this creates brand warmth and we measure this through the positive sentiment a brand receives in social media.”

One of the topics being had is around plastic bags, specifically single-use plastic bags.

According to Zavy, the conversations around the issues of plastic waste have tripled, indicating a growing momentum not just in media but also how much people care about it. It is talked about more than four times as much as the degradation of New Zealand waterways.

Helping to encourage the social change through social media is New World which – alongside other Foodstuffs supermarket brands, including, Pak’n Save and Four Square – will stop providing plastic checkout bags from 31 December of this year.

According to Zavy, through its social media activity promoting the move, New World has boosted its brand positive sentiment by +45 percent. The post announcing New World was saying ‘Bags Not’ to single-use plastic bags had a positive sentiment of 70 percent and it was its most positively received post of 2018 (highest sentiment score).

New World is not alone in its social media sharing of its move away from single-use plastic bags. Countdown’s also promoted its plan to say goodbye to the bag, with a video of New Zealand beach featuring a reusable bag and a thumbs up.

The post earned 516 reactions (a combination of negative and positive) as well as 254 comments and 20 shares.

A scroll through the comments reveals there are frustrations around a lack of customer education around the move away from plastic bags, and according to Zavy, Countdown’s posts about banning plastic have received up to 40 percent negativity. 

Another grocery store, for which reducing waste is at its core with no plastic packaging in sight, is packaging-free Goodfor.

Although its posts don’t make reference to the plastic bag situation facing mainstream supermarkets, they do push ethical consumerism.

Goodfor’s posts get a lot of likes but not as many shares and comments. Zavy believes this is because they are predominantly on Instagram which it is unable to track at this stage.

On an overall brand level, Goodfor is sitting at 22 percent positive.

Beyond the supermarkets, the conversation about the move from plastic-free is also strong.

Smartass, a toilet tissue made from sugarcane and bamboo fibres that’s free of bleach, inks, dyes and perfume has been promoting how its plastic-free packaging can be utilised in ways other than carrying items.

Its post about composting – with 248 reactions, two comments and nine shares ­­– earned a high sentiment of 70 percent.

At an overall brand level, Smartass is sitting at 10 percent positive.

Ecostore is another brand about sustainability, and last month, it shared a post about its recyclable toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes.

The post earned 790 reactions, 46 comments and 89 shares. It’s contributed to Ecostore having an overall brand level of 19 percent positive.

  • To view the current top 25 brands and the top five posts on the Zavy + StopPress Social Scoreboard, click here.

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