Polle de Maagt 
Polle de MaagtI wrote about the Hivos piece-of-tape experiment earlier. The experiment is part of a broader effort by Hivos to enrich society with small ideas that help to save energy: the Seduction project.
The basic idea is simple: ask someone to do something and they won’t do it. Use the power of nudges, small ideas that seduce people to change their climate behaviour for the better, and you might actually succeed. Some call it choice architecture, behavioural economics or even Kim-Jong-Il-style manipulation. I just think it’s smart. And awesome.
The campaign consists of several initiatives: the experiment with the piece of tape, the light gun and, most recently, the Small Climate Summit.
The Small Climate Summit in Amsterdam was a mini-equivalent of the official Climate Summit (COP17) in Durban, with only forty attendees. Purpose? To reach a crowdsourced climate agreement. The treaty, ten tweets with small solutions to the energy challenge, was instantly shared with the world via Twitter. Followers watched a livestream on Facebook and tweeted suggestions, of which the best were added to the treaty.
The campaign takes Hivos beyond being a simple non-profit organisation. Hivos is now all about small interventions that make us save energy. And that takes the campaign beyond a campaign. It is a reason to communicate with people every day. A reason for people to join the cause and help Hivos make the world a tiny bit less energy-consuming. And it is ‘campaignable’: throughout the year, there are plenty of opportunities to turn these experiments into communication with high impact and reach.
Smart. I really can’t wait to see the next experiment.
Note: no, I don’t have shares in Boondoggle or Hivos, and nobody paid me. I just think this is the way to go for brands and agencies.
Written in 2011, left as it was. Where I took it later: Change the default.
Original: Small ideas that help to save energy. Hivos' Seduction project, 9 December 2011. Historical links may no longer work.
