The Can Makers represents the UK manufaturers of beer and carbonated soft drinks cans

Can Furniture

In 2007 a fashion-themed campaign was developed in partnership with leading British designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen to create a bespoke chair made out of recycled drinks cans. The Can Can Chair has been instrumental in communicating the recycling key messages and after featuring in City Hall in London the chair will embark on a European tour.

Radio Recycling

Regional radio interviews were set up using a series of media hooks throughout the year plus various interesting spokespeople including TV presenter Timmy Mallett, Olympic hero Steve Backley and environmental journalist Penney Poyzer. Timmy Mallet's interview was held over the May bank holiday and Steve Backley focused on the 5 year count down to the 2012 Olympic Games. Penney Poyzer's interviews will take place in November 2007 to focus on a greener Christmas.

The success of the pan-European PR programme, launched in 2005, continued to build momentum throughout 2006. Focusing on communicating the can's three key messages of its modern nature, environmental friendliness and refreshing qualities. Using consumer media, the team evolved 2005's ground-breaking campaign and took it to a new level in '06.

The three-pronged attack across the UK, France and Spain saw the teams building associations with fashion, leading designers and artists, journalists, events, the 2006 World Cup…even the Paris Metro! The activity focused on creating high impact communications that would stop people in their tracks and make them think about why they should be drinking from cans.

In the UK, the campaign kicked off with a guerrilla association with the nation's favourite pastime - football. With the England team off to Germany, the BCME PR team created an unofficial World Cup can, complete with England footballer iconography as pictured, and secured media partnerships with some of the biggest online portals and regional papers across the land.

Readers were offered the chance to win the ultimate prize for enjoying the football at home, namely a minifridge stocked full of ice-cold, limited edition, World Cup lager. The activity was an instant hit with both the media partners and their readers, scoring coverage across 17 regional papers, 19 major online sites and one TV station!

This activity was swiftly followed up with an initiative that proved highly successful in 2005 - radio days with celebrity spokespeople discussing drinks can recycling. Timmy Mallett whose presence and enthusiasm for the subject certainly made an impact in 2005 was supported by "green" journalist and environmental campaigner Penney Poyzer. The duo took their argument to the airwaves and between them reached 42 of the biggest regional BBC and commercial radio stations in the UK.

To cap the year off, the team faced their biggest challenge to date - how to continue the fashion legacy left behind by Zandra Rhodes and her limited edition can. To overcome this and continue the great work done in 2005, the team briefed globally renowned British shoe designer Georgina Goodman to create a pair of couture shoes from recycled drinks cans. The challenge was one of the biggest of Georgina's career as it involved taking her signature style, reworking it to include metal, finding ways to make metal perform the same duties as leather and ultimately creating something that would be worthy of a spot on a catwalk and in the pages of Vogue rather than the "nice-try-but" bin.

The result, as illustrated in the picture, is nothing short of breathtaking and was received with acclaim the minute it was launched. Georgina did her bit, conducting interview after interview to promote the world's first pair of recyclable, high-fashion shoes. The results spoke for themselves with a 30-min webchat streamed live across 14 of the most influential fashion sites, print interviews across Metro, Daily Express, Daily Mail and the Evening Standard, a 25 minute interview on LBC and a 30 minute programme dedicated to her work on Euromaxx TV which was seen by over 31 million people.

All of this combined to create a campaign that built upon the solid foundations laid in 2005. The activity generated over 91m opportunities for people in the UK to see positive messages about drinks cans and delivered over Ł2.9 million worth of coverage…a result the team has been tasked to beat in 2007!

During 2005 a consumer PR campaign was initiated to create greater awareness of the benefits of drinks cans. The programme was undertaken in the UK, France and Spain. The campaign was aimed at emphasising the modern, contemporary, refreshing nature of cans as well as illustrating the fact that cans are 100% recyclable. The activity was aimed at all media with particular success on the local radio and online media, which is most commonly used by the young adults that the campaign is aimed at.

Within the UK there were several initiatives, which were started by a series of radio interviews with TV presenter Timmy Mallett passionately discussing the issue of recycling with local DJ's. Later on in the summer renowned wildlife specialist Terry Nutkins reinforced the messages and was interviewed by local radio on the importance of recycling cans for the environment. A large part of the campaign was centred on the 70th birthday of the can and included a specially designed can commissioned by internationally acclaimed designer Zandra Rhodes, pictured opposite. The can was used to help launch the campaign and is currently being exhibited at design museums and galleries around the country.

Over the summer research was commissioned into the power of sound and this showed that 86% of those surveyed recognised the sound of a drinks can being opened. Senior psychologists from King's College London and Brunel University were then invited to comment on the findings on local radio stations.

The world's highest mountain was the subject of another story that underlined the environmental benefits of choosing drinks cans over other packaging formats. Plastic and glass bottles are banned on Mount Everest because of litter problems; instead climbers are encouraged to drink from recyclable cans which are used by the local Nepalese to make cooking utensils and pots. Mountaineers Chris Bonington and Annabelle Bond agreed to support the Nepalese Tourist Board as spokespeople for the story.

A further story coincided with London Fashion week where an up and coming fashion designer was commissioned to design a dress made from recycled cans. The dress was modelled by Nell McAndrew and helped to demonstrate the recycling qualities of cans, as pictured. The campaign was a great success and provided the opportunity for over 85 million people in the UK to see or hear positive messages about the modernity, freshness and recyclability of drinks cans.