AWI campaign broadcasts wool's benefits

Luckily the Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) global marketing team recognised this issue and is working towards getting the recommendations amended, making complex sustainability issues more natural fibre producer/farmer friendly and accessible.

AWI aims to make it easier to understand the fashion industry's impacts on critical environmental and social issues, while focusing on the manufacturing of non-biodegradable synthetic materials.

AWI/Woolmark general manager marketing and communications Laura Armstrong, travelled to Perth for the first time in her 11-year tenure with the company to attend the Stud Merino Breeders' Association of Western Australia annual general meeting last week as keynote speaker.

Her depth of knowledge and experience informed more than 60 attendees of how the focus on global markets directly affects the popularity of Australian Merino wool on an international scale.

She said sustainability was a hugely influential factor for consumers and also shared the success of some of their latest targeted campaigns.

"The eco consciousness movement is not going away and it has a significant impact on wool and what people say about wool," Ms Armstrong said.

"Ultimately governments, NGOs (non-government organisations) and consumers are demanding systemic reform of the apparel industry.

"An example of this is the New York Fashion act, which is a new piece of legislation they want to roll out."

She said this meant every major brand that wanted to sell in New York, valued at more than $100 million, had to report on the full impact of its supply chain - that's environmental and societal.

"This is mirrored in Europe at the moment, by the Due Diligence Act," Ms Armstrong said.

She said this was great because it targeted online shopping sites like Shein and others that sold synthetics cheaply, but in doing so has inadvertently imposed more costs and time consuming tasks on farmers rather than the synthetic producing companies.

In other developments, WoolPoll is on again this year, offering woolgrowers the opportunity to decide how much they will collectively invest into research, development and marketing of Australian Merino wool both domestically and internationally.

With the negativity surrounding the words tax and levy, it was suggested it would be a more positive message if it was referred to as a wool investment fund contribution.

The current levy/wool investment fund is set at 1.5 per cent and voting will commence on September 20 and close on November 1.

The Australian Government-established scheme has funded many products, campaigns and training since its inception in 2001 and some of its most recent campaigns have struck a chord with many global consumers.

A shining example is The Woolmark Company's environmentally focused global campaign - Wear Wool, Not Fossil Fuel - which ran last November.

The campaign video was watched 92 million times during the initial campaign.

The digital campaign received 643 million impressions (which is the number of times the campaign advert was seen online or on outdoor advertising such as on billboards, bus shelters and 3D digital screens) and there were 542,000 online click-throughs to the Woolmark.com website.

Research showed the campaign's success, including:

79 per cent saying the advert made them think twice about the environmental impact of their clothes.

78pc said they would consider materials/fabrics when making a purchase decision regarding clothes.

80pc said they believed wool was gentle on the environment.

Given these impressive results, The Woolmark Company is rerunning the campaign in key northern hemisphere markets during their winter.

The aim of the campaign is to educate the public about the harm of synthetic fibres to the environment, and that choosing a natural fibre such as wool can help reduce the fashion industry's environmental footprint on the planet.

Featuring a series of powerful visual messages that highlight the link between fabrics made from synthetic fibres and the crude oil used in its manufacture, the campaign centres around a 60-second hero film.

The film shows people struggling to escape an oil-filled swimming pool.

It also shows that every 25 minutes an Olympic pool's worth of crude oil is used to produce synthetic clothing (which amounts to almost 350 million barrels a year).

The video then sees the people wearing wool clothes, wandering with freedom through forests, streams and meadows - a natural paradise - which emphasises the natural attributes of the wool they are now wearing.