ALPLA speaks with Plastic is Fantastic

With the Plastic is Fantastic project, ALPLA wants to give plastic a voice. How did this idea come about?

Dominic: Few people know that the carbon footprint of a PET bottle – whether disposable or reusable – is better than that of the glass or aluminium alternatives. And often significantly. Although plastic is also light, unbreakable and hygienic, its image in society is suffering. That is also down to the manufacturers and therefore also to us. That’s why, in 2020, we at ALPLA decided to abandon the justification mode, stop hiding behind our customers and start acting confidently. ‘Raising awareness hinges on education. We are not interested in glossing over of non-environmentally friendly practices and polemics. We want to convince people with scientific facts and figures, get into conversation with them and thus convince them of the numerous advantages of plastic. This is what Plastic is Fantastic stands for - because Plastic is fantastic. Because we do not accept that anybody can spread negative false messages about our products without being challenged.

How is such a campaign developed in each country and what is the feedback from existing campaigns?

Dominic: As a first step, the individual regions were and are being asked to get to know and understand their market and their customers better. This can be achieved, for example, by closely observing social media and the respective media landscape. Regional agencies are then brought on board for market research, planning and implementation. The aim is to find out what moves people and what they think about plastics in order to define tailor-made goals and measures for the individual campaigns. The campaign managers in the regions are always supported by the Corporate Marketing team at HQ in Hard.

This is how we communicate the positive aspects and benefits of plastic packaging to the global public. For example, by comparing the environmental impact of different materials or by explaining terms such as the circular economy and the four Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Replace. Our aim is for terms like these to become common knowledge worldwide in the future.

Feedback from the regions where campaigns are already under way is very good. We have become even more visible locally and globally, and our communication is perceived as particularly relevant by our target groups. Panel surveys in Austria and Poland, for example, have also shown that opinions on plastics have improved slightly since the campaign. This is positive for us and will provide us with valuable insights for the coming years.

What is planned for the years 2023 and 2024? Will there be projects in other countries?

Dominic: In the coming years, the expansion to further regions and countries is planned. We are currently working on campaigns for the UK, France and Belgium. In addition, we are continuing to develop existing campaigns in order to keep our finger on the pulse. Because there is still a lot to be done to convince people that life without plastic is not possible and that plastic is also good for the climate.