On November 1st 2011, UK-based charity Start, in collaboration with Business in the Community and the Marketing Society launched a nation-wide marketing campaign titled Start Today. The organization, which is part of Prince Charles’ Charities Foundation, rallied up eleven of the most influential brands in the UK to take part in an initiative aimed at promoting sustainable behaviors.

Aviva, B&Q, British Gas, EDF Energy, Eurostar, IBM, More Th>n, Marks & Spencers, Procter & Gamble, Thames Water, and Virgin Money are all contributing in their own way to the spreading of the simple message ‘do more with less’. Unlike other campaigns that focused on telling consumers what not to do, Start Today aims to encourage the adoption of simple behaviors that can contribute to the sustainability of the planet.

Each of the fore mentioned companies created their own concept and slogan making use of the Start brand. British Gas’s ‘Start keeping the warmth in your house’ campaign encourages consumers to find new efficient ways of insulating their homes rather than consuming more energy. Another interesting example is Thames Water’s ‘Start singing in the shower’ campaign, which recommends the singing of specific songs in the shower as a means to control water consumption. What follows is the complete list of tag lines:

• Aviva 'Start dejunking your trunk'
• B&Q 'Start switching off automatically'
• British Gas 'Start keeping the warmth in your home'
• EDF Energy 'Start low-carbon living'
• Eurostar 'Start exploring on foot'
• IBM 'Start building a Smarter Planet'
• More Th>n 'Start greener gardening'
• Procter & Gamble 'Start doing future-friendly little acts in your household'
• Thames Water 'Start singing in the shower'
• Virgin Money 'Start sustainable savings'.

From a branding perspective the campaign leverages the power of fundamentally diverse brands to achieve its goal of inspiring consumers around the UK. The collaborative brand equity of these different organizations, combined with the innovative Start brand allows for the campaign to have a more profound impact. As explained by Cameron Hughes, head of Branding at EDF Energy: “For years we’ve been promoting sustainability through our products, communications, and Team Green Britain behavior change campaign. By partnering with other major brands, Start Today gives us the opportunity to amplify these messages and normalize low-carbon living”.

The brand managers of all participant companies agree that Start Today will help improve their image in a market, the UK, in which the demand for sustainable and green business practices has been growing relentlessly. “This is a real chance to make a statement about how progressive and forward-thinking we are” said Pete Markey, chief marketing officer at More Th>n.

Most noticeably, beyond using the print media and outdoor advertising, and heavily relying on social media networks like Facebook and Twitter to reach out to larger audiences, the campaign demonstrates once more how brands are now becoming the preferred vehicle for many organizations to broadcast their messages and ideas for the future.