Prêt à Voter (case study)

Solar Impulse, is a foundation headed by the explorer Bertrand Piccard, it is dedicated to solving the knowing gap when it comes to tackling environmental challenges by collecting and promoting innovative ideas that are pragmatic and economically viable- it leads what it calls “eco-realism” . The issue is that in the clamour of different passionate voices on the environment subjects, the calm voice of eco-realism is difficult to be heard. We hear about the problem, but never the solutions. More than adding a voice to the debate, we needed an approach that enabled real change in laws.

Over two months ideas were transformed by legal and scientific experts into draft laws that were launched as “prêt a voter” or “ready-to-vote” for the French Parliament. A limited edition of books were sent out to 577 newly elected MPs along with these pre-drafted legislation that MPs could use in debates in Parliament.

BACKGROUND
To face this emergency, the world needs real actions not just more alerts. There may be a global consensus that actions are needed for the sake of life on the planet, the problem is, no one knows where to start, and everyone is scared of the immediate economic sacrifices to make them happen. To solve this thinking gap, Solar Impulse, curated 1400 ideas which were pragmatic and economically sound solutions for key environmental problems in a book called : “Ready to vote”. To make action happen, we launched the most targeted B2B campaign ever, with perhaps the most precise copywriting in advertising history.

IDEA
The creative idea was called “ Pret à Voter” or “Ready-to-Vote”. Instead of just informing the public about environmental ideas that can help shape the future, we removed one of the barriers to implementation, by actually pre-drafting the legislation to make them happen. These 50 “Prêt à Voter” proposals became the vehicle of the idea both in terms of targeting newly elected MPs but also the general public through OOH and a social media campaign under the slogan “as the climate changes, laws should too”.

STRATEGY
We focused on newly elected MPs from all parties, and their different political groupings. We were fortunate to have one of the biggest renewal of the French national assembly in post war history. New faces ready to build a legacy but confronted by the notoriously slow French law-making machine. We helped speed things up by giving each of them drafted, “ready to vote” laws and amendments thereby providing an effective catalyst for concrete debate. To keep stimulate the debate, we also targeted public opinion and the Assembly with OOH, social media and TV interviews with Bertrand Piccard. It became a real subject for journalists, a refreshingly pragmatic approach to the future. Under the slogan “as the climate is changing, the laws should too”.

EXECUTION
This campaign was launched July 5, 2022. An important date, because it comes after the nomination of new deputies of the National Assembly. We first sent the "Prêt à Voter" to the 577 deputies of the National Assembly. This mailing was accompanied by a letter from Bertrand Piccard explaining the approach. In a second step we developed an OOH and DOOH campaign in strategic points around the National Assembly, but also the most frequented places in Paris. A social media campaign targeting the new deputies completed the approach.

RESULTS
This campaign was successful, real and concrete. We are not talking about changes in attitudes, alerting influencers about the environment, we are talking about re-writing laws in France and Europe, fast-tracking the slow legal machine.

So far 3 legislative proposals from Prêt à Voter have been adopted word for word, integrated into the Renewable Energy bill of the French Government. There is momentum for further concrete change, with 9 other ready-to-vote proposals are being debated in the Senate, 1 is being scrutinized for the Swiss Parliament and an environmental law is submitted to the European Union.