Campaigns that leverage 'Make it Repeatable' thinking give consumer behaviour a cue that comes back, a routine that carries it or an occasion with its own date. The limit is size. It suits small, easy behaviours people already support, and struggles with anything they resist. What matters is the second time: if nobody has to remember, the habit has a chance.
- Give the Behaviour a Cue
- Stack It onto an Existing Routine
- Create a New Ritual
1. Give the Behaviour a Cue
Attach a recurring reminder, such as an object, label, message or scheduled prompt, that re-triggers the behaviour each time it appears.
Use It Up Tape — OzHarvest, R/GA Australia, 2021
Households throw away food they meant to eat, usually because it disappears behind everything else in the fridge. Research OzHarvest ran with BehaviourWorks Australia found that using up what is already there was the most effective way a household could reduce food waste. R/GA Australia turned that finding into a product: a bright paper tape to mark a shelf or container for food that needs eating first. It launched on the UN's International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste in September 2021, with more than 50 influencers showing how they used it. People open the fridge every day. Now, each time it did, the reminder was waiting.
OzHarvest says the tape cuts household food waste by around 40%. The figure comes from a BehaviourWorks Australia trial in which 75 households completed both surveys, so it is a small, self-reported sample. — OzHarvest
Skin Memories — Euromelanoma, BBDO Brussels, 2018
Skin spots need checking for changes once a year, but it's hard to spot a change when nobody remembers what the spot looked like twelve months ago. Euromelanoma noticed that Facebook already had a feature that brought back the past. People were asked to photograph a skin spot with a transparent sticker beside it and post it, privately or publicly. A year later, Facebook Memories resurfaced the picture, so the reminder and the comparison arrived in the same notification. Euromelanoma did not build an app or a reminder system. It borrowed one that already arrived on schedule.
