2024 CAMPAIGN RESULTS
Showing the value in using your reusable cup
THE CAMPAIGN
At Hubbub, we’re all about inspiring everyday actions that are good for the environment and for everyone. A simple change, like bringing a reusable cup, can collectively make a massive impact.
Why? Despite 73% of us owning a reusable cup, only a third of us say we use them regularly.* This campaign, funded by donations from Starbucks UK, encourages more people to make reusable cups part of their daily routine. By bringing your own cup, you reduce waste, save money, and make your drink truly yours. It’s worth it, every time.
In November 2024 we hit the road with the Bring Your Own Cup pop-up, rewarding people in Cardiff, Manchester and London who bought along their own cup with a free coffee. People across the UK were shown the perks of using a reusable cup through a digital campaign featuring a film, adverts on Spotify and social media collaborations – all aimed at reaching people at times when they’re happiest (and therefore more open to new behaviours).
After seeing the campaign: 97%
3 86%
SAID THEY’RE MORE LIKELY TO TAKE POSITIVE ACTION TOWARDS REUSE WERE MORE AWARE OF THE VALUE OF USING A REUSABLE CUP SAID THAT THEY HAD OR WOULD ENCOURAGE FRIENDS/ FAMILY TO USE REUSABLES
The campaign was relevant to our audience: 39%
OF 25-34-YEAR-OLDS REMEMBERED SEEING THE CAMPAIGN
4 IN 80% AGREED WHEN THEY SAW THE DIGITAL CAMPAIGN AGREED IF THEY WERE ALSO IN A CITY WITH THE POP-UP 91%
THE CHALLENGE
We’re a nation of hot drink lovers; the average Brit gets a takeaway drink more than twice a week, with 25–34-year-olds most likely to treat themselves.
However, despite 73% of us owning a reusable cup, only a third of us use them regularly. This means many reusable cups are just sitting at home, missing the opportunity for us to reduce waste and save money.
Our polling showed that reusables are seen as good for the environment (74% agree), can save people money (64% agree), and reusables have a high social approval (62%).
So, what’s stopping us from using them?
Amongst 25–34-year-olds, 40% say they are embarrassed about asking stores to put a drink in a reusable cup and 51% don’t think that the café they go to most frequently will let them use a reusable.
However, the biggest barrier people report is remembering to take their cups with them.
THE SOLUTION
To encourage the use of reusable cups, we launched Bring Your Own Cup. We wanted to reach 25–34-year-olds, those most likely to be treating themselves to a hot drink.
We thought that if people see the value in using a reusable cup, and destigmatise using different types of cups, people would be more likely to overcome the barriers to using them.
Bring Your Own Cup featured a popup installation offering free coffee to those who brought their own reusable cups, a social media campaign with comedy and lifestyle influencers, and adverts across YouTube and Spotify. This combined to normalise, reward and encourage people to adopt the habit of carrying and using their reusable cups.
POP-UP EXPERIENCE
Our pop-up Bring your Own Cup coffee van operated for four days in three locations; Cardiff, Manchester and Stratford London.
The pop-up served an average of 250 free coffees per day, to anyone who brought their own cup. Engagement increased daily, with the final day of each pop-up serving an average of 134% more drinks than the first day. Passers-by without a reusable cup could intereact with the Reuse-a-BALL maze to reveal reasons to bring a reusable cup.
Those who saw the pop-up in their city and the digital ad campaign were 27% more likely to value their reusable cups. Showing the value of doing onthe-ground activations alongside digital campaigns.
2,705 COFFEES SERVED, AVERAGE 250 PER DAY
1,570 INTEREACTIONS WITH THE ‘REUSE-ABALL MAZE’
OVER 4,000 CONVERSATIONS WITH THE PUBLIC ABOUT REUSABLE CUPS
OF PEOPLE SURVEYED BROUGHT A REUSABLE CUP BECAUSE THE POP-UP HAD REMINDED THEM
SAID THAT THE POP-UP MADE THEM AWARE OF THE BENEFITS OF REUSABLE CUPS
POP-UP EXPERIENCE
“I knew it would pay off one day, I always carry my cup and now I get a free coffee!”
“It looks so bright, and everyone is happy and smiling. It’s made my day even though I don’t have a cup.”
“The colourful van caught my eye...makes me think about bringing my cup in the future.”
“I saw an ad on Instagram so started following [Hubbub] and as I work in Manchester, I brought my cup down.”
Visitor, Manchester
“Switching to a reusable cup is such a simple swap, but it can make a huge difference for our planet – it’s sustainable and saves you money too. Hubbub’s initiative to cut waste and ditch single-used cups for good is brilliant.”
Uma Kumaran MP for Stratford and Bow
Visitor, Cardiff
Visitor, Manchester
Visitor, London
686,402
PEOPLE REACHED WITH POSTS ACROSS HUBBUB’S CHANNELS
SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
UNUSUAL WAYS TO REMEMBER YOUR REUSABLE 88,996 PEOPLE REACHED
We spilt the tea on reusables across social media, by creating reels and stories showing the different benefits from using reusable cups. We partnered with content-creators to make feel good posts about reusables, to encourage different audiences to bring their own cup. @DAVIDLARBI LOVE POEM TO A REUSABLE
“I think this video alone will pop up in my head every time I think of going out for a coffee, so a very well done to you.”
Comment on Holly Morriss’ video
227,308 PEOPLE REACHED
BYOC FILM AUDIO ADVERTS
MEDIA CAMPAIGN
To further reach audiences with the Bring Your Own Cup campaign message, a targeted advertising campaign used YouTube and Spotify adverts to create positive associations with reusable cups and remind people of the benefits, targeted in the evenings and weekends when people felt happiest and more open to changing their behaviour.
6,150,392 IMPRESSIONS
ACROSS THE VIDEO AND AUDIO MEDIA CAMPAIGN
Feedback on the digital campaign was that creative was clear and stuck with those who saw it, and the simplicity of the call to action was key.
35% OF THE CORE 25–34-YEAROLD AUDIENCE RECALLED THE FILM
The audio adverts were seen as “fun and jokey” while also having a positive message that was easy to understand, with a recall rate of 28%.
95%
WHO VIEWED SAID IT WAS EASY TO UNDERSTAND
97%
PEOPLE WHO LISTENED OR VIEWED SAID THEY’RE NOW MORE LIKELY TO TAKE POSITIVE ACTION ON REUSE
OUR PARTNERS
This campaign was supported by donations from Starbucks UK. Starbucks also kindly donated coffee beans, syrups, and plant-based milk for us to use in the pop-up. Leftover plant milk was donated to City Harvest following the campaign.
COLLABORATORS
Hubbub led the concept, creative and design, collaborating with agencies for media placement (7stars), film (Untold Stories) and audio, and popup (Positive Experience). We are grateful to St David’s Shopping Centre Cardiff, Manchester City Council, and Newham Council for hosting our popup. We also amplified our campaign messaging with influencers Holly Morris and David Larbi.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Encouraging people to use reusables and waste less is one of our key strategic themes, visit our website or get in touch to find out more about what we’ve got planned.
Want to collaborate? Drop us a message, we’d love to hear from you.
METHODS AND REFERENCES
The stats, outcomes and figures throughout this report come from a variety of public polling, surveys and feedback from participants at the pop-up.
1. Public polling – We worked with Censuswide to conduct nationally representative polling with 2,002 people from across the UK. (May, 2024)
2. Pre and post measurement of behaviours – Working with the 7Stars we conducted pre and post survey measurement with 1000 people aged between 25-44 (to best represent our target audience). Sample was weighted to represent quotas on region social grade, gender, and ethnicity. With an additional 200 boost in Cardiff to get a representative sample for a city where the pop-up visited. (October and November, 2024)
3. Interviews at the pop-up – At the BYOC pop-up we interviewed 112 people who visited the pop-up, installation or spoke to a member of staff to get their views on the campaign. (November, 2024)
4. Survey at the pop-up – An additional 82 people scanned a QR code on the Reuse-a-ball maze to leave feedback on the campaign. (November, 2024)
