Renewi is a waste-to-product company that arose from the merger of waste service providers Van Gansewinkel and Shanks. With the name change, this new Belgian and international player wanted to rid itself of its old image, create a new greener identity and make an active contribution to a sustainable society. The waste management company aims to be the authority in circular enterprise and thinking. To involve Belgian entrepreneurs in this narrative, in 2017, Renewi went looking for a communication partner that shares the same values.

Make Sense unleashed the #thinkrenewi media campaign upon discerning entrepreneurs. The campaign gave a human face to the recycling company. In the first phase, Make Sense mainly focused on entrepreneurs who make conscious choices and opted in favour of circularity on a daily basis. In a second phase, it focused on every company and organisation in Flanders, as everyone is required to sort their industrial waste according to the latest VLAREMA legislation.

After the first successful image campaign for Renewi, the communications team also brought this message to entrepreneurs’ desks, warehouses or mailboxes with an integral on- and offline media campaign. The various online ads in the second phase were eagerly clicked through, with plastic waste being the best-performing ad on both LinkedIn and YouTube. The YouTube ads gained 539,201 impressions in just under two months and the website demorgen.be easily achieved 804,898 impressions. Brand research shows that the campaign prompted awareness across Belgium and recognition of the Renewi brand increased by a whopping 11%. After four years as an established communications partner, Make Sense had a big hand in this. It is now planning towards the future with an HR campaign and the rollout of the next VLAREMA campaign to Brussels and Wallonia.