AUSTRALIAN Wool Innovation’s international campaign ‘Wear Wool, Not Waste’ has won a series of awards.

These include a gold trophy at the International Deauville Festival and gold in Creative at The Drum Awards for Marketing.

AWI chief executive officer John Roberts said the campaign has proven to be an effective way to promote wool over fast fashion synthetic fibres.

“Wear Wool, Not Waste is one of those advertisements that grabs your attention, but also makes the viewer really think about what they buy,” he said.

“The dramatic images of hordes of plastic items of clothing chasing down and overwhelming people are hard to forget.

“Wool by comparison is a natural, renewable and biodegradable fibre which is also great to wear,” Mr Roberts said.

“As consumers increasingly consider the dangers of fast fashion wool is the best alternative if people want to buy better for them and the planet.

“The campaign builds on the success of the Wear Wool, Not Fossil Fuel campaign,” he said.

“Together they have challenged consumers and changed perceptions.”

Mr Roberts said AWI’s aim is to increase awareness of and consideration for the wool fibre by improving fibre consciousness.

“After Wear Wool, Not Waste, we did consumer surveys to test the campaign’s impact.

“76 percent of those surveyed said the advertisement “made me think twice about the environmental impact of my clothes” and 75% said “because of this advert, I would consider materials/fabrics when making a purchase decision regarding clothes”.

“We also saw an average 75pc purchase intent for wool across the USA, UK and France. This shows our strategy is working,” he said.

AWI said the campaign continues to be rolled out during strategically impactful periods. The video was recently played 280 across 12 days at the Sydney Film Festival at Martin Place – reminding consumers to choose wool when shopping for their winter wardrobes in the city centre.

AWI said Wear Wool, Not Waste has also been shortlisted for four awards at the Creative Circle Awards in the following categories:

• Film for Positive Change
• Cinema 1 minute & under
• Colour Grading – Commercial Film Grading
• Craft – Sound Design