Eurostar is Treading Lightly

Eurostar has become the latest big business to reinforce its green credentials. It has launched the Tread Lightly initiative and as part of it is pledging to not only reduce its carbon footprint but also introducing other moves such as paperless ticketing, better waste management and sourcing on-board food from local suppliers.
The move itself has been expected within advertising circles for a while especially when considering the fact that Eurostar competes head-on with the low-cost airlines and that trains by their very nature are 'greener' than flying so going down this route is yet another vital point of difference over taking the plane.
However I was particularly impressed by the way that Eurostar has and is integrating the initiative across its marketing activity. As a customer, I received an explanatory email on the day it launched without any jargon. The train operator has also added a section about it to its website and you can bet your life that a more high profile above the line campaign supporting the 'new way' will be appearing soon.
It's good to see that brands are starting to realise that new initiatives like this not only have to be backed up by heavyweight marketing investment but crucially they need to be made personal and relevant to the customer- and using the power of digital communications is perhaps the best way of doing this