New sound to old electronics
“A wonderful entry, refreshing and so, so relevant - very clever, love the tagline.”
Brief
RENAS is a Norwegian non-profit producer responsibility organisation that, on behalf of its member companies, collects, treats, and recycles WEEE and batteries. They handle over 80,000 tonnes of electronic waste annually and are the country’s leading compliance scheme.
Producer responsibility can feel like a “bureaucratic jungle.” RENAS makes it simple: we take care of the bureaucracy — you take responsibility. For electronics and batteries, it’s about the full lifecycle: collection, safe removal of hazardous substances, and material recovery into new products — turning complex requirements into tangible circular impact.
The task
Create a brand activation that, over time, drives new member recruitment and shows the public why the scheme is essential. Without a well-functioning producer responsibility system, hazardous substances can go astray. We highlight responsibility across the entire lifecycle and show how authorised schemes like RENAS prevent pollution and ensure recycling.
Note:
WEEE contains critical raw materials such as cobalt, lithium, nickel, graphite, and rare earth elements — central to today’s geopolitical landscape. The race for access plays out in places like Greenland and the DRC, affecting supply security, technology, and the environment. In parallel with this campaign, RENAS is working to spotlight this and the solutions through safe collection and recycling — an adjacent, lower-funnel campaign stream. It’s not the main focus of this presentation, but it’s an important backdrop.
Period
April to present, 2025
Solution
Tons of Rock is Norway’s largest rock and metal festival, with over 150,000 attendees — placing it among the biggest globally in the genre.
The band Hurra Torpedo broke through in the 1990s with absurd performances and became an international phenomenon via US tours, SXSW, and festivals worldwide. Audiences were drawn to the musical power and the spectacular stage show.
Their success came from a unique concept: famous songs played on old white goods like washing machines and oven doors. Music, performance, and pure madness that went viral early on. After many years at a high pace, the band took a roughly ten-year break due to health challenges, closing a chapter as the world’s most famous “white goods band.”
When their Tons of Rock comeback was announced, it took only minutes before we were in dialogue. We underlined that the appliances on stage had to be clean and environmentally safe—a win-win: the band needed 2–3 truckloads of appliances, and we delivered environmentally sanitized “instruments,” cleared of hazardous components, with safe return to the recycling facility after the show.
Concept and strategy
To connect the Hurra Torpedo comeback to RENAS’s purpose, we adjusted the slogan from “We give new life to old electronics” to “We give new sound to old electronics” — a creative move linking circular thinking to the festival’s sound universe.
Our strategy was built on earned, paid, and high shareability
Maximize PR with a strong news hook and release behind-the-scenes content for organic spread and authenticity.
Amplify reach with paid social content that boosts the best organic clips and ensures targeted distribution to relevant audiences with RENAS’s message and voice.
Activate the audience with a simple contest to trigger shares and engagement, building momentum toward launch and the concert.
Conclude with a short mini-documentary telling the full project story — from start to finish — covering both the narrative and the environmental impact, creating evergreen content for press pitching and owned channels.
What we did
We began with a press and content visit to the recycling facility with Hurra Torpedo and RENAS. The band tested components and selected their “instruments”—environmentally sanitized appliances ready for the stage. At the same time, we produced behind-the-scenes material, interviews, and editorial pieces for owned and earned channels, including the quiz “What is Hurra Torpedo playing on?”
In the six weeks leading up to Tons of Rock (June 27), we ran always-on communication across all channels, with steady content drops that built curiosity, explained the environmental benefits, and made the concept shareable.
On concert day, we delivered two full truckloads of sanitized appliances, set up as both backdrop and stage. Hurra Torpedo delivered a 90-minute comeback featuring percussion on washing machines and ovens — plus waffle irons as castanets — as seen in live clips from the festival (See in Vimeo link).
After the concert, we documented the load-out and reverse logistics back to the facility — the final chapter in the story of safe handling and circular flow — forming the basis for the mini-documentary and post-campaign content.
Results
Strong earned and social impact
Broad national and local press coverage. Paid and organic social delivered high reach and attention; the quiz drove solid participation and sharing; articles achieved long read times. This created momentum and credibility for RENAS.
It is challenging to measure membership growth when conversion happens only once a year. The impact should therefore be assessed against the campaign’s unparalleled attention in the sector, and how it builds top‑of‑funnel for recruitment ahead of the next conversion window.
PR:
TV 2 Nyhetene (the country’s second-largest news broadcast)
NRK Vestfold og Telemark (TV and radio)
Dagbladet feature
Film and articles in Tønsbergs Blad
Film and articles in Re-avisa
Trade press: Elektronikkbransjen
Total reach: approx. 2 million, half of Norway’s population.
Organic in owned channels, articles and quiz:
LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram: traffic increase 238%
Over 8,000 quiz participants with email captured for retargeting
Paid channels:
LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram: CTR 9.45
And most importantly:
A very satisfied client — and a very cool project
Seven layers of the same story: building from tactical to earned
In the dissemination strategy, we work in layers — from tactical to more engaging and motivating communication — opening up interplay between channels. The model isn’t a timeline, but seven different ways to tell the same message. The effect we aim for is like ripples on water: we move from tactical to earned. In the first layer, we communicate the core message; gradually, it becomes more about the consumer and less about the sender.
Conclusion
Bottom line: The activation delivered attention and engagement, built credibility, and equipped RENAS with durable assets to drive member recruitment over time — exactly what a brand-led initiative should achieve.