How to win friends and influence… everything

It’s 2016. Koalas in Redland City (Quandamooka) are under threat because dog attacks are at an all-time high. It is clear something has to be done. But how to persuade dog owners to get behind a koala-saving campaign? Redland City Council called in Professor Sharyn Rundle-Thiele, founding director of Social Marketing @ Griffith. After consulting with the community, Rundle-Thiele and her team trialled a recommended solution: a festival for dogs.

“No one wanted dogs to kill koalas, and the owners were actually really worried about their dogs licking toads or getting eaten by a snake, and all these other wildlife issues,” Rundle-Thiele says. “Owners want their dogs to be their best selves, just like a parent wants their child to be their best self, so we really tapped into that.”

New tricks

Dogfest had everything a canine companion could desire: puppaccinos, ice cream for dogs and a best-dressed dog competition. But it also included wildlife-related talks and presentations, and dog trainers for people to talk to. The trick, says Rundle-Thiele, is not to make anyone feel guilty or resentful about needing to change. “You have to come up with a good hook and make it fun,” she says.

Today, the project’s initiative, with its website, app, events, training programs and social platforms, is an incredible resource for dog owners. It includes free training advice and videos on all aspects of a dog’s wellbeing, with wildlife avoidance embedded in the mix. And it’s worked. Dog attacks on koalas are down by 40%. In 2024, the initiative was delivered in nine areas across south-eastern Queensland, and Leave It will soon roll out ɫ��վ-wide.

In a way, it’s not so different from Rundle-Thiele’s commercial background in marketing – her PhD looked at how to sell more wine, to more people, more often. “Marketing is all about how to attract attention, keep it, and get people coming back, whether you’re selling a product, a service, a celebrity or an idea,” she says. “The main difference is there’s a lot more politics involved in social, environmental or health change.”

Menu changes

But while we can all surely get behind keeping koalas safe, how do you convince people to make what feels like a less appealing change – such as getting dedicated meat-eaters to cut down on their burgers to help their health and the planet? Again, behavioural science comes into play for Dr David Fechner of Social Marketing @ Griffith, who’s working to get people to eat more plant-based meals.

“There are three main priority areas. One is to mitigate climate change – if we don’t change the way we eat, it doesn’t matter what we do in all other sectors, it is very unlikely that we’ll meet the targets contained in the Paris Agreement,” Fechner says. “The second is health – there are still lots of knowledge gaps and misconceptions, like that we need to eat a lot of animal protein. And the third is animal welfare."

Partnering with one of the world’s largest food service operators, Fechner has conducted promising trials offering veggie food to miners. (No small feat.) “They’re a very traditional crowd, where meat is the hero of the dish,” Fechner says. With miners offered buffet-style meals and always beelining for meat dishes, the team focused on ways they could break this habit.

“Before the miners lined up, the chefs would hand out samples of a vegetable dish – otherwise, they are very unlikely to try it in the first place,” Fechner says. “Taste and perception are the biggest hurdles, so we have to put the food into their mouths.” It’s early days, but the results show potential, and Fechner is hoping for a grant approval so they can scale up the project.

Originally from Germany, Fechner sees how entrenched meat is in the ɫ��վn diet, but he’s buoyed by wins elsewhere, such as Greener by Default in the US. As the name suggests, this program makes plant-based meals the first option, with people needing to actively switch to a meat dish.

“It’s one of the most effective behavioural nudges out there,” Fechner says. “It was successfully implemented in New York City public hospitals, where patients were first offered plant-based dishes. If they didn’t want those, patients then received a menu with meat options. It worked amazingly. This simple change reduced the carbon footprint of the hospitals by a third, while saving those hospitals $500,000 a year, all without affecting guest satisfaction.”

Small shifts

Despite the scope of these ambitious projects, it’s the simple, incremental shifts that make all the difference. Empowering owners to improve their dogs’ abilities – not just around wildlife but in all areas – has countless benefits for all involved, much like getting people to rethink their diet.

“Our goal is not to turn the world vegan – swapping just one meal per day would go a long way,” Fechner says. “It’s about changing this perception that every single meal needs to have animal products in it.” And likewise, Rundle-Thiele is seeing the Leave It initiative create real shifts from the ground up – one dog at a time. Social Marketing @ Griffith, the koalas – and, hopefully, the miners – thank you.

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