(that’s Swahili for Live Fresh!)
Fresh Life, a franchised network of toilets across Nairobi's Mukuru slum, is offering residents a high-quality, clean sanitation facility. In a community where sanitation options are often limited to the use of unhygienic pit latrines or open defecation, Fresh Life is pioneering a novel sanitation model.
Each toilet is purchased and owned by a local resident - a Fresh Life Operator - who manages the facility. Fresh Life Frontline, a locally run waste management system, safely removes waste from each toilet each day by truck, handcart or wheelbarrow. Waste is transported to a centralized facility where it's converted into productive by-products such as organic fertilizer and renewable energy.
Though the Fresh Life franchise is growing rapidly -- expanding by an average of 25 new toilets per month -- the enterprise faces a usage challenge. In the communities where it operates, a majority of residents continue to use unhygienic alternatives. The work we did looks at the issues and barriers preventing higher Fresh Life toilet use, and presents prototyped creative ideas designed in response to our findings.
Using the discoveries that came out of months of contextual and field research, we concepted and designed over 20 ideas -- prototyping 12 to test in action. Here are some of the solutions we created to turn non-users into users
While many are familiar with the Fresh Life name, many can’t identify the benefits of using a Fresh Life toilet -- or know that it’s a toilet at all. By creating a system of visualized benefits, we helped to unpack what the Fresh Life brand offers and clearly communicate the expected experience. We also selected the most resonant benefits of Fresh Life -- ample toilet paper, hand washing with soap and a good smell -- that make it an aspirational step above the rest.
We offered the desirable gift of fresh smelling air fresheners in exchange for individuals’ phone numbers. The bank of numbers opened up the opportunity to send direct acquisition-tailored messaging encouraging first-time trial of Fresh Life. Additionally, the air freshener is scented with a good smell, just like the toilets -- allowing outreach agents to begin conversations with non-users about one of the many key benefits of using a Fresh Life toilet. It’s easy to toss away a flyer, but less so a great-smelling gift!
To make Fresh Life an easy and evident option at the very moments potential users are seeking out a toilet, we re-imagined the various possibilities of simple signs in various environments. According to three distinct environments, we designed three categories of signage: interruptive, directional and contextual. Interruptive signage -- large and obtrusive -- has been designed for high-traffic and fast-moving settings, such as work commutes; directional signage has been designed to guide users to low-visibility toilets in dense residential settings; and contextual signage has been designed to prompt Fresh Life toilet use in relevant contexts, such as restaurants. The visual cues of each type of sign have been adapted for the various environments, and work to make using Fresh Life an immediately obvious choice.
After discovering that operators and owners of Fresh Life toilets weren't actively recruiting new customers on their own, we designed a redemption program that turns loyal Fresh Life users into recruiters for the brand. The average redemption rate for similar programs is 1.2% -- ours exponentially surpassed that with a 60% success rate. We achieved this by giving operators vouchers to distribute to their most loyal customers. Those customers, as instructed by the vouchers, handed them out to their non-using friends and family. The non-users received a free Fresh Life-branded vaseline when they brought their voucher to a Fresh Life toilet to use for the first time. By offering a desirable reward and relying on existing social networks, this program was able to push non-users to cross the trial-use threshold.
Testimonials battle identity issues that might discourage use by nurturing the association between certain types of users and the brand. They communicate that ‘this service is clearly for people like me.’ Our “Freshtimonials” tell short stories that create a vivid representation of users, and connect that representation to desirable elements of the Fresh Life experience. For example: a salonist who always recommends Fresh Life to her customers because it offers a private mirror to check out their hair. Each Freshtimonial follows this storytelling format, and as a whole includes the scope of potential user demographics -- from older men to young girls.
Our complete report of the behavioral research and creative here:
Behind the scenes pictures of the team and process: