Context
- Initiated in 2005 by the Ministry of the Environment as means to reduce electricity consumption by limiting the use of air conditioning
- The Government released guidelines recommending setting AC to 28°C and dressing more causally
Results
- Ministry estimated that the campaign resulted in a 460,000-ton reduction in CO2 emissions, the equivalent volume of CO2 emitted by about 1 million households for one month
- While Cool Biz spread energy savings to all businesses, the necktie business suffered. They claimed that their summer sales dropped drastically (an estimated 36%), and asked the Environment Minister to end the campaign.
Methods
- Annual marketing campaigns.
- In the early days, Prime Minister Koizumi was frequently interviewed without a tie or jacket, and this produced a significantly raised profile of the campaign.
- Similarly, a ‘Warm Biz’ campaign is run during winters. Both the campaigns are voluntary in nature.
