Sipple X RNLI

Sipple partnered with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to install two Sipple hydration stations at coastal locations in Cornwall. We wanted to see if the instillation of our hydration stations in targeted areas could reduce the volume of single use plastic entering our oceans, as well as educate beach goers on coastal safety.

So we set out to intercept beach goers on route to refill their water bottles and communicate RNLI’s safety message in an effective way. Whilst refilling we educated them on beach safety so they were not only saving the planet but lives also!

The Sipple hydration stations offered a water refill facility that presented two options for  people heading to the beach, they could answer a multiple-choice question to access the free water option or they could pay for the premium chilled, filtered option.

For the RNLI the main objective was to educate visitors on the dangers that can be presented when at the beach. Sipple hydration stations were used to educate people in an innovative format, the LCD display was customised to the RNLI’s interactive questionnaire and the members of the public had to answer the safety question to unlock the free refill option.

We believed that offering free water refills in exchange for beach safety information would save lives and reduce the amount of single use plastic on the beach and in the sea. And we were not disappointed by the results!

Working with the RNLI we agreed a partnership with two key locations in the area, the landlords of the surf hire retail space on Perranporth beach and also inside Hendra Holiday park.

The hydration station located at Perranporth beach benefited from high levels of footfall being on the main access route to and from the beach. The machine achieved close to an average of 40 refills a day and over 100 on hot days and in-turn resulted in hundreds of people being educated on beach safety.

The second located at Hendra Holiday Park, where we knew we would be getting to people before and after going to the beach. The hydration station was in consistent use and over a thousand refills were made, meaning thousands of people will have benefited from an increased understanding / reminder of beach safety. The revenue generated from this machine was slightly more notable and the demand for the machine extended beyond just the peak season.

With the campaign being so well received across a variety of channels, and our estimated total reach being above 2 million, we aim to roll out more Sipple hydration stations across various beach locations for similar campaigns in the near future.