Zero-Budget Marketing Strategy: The ‘Can Kid’ Social Responsibility Project

95% of the global warming is due to human activity (Nuccitelli, 2013) where Paris Agreement is signed by more than 170 parties and carbon dioxide emission needs to be reduced by 40 to 70% by 2050 and eliminated by 2100 (World Economic Forum, 2017). Instead of the tendency to stop global warming, carbon dioxide emission hit record high in 2016 (BBC, 2017). Therefore, importance of initiatives to start recycling becomes crucial to make reuse of products which will decrease the carbon dioxide emission accordingly. Starting up a new social enterprise project with zero-budget can seem difficult. As a result of global competition, the tendency for aggressive marketing is expanding, which has resulted in companies increasing their marketing budgets. There is also a common belief that, as the marketing budget increases, the success of the project will increase proportionally. In addition, consumers are now faced with approximately 3,000 marketing messages per day on average (Reed 2011), which makes it even more difficult to grab their attention.This paper is a case study that describes the Zero-Budget Marketing Strategy that was used for creating the ‘Can Kid’ concept. It covers the theoretical framework of Zero-Budget Marketing (Social Enterprise, Cultural adaptation, Integrated Marketing Communications, Public Relations and Social Media) as well as the 36-month practical application period and the related outcomes of the project. The ‘Can Kid’ project achieved country-wide penetration by using an effective marketing and PR strategy. Selection of the appropriate marketing channels and effective use of the Zero-Budget Marketing Strategy increased awareness of the project and confidence in the brand. Social media played a crucial and leading role for both kick-starting the project and ensuring its sustainability. Since its launch in 2014, the well-crafted and trusted brand image has resulted in a number of sponsorship agreements, which has enabled a project infrastructure that is capable of operating in 5 districts, 28 municipalities and 200 villages.