Obesity in dogs is one of the biggest challenges facing pets and their owners today. Almost half of dogs in the UK are thought to be overweight or obese, a figure that’s both worrying and avoidable. Carrying excess weight puts dogs at risk of arthritis, diabetes and a shorter life.

For many owners, the challenge isn’t a lack of love, but rather how best to manage daily routines around feeding, exercise and treats. The reality is that most owners want the very best for their animals, but often lack the right information or support to make informed day-to-day decisions.

This is where a groundbreaking collaboration was formed. The University of Sheffield, Nestlé Purina and Perfect Circle have come together to design a practical solution that helps owners make healthier choices for their pets.

At the heart of the project is a health pack for dogs developed through a collaboration between Purina, Perfect Circle and the University of Sheffield. Purina’s ambition was to reduce obesity in dogs by creating a resource kit for owners that’s grounded in rigorous behavioural science rather than something that could be dismissed as a sales or marketing tool.

To achieve this, Purina selected Professor Thomas Webb for his expertise in behavioural science and his experience working with dog food brands. He and his team applied a scientific social marketing process that ensured the owner’s pack was designed with the necessary rigour to deliver real behavioural change. The process was tested with vets and owners, peer-reviewable, and built to provide measurable outcomes.

Importantly, the final packs were distributed to owners via vets, whose professional authority added weight and credibility, making it more likely that owners would use them.

This approach marks a first in its field, applying behavioural science to a health innovation for pets in a way that could offer genuine benefits for dog health and wellbeing.

By combining academic insight, industry support and creative design, the pilot brings together three perspectives with one clear goal: healthier, happier dogs.

Why Perfect Circle was chosen

Nestlé Purina wanted this project to be peer-reviewed and scientific to deliver a proven process for better health outcomes, and it was the first of its kind in this field. To achieve that, they needed expertise in social marketing — an approach that uses evidence-based techniques to change behaviour for the better. 

Perfect Circle was selected on the strength of our specialist expertise in social marketing and behavioural change, underpinned by a proven record of designing and delivering campaigns that effect meaningful and lasting shifts in behaviour. 

Our work demonstrates not only an ability to influence behavioural outcomes in a positive way, but also to do so with the creativity and credibility required to inspire genuine change.

Co-creation at the core

The project was never about producing resources as a marketing gimmick. Working in partnership, the University of Sheffield and Perfect Circle ideated, designed and developed a suite of potential tools for a dog owner’s obesity pack. Each concept was built around the COM-B model of behaviour change, which highlights capability, opportunity and motivation as the critical factors that drive behavioural outcomes. 

These initial ideas were then tested through co-creation workshops with both dog owners and vets. Their feedback was used to evaluate usability and likely effectiveness, helping to refine and strengthen the concepts to ensure the final materials would be both practical and genuinely capable of driving positive behaviour change.

What’s inside the dog obesity pack

The pack was developed with input from vets and tested with dog owners to ensure it was useful, not overwhelming. Owners are often bombarded with advice that feels abstract or impractical, so the focus was on creating tools that were accessible and encouraging.

The pack includes:

- Guidance on how to measure and maintain a healthy weight using Body Condition Score

- A journal for tracking weekly progress

- An infographic that shows the calorie content of common dog treats

- Cards with tips for handling tricky situations, such as begging at the table or family members slipping extra snacks

- A collar tag as a gentle reminder every time the lead goes on

Each tool was shaped through feedback from vets and owners, ensuring that what was delivered would actually be used in real households and in typical day-to-day situations dog owners encounter. 

Results from the first trial

A pilot study tested the pack with 78 dog owners. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Owners found the tools easy to use and many reported changes in how they fed, exercised and interacted with their dogs.

Some dogs showed early improvements in weight and Body Condition Score. For many, it was the first time they had a simple way to monitor progress and see results in a structured way.

Small changes add up. For some dog owners, that meant cutting down on treats, for others it meant adding an extra walk into their routines. The health pack helped people make changes that felt achievable rather than overwhelming.

Looking ahead

With Purina producing the first batch of health packs for distribution through vet practices, the reach is set to grow. That means more dog owners will get access to the tools and support they need to keep their pets healthier for longer. 

For veterinary professionals, it offers a ready-made resource to help support weight conversations with owners.

This collaboration is proof of what can happen when partners combine science with creativity and care. At Perfect Circle, we’re proud to play our part in this important project, and we look forward to seeing its impact as it reaches more households across the UK.

This project marks an exciting first step in tackling dog obesity through collaboration, evidence and creativity. Together with Nestlé Purina and the University of Sheffield, we’re helping owners make simple, lasting changes that will keep dogs healthier and happier for years to come. 

This is just the beginning of the story. In our next blog in the series, we’ll look at how behavioural science shaped the dog obesity health pack and why this approach is so powerful in helping dog owners make lasting changes.

You can read our blog series on this project here.

Nestlé Purina Collaboration Makes Behaviour Change Simple

Nestlé Purina Partnership: The Data That Matters

You can read the full paper here

If you’d like to discuss your next social marketing campaign, get in touch.

But the social side of ESG still tends to be the hardest to pin down, and even harder to deliver in a way that feels real.

That’s because it doesn’t sit neatly in a spreadsheet. It shows up in how people behave, how they treat each other, and the decisions they make when no one’s watching. Even a well thought through social ESG strategy can struggle if it doesn’t take that into account.

What the “social” in ESG really means

At its core, the social pillar is about people. That might sound obvious, but it’s often where things get overlooked.

It covers areas such as:

● Employee wellbeing
● Inclusion and diversity
● Community impact
● Trust and ethical behaviour

All of these rely on consistency over time, not one-off initiatives or top-down messaging. That’s why many ESG engagement strategies don’t quite land. There’s usually no shortage of communication or intent, but there’s often a gap when it comes to how those ideas actually translate into everyday behaviour.

The gap between ambition and action

If you look at most organisations on paper, the ambition is there. There are defined ESG social impact goals, clear policies and regular updates.

But step back and look at what’s actually happening day to day, and it can feel different. Initiatives don’t always get the traction they’re expected to. People are aware of them, but not necessarily acting on them. ESG can start to feel like something that sits alongside the business rather than being part of it.

That disconnect isn’t unusual. It’s just human nature. People tend to follow habits, respond to what others around them are doing, and default to what feels easiest in the moment. Knowing the right thing doesn’t always mean it becomes the natural thing to do.

If ESG is going to make a genuine difference, it needs to work with those behaviours, not assume they’ll change on their own.

What are behavioural insights in ESG?

This is where behavioural insights ESG starts to make a difference.

It’s essentially about understanding how people really make decisions, not how we think they should. It looks at the small influences that shape behaviour, including:

● Habits and routines
● Bias and perception
● Social cues and peer influence
● The environment people operate in

Instead of relying solely on instructions or policies, it focuses on making the right behaviour feel obvious, easy, and part of the flow of everyday work. That’s what makes it so effective for behaviour change sustainability, where consistency matters far more than intention.

How to uncover behavioural insights for ESG

Understanding behaviour isn’t about guesswork. It comes from taking a closer look at how people actually interact with your organisation, rather than how you expect them to.

A good starting point is to explore where there’s already a gap between intention and action. If an initiative isn’t landing, there’s usually a behavioural reason behind it.
In practice, that often means:

• Looking at real behaviour, not just reported attitudes or survey responses
• Identifying friction points where processes feel difficult, unclear or time-consuming
• Observing how social norms influence decisions across teams
• Analysing where people default to easier or more familiar choices
• Speaking to employees and stakeholders to understand what’s getting in the way

Data plays a role here, but so does context. Behavioural insight comes from combining both, using what people say alongside what they actually do.

From there, organisations can start to test small changes, adjusting how choices are presented, simplifying actions, or introducing subtle prompts to guide behaviour. Over time, these small shifts build a clearer picture of what works and where real change can happen.

How behavioural insight strengthens the social side of ESG

One of the biggest shifts behavioural insight brings is moving away from the idea that awareness leads to action. In reality, most people already know what they should be doing. The challenge is making it happen consistently.

That might mean simplifying processes to reduce friction, or changing how choices are presented so the better option feels like the natural choice. When done well, it doesn’t feel forced; it just fits.

It also helps ESG become part of everyday decision-making rather than something separate. By integrating human behaviour ESG principles into existing workflows, organisations can ensure people don’t have to go out of their way to do the right thing.

Culture plays a big role here too. Policies set direction, but culture is shaped by what people see around them. When positive behaviours are visible and shared, they become normal. That’s how ESG culture change really takes hold, gradually rather than all at once.

There’s also a noticeable difference in how people engage. When ESG feels like something being imposed, it’s easy to switch off. When it feels relevant and achievable, people are far more likely to take part. Over time, that leads to stronger stakeholder behaviour ESG across the organisation.

Another benefit is that it makes progress easier to understand. The social side of ESG has always been harder to measure, but behavioural approaches allow for testing, learning and adjusting along the way. It’s a more practical way to address common ESG implementation challenges because it’s based on what actually works in real-world situations.

Why this matters now

There’s a noticeable shift happening in how ESG is being judged. It’s no longer enough to publish targets or highlight intentions. People want to see what’s changed and whether it’s made a difference.

Without a focus on behaviour, there’s a risk that ESG starts to feel surface-level. The language is there, the reporting is there, but the day-to-day reality doesn’t move in the same direction.

That’s where behavioural insights ESG becomes so important. It connects the strategy with what actually happens in practice, helping organisations turn good intentions into something more tangible.

The organisations that will make the most progress are those that take the time to understand how people behave and build their approach around that understanding. When they do, the social side of ESG shifts from messaging to momentum.

Because in the end, ESG isn’t something people read. It’s something they do.

Our Expertise

We’ve been creating highly successful social marketing campaigns for our customers for over two decades. We love our work and utilise the latest marketing communication tools and customer insight techniques, including ethnographic research and co-creation workshops.

This enables us to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to influence behaviour in ways that benefit individuals and entire communities for the greater good.

Within our team, we have leading, nationally recognised academic professionals in Psychology, Mental Health, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy who advise on which messages and media will deliver the best response when we scope a communications campaign or deliver any targeted communications.

This provides our clients with the reassurance and confidence that their communication objectives are underpinned by recognised academic behavioural theory, executed with award-winning creative design, and delivered using the latest Marketing Automation communication tools, whether on a local, regional, or national project.

Perfect Circle has delivered social change for clients such as schools, local government, not-for-profit organisations, the health sector, and niche commercial businesses, and we’re really proud of what we’ve done so far.

If you’d like our help on your next Behaviour Change Marketing or Social Marketing campaign, we’d love to hear from you. Please visit our contact page and get in touch.

What began as a creative co-creation process has now evolved into a public-facing cultural festival celebrating the voices, creativity and identity of young people across Rochdale.

Working alongside Rochdale Creates, Perfect Circle supported the development of the FAB identity,  helping translate youth-led ideas into a visual brand that could live beyond workshops and become something visible, recognisable and owned by the community.

The result was FAB: Freedom. Amazement. Belonging.

A youth arts festival designed to bring Rochdale town centre to life through performance, creativity and participation.

Building a Brand from Community Input

The FAB project was rooted in participation.

Engagement activity led by Rochdale Creates gathered ideas, themes and creative thinking from young people across the borough, helping shape the foundations of the festival identity.

Perfect Circle’s role focused on translating these early concepts into visual directions that could communicate energy, inclusivity and cultural ownership.

Rather than creating a fixed brand in isolation, the process remained collaborative, allowing creative routes to be shared, refined and developed through continued feedback.

The final identity reflected the spirit of the young people involved: expressive, colourful and intentionally varied.

From Identity to Activation

What makes FAB particularly powerful is that the identity did not stop at design.

The project extended into a live festival experience, transforming ideas developed through community engagement into something visible across Rochdale town centre.

Across two days, FAB introduced a programme of theatre, live music, dance, poetry, circus performance, murals, exhibitions and creative workshops designed to celebrate young talent and participation.

The festival became a platform for self-expression, showcasing the creativity of local children and young people while helping strengthen cultural identity across the borough.

Visitors were encouraged to explore multiple venues and activities across the town, creating a shared experience that connected people, place and participation.

More Than a Festival

FAB represents more than an event.

It demonstrates how co-creation can move beyond consultation and become something tangible, creating a lasting identity that people recognise and feel connected to.

By turning youth-led thinking into a public-facing cultural brand, the project helped create ownership, confidence and visibility for a new generation of voices.

The festival also reflects a wider ambition within Rochdale to support cultural participation, strengthen belonging and create opportunities for young people to shape the future of their town.

Why Community Co-Creation Matters

Community co-creation works best when ideas are not simply collected but meaningfully translated into outcomes.

For FAB, that meant moving from early creative thinking into a fully realised identity capable of supporting a live cultural experience.

The process demonstrated how branding can become more than visual design acting instead as a bridge between participation, place and community ownership.

As towns increasingly invest in culture-led regeneration and youth participation, projects like FAB show the value of giving people a visible role in shaping what their communities become.

Related Reading

 
• Project Overview: Community Co-Creation

This is why local identity plays such an important role in successful placemaking projects. When developments reflect the character, culture and creativity of an area, they don’t just improve the built environment. They strengthen communities and support wider regeneration goals.

Across towns and cities, culture and placemaking are increasingly central to public sector strategy. Local authorities are recognising that arts, heritage, public spaces and community engagement all contribute to stronger local economies, improved wellbeing and vibrant town centres.

When placemaking reflects local identity, it can also support wider initiatives such as high street renewal, cultural tourism and place-based investment.

Why local identity matters

Every community has its own story. It may be shaped by its heritage, its landscape or the creative energy of the people who live and work there. Successful placemaking projects recognise these qualities and build them into how places are designed, experienced and promoted.

When developments ignore local identity, they often struggle to connect with the people they are meant to serve. Spaces can feel generic or disconnected from their surroundings, which makes it harder for communities to develop a sense of ownership.

By contrast, when placemaking and community identity are closely aligned, places become more meaningful and memorable. Local culture becomes part of the everyday experience of a place, helping communities feel recognised and valued.

Many public sector organisations are now investing in projects that use culture as a driver for regeneration. These initiatives combine creative activity, community engagement and public space to support a stronger local identity. You can explore examples of this approach in Perfect Circle’s culture and placemaking projects.

Designing with the community in mind

Successful placemaking projects often begin by listening to the people who know the area best. Local residents, artists and organisations have valuable insight into what makes a place distinctive and how spaces are used in everyday life.

Engaging with communities early in the process helps uncover the elements that matter most. These might include heritage landmarks, creative networks, local events or spaces where people naturally gather.

When these insights shape the design process, placemaking becomes more authentic. The resulting spaces feel connected to the area’s identity rather than imposed upon it.

This approach also strengthens long-term engagement. When people see their culture, history, and creativity reflected in a place, they are more likely to feel proud of it and contribute to its ongoing success.

Celebrating culture through place

Local culture is one of the most powerful drivers of placemaking. When cultural activities are visible and accessible, they encourage people to explore their surroundings and engage with the communities around them.

A strong example of this can be seen in Rochdale, which has been named Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2025 to 2026. The year-long programme celebrates the borough’s creativity through festivals, exhibitions and community events designed to bring people together and showcase local talent.

At the centre of this cultural ecosystem sits the Rochdale Creates platform. Perfect Circle partnered with Rochdale Borough Council to design and build the directory website, bringing together artists, venues and cultural organisations into a single hub.

The platform continues to support the borough’s cultural momentum during the Town of Culture celebrations. As highlighted in Helping Rochdale Creates celebrate Rochdale’s Year of Culture, the directory has become a focal point for connecting the creative community and showcasing the breadth of talent across the borough.

This kind of ambition is being echoed elsewhere. In Calderdale, communities are coming together to support Halifax’s bid for Town of Culture status, with a shared vision to deliver an inspiring cultural programme that reflects the area’s identity and creativity.

Creating places people care about

Ultimately, successful placemaking projects create places people care about. When local identity is recognised and celebrated, communities are more likely to connect with their surroundings and take pride in them.

Culture and placemaking initiatives that combine community engagement, creative storytelling and digital platforms can transform how people experience a place. By bringing together artists, organisations and audiences, they help ensure that local identity continues to shape the future of towns and cities.

When placemaking reflects the stories and creativity of the people who live there, it becomes more than a development project. It becomes a shared expression of place.

Get in touch
If you’re looking to commission a culture and placemaking project, especially one with a digital dimension, talk to us. We know this space, and as the UK’s leading social marketing agency, we know how to deliver. Contact us today.

What traditional consultation looks like

Traditional consultation is mostly one-way. The organisation defines the problem, suggests a solution, and then asks stakeholders for feedback. This can involve surveys, meetings, or written responses. Often, this feedback comes late in the process, after important decisions are already made.

The problem is that people may feel they are being talked at instead of listened to. Ideas are constrained by fixed options, leaving little room to question assumptions or try new ones. Consultation can meet governance requirements, but it does not always create real change or shared ownership.

What makes co-creation different

Co-creation workshops take a different approach. Rather than giving answers, organisations bring stakeholders into the problem-solving process from the beginning. Clients, communities, partners, and teams work together to define challenges, identify opportunities, and create solutions.

These sessions rely on structured co-creation methods that encourage collaboration, creativity and open discussion. Participants aren’t just responding to questions; they’re actively building ideas together. Well-designed co-creation techniques help balance voices in the room, uncover hidden insights and move groups towards practical outcomes everyone can support.

Read our blog to learn more about how co-creation workshops were used to refine concepts that helped Nestlé Purina and Sheffield University take a new approach to dog obesity.

Key differences in approach and outcomes

The main difference is in the mindset. Traditional consultation takes feedback on ideas that others have already formed. Co-creation, on the other hand, encourages shared thinking and joint decision-making.

With co-creation methods, people learn together and quickly. Assumptions are tested early, and ideas grow through open discussion instead of private meetings. Thoughtful co-creation techniques keep sessions on track but still leave space for creativity and challenge.

In comparison, consultation usually leads to small changes. Co-creation often yields more creative solutions because it draws on real experiences and diverse viewpoints from the outset.

Why this difference really matters

Choosing co-creation workshops isn’t just about running sessions; it’s about making them more engaging. It leads to better results. When people help create a solution, they are more likely to trust, support, and promote it even after the workshop is over. Fewer obstacles during delivery because potential issues are identified early.

Stakeholders feel a sense of ownership, which reduces resistance and builds momentum. Strong co-creation methods also help organisations move faster by aligning people early rather than trying to win buy-in later.

There’s also a cultural benefit. Co-creation signals that collaboration matters. Over time, this can strengthen relationships, build confidence and create a more open way of working across organisations and communities.

When co-creation is the right choice

Co-creation isn’t always necessary. Simple updates or compliance-driven exercises may still suit traditional consultation. But when challenges are complex, sensitive or involve multiple stakeholders, co-creation methods come into their own.

Using the right co-creation techniques is especially valuable when trust needs to be built, behaviours need to change or solutions must work in the real world, not just on paper. In these situations, shared understanding is just as important as the final output.

Bringing it all together

At its heart, co-creation workshops are about doing things with people, not to them. Compared to traditional consultation, they offer deeper insight, stronger relationships and more resilient outcomes. By embracing proven co-creation approaches, organisations can move beyond feedback and towards solutions that truly work for everyone involved.

Our Expertise

We’ve been creating highly successful social marketing campaigns for our customers for over two decades. We love our work and utilise the latest marketing communication tools and customer insight techniques, including ethnographic research and co-creation workshops.

This enables us to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to influence behaviour in ways that benefit individuals and entire communities for the greater good.
Within our team, we have leading, nationally recognised academic professionals in Psychology, Mental Health, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy who advise on which messages and media will deliver the best response when we scope a communications campaign or deliver any targeted communications.

This provides our clients with the reassurance and confidence that their communication objectives are underpinned by recognised academic behavioural theory, executed with award-winning creative design, and delivered using the latest Marketing Automation communication tools, whether on a local, regional, or national project.

Perfect Circle has delivered social change for clients such as schools, local government, not-for-profit organisations, the health sector, and niche commercial businesses, and we’re really proud of what we’ve done so far.

If you’d like our help on your next Behaviour Change Marketing or Social Marketing campaign, we’d love to hear from you. Please visit our contact page and get in touch.

Marketing automation improved this model by helping organisations deliver the right content to the right audience at the right time.

But a new phase of digital engagement is now emerging, one where websites no longer simply present information they begin to participate in conversations.

From Websites To Intelligent Interfaces

Most websites still rely on visitors navigating menus, reading pages and interpreting complex information themselves.

Artificial intelligence is beginning to change that dynamic.

Instead of searching through content, visitors will increasingly interact with intelligent digital interfaces that guide them through information, explain solutions and help them reach the right outcome faster.

These interfaces may take several forms.

• Conversational Website Interfaces — Websites that allow visitors to ask questions and receive answers in real time.
• Chatbots And AI Assistants — Software tools that guide visitors, answer questions and help people find the right information more quickly.
• AI-Driven Digital Advisors — Intelligent systems that combine data, context and behavioural insight to provide more personalised guidance.
• Interactive Product Guidance Systems — Tools that help users explore products or services and understand complex options through guided interaction.
• Avatar-Led Digital Engagement — AI-powered digital personas that can present information, explain concepts and interact with visitors in a more human way.

In this model, the website becomes less like a library and more like a knowledgeable guide.

The Rise Of AI-Assisted Sales Experiences

In many B2B environments, the early stages of a buying journey are often dominated by research and exploration.

Prospective customers want to understand whether a solution is relevant to their organisation before engaging directly with a sales team.

AI interfaces have the potential to support this process by acting as an intelligent first point of interaction.

Rather than filling out forms or downloading documents, visitors may simply ask questions and receive guided explanations in real time.

These systems can help organisations:

• Guide Visitors To Relevant Information More Quickly
• Explain Complex Products Or Services
• Identify Visitor Needs And Interests
• Connect Prospects With The Right Human Expert

The Human Question

As AI interfaces become more capable, organisations will inevitably ask an important question.

Will people prefer interacting with machines, or will human connection become even more valuable?

Human relationships remain central to trust, particularly in complex B2B environments.

People value empathy, experience and genuine conversation — qualities that are difficult for technology to fully replicate.

However, people also value speed, convenience and immediate access to information.

This is where AI excels.

The Handshake Between AI And Humans

The future of digital engagement is unlikely to be a choice between AI and humans.

Instead, the most effective experiences will combine both.

AI systems can manage the early stages of engagement — answering questions, guiding exploration and helping visitors understand available solutions.

As conversations become more nuanced, the interaction can transition naturally to a human specialist who brings deeper insight, empathy and experience.

This creates what might be described as a digital handshake between AI and human expertise.

Automation As The Foundation For AI

While AI may transform how organisations interact with audiences, these systems do not operate in isolation.

Marketing automation platforms provide the data, structure and communication frameworks that intelligent systems rely upon.

Audience insight, behavioural signals and communication workflows all form part of the infrastructure that allows AI-driven engagement to operate effectively.

In many ways, automation is not replaced by AI — it becomes the foundation that enables it.

Exploring The Next Generation Of Digital Engagement

At Perfect Circle we have already begun exploring how conversational digital interfaces may shape the next generation of digital engagement.

Working with emerging avatar and AI technologies, we have been experimenting with ways organisations might guide visitors through complex information in a more natural and engaging way.

These experiments are not about replacing human relationships, but about understanding how digital platforms can support more meaningful and efficient interactions.

A New Chapter In Marketing

Marketing began as communication.

It evolved into automation.

Now it is becoming conversational, adaptive and increasingly intelligent.

The organisations that succeed in this next phase will not simply deploy new technology.

They will design digital experiences where AI and humans work together to help people understand complex problems and make better decisions.

P.S. The image above is an AI-generated avatar. Our Director kindly donated his likeness for the experiment. The technology clearly decided to give him a heavy-duty marketing time warp upgrade. One day this version may well be the one greeting you on our website.

Manufacturing is evolving. With global pressures around sustainability, ESG reporting, and shifting customer expectations, the sector is undergoing transformation not just in what it makes and how it’s made, but in how it communicates.

The Sustainable Materials & Manufacturing Centre (SMMC) embodies this change. As the UK’s flagship hub for materials innovation and industrial collaboration, SMMC chose Perfect Circle to deliver a future-ready website not just a digital presence, but a strategic asset aligned with the next era of manufacturing.

Why SMMC Chose Perfect Circle

With more than a decade of experience at the intersection of behaviour change, automation, and strategic communications, Perfect Circle brings a distinctive edge to manufacturing clients.

We understand how to balance innovation with policy, data with storytelling. We speak the language of manufacturers while applying the audience-first principles honed from years of successful campaigns in behaviour change. This combination made us the right partner to translate SMMC’s ambition into a digital platform that connects, converts, and clearly communicates value.

From Insight to Impact: Applying Behavioural Thinking to Industry

Our approach always starts with people even in commercial and technical sectors. For the SMMC site, we used persona development, insight mapping, and barrier identification to ensure it delivers for funders, collaborators, researchers, and industrial audiences alike.

We applied the COM-B model (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behaviour), just as we do in public health, education, or environmental campaigns, to guide users towards meaningful actions from submitting enquiries to exploring innovation partnerships. The behaviour is the outcome.

Turning Strategy Into Systems: From Campaigns to CMS

Insight is nothing without delivery. We built the new SMMC website on a scalable, world-class CMS that puts the in-house team in full control of content, performance, and structure.

It’s a future-ready platform with flexible architecture, best-in-class UX, and the ability to integrate with the systems modern manufacturers rely on CRM, marketing automation, data analytics. We’ve delivered the same for global materials specialists, advanced engineering firms, and innovation hubs. Your platform should scale, automate and adapt with you. Ours do.

A Shared Mission for a Sustainable Future

At Perfect Circle, we believe every project should contribute to better outcomes longer, healthier, more sustainable lives. It’s why we’ve delivered behaviour change campaigns across men’s health, recycling, and community wellbeing. And it’s why we’re proud to work with forward-thinking manufacturers like SMMC.

Because sustainability isn’t just a value it’s a strategic driver. The manufacturers who lead with it and communicate it well will define the future of the sector.

Let’s Talk About What’s Next

Planning your next digital project? Website, CRM, insight programme or all of the above, we’d love to help.

We’re Perfect Circle. Where strategy meets systems. Where insight becomes execution. Let’s build something that works and keeps working.

Contact Us Today

Measuring that impact helps you understand what works, improve future campaigns and demonstrate how social marketing can reduce costs and create lasting benefits for society.

Define what change means

Before you can measure success, you need to decide exactly what kind of change you want to see. Behaviour change might involve individuals adopting healthier habits, families reducing waste or communities taking collective action on environmental issues.

Be clear about:

● The specific behaviour you want to influence, such as recycling, walking to work or cutting energy use.

● Who needs to change and what motivates them.

● The circumstances in which the behaviour should happen.

This clarity will guide your evaluation and make sure you are measuring what truly matters rather than surface activity.

Establish a starting point

Once you know your goal, measure where your audience stands right now. What percentage already takes part in the behaviour? What prevents others from joining them? Collecting this baseline data means you can compare results fairly later.

Simple surveys, interviews or observations are often enough to understand the current picture. Use this insight to set realistic, measurable goals that reflect both ambition and practicality.
Measure what people do, not just what they say

Traditional marketing metrics like clicks or impressions only show awareness, not action. To understand behaviour change, you need to measure what people actually do. Look for signs of real-world impact, such as:

● The number of new people taking the desired action.

● How frequently they repeat it.

● How long the change lasts over time.

● Whether it influences others to follow their example.

These measures show whether your campaign is shifting daily habits and attitudes, not just sparking interest.

Blend numbers with stories

Data can show scale, but stories reveal meaning. Combining quantitative evidence with personal feedback brings your results to life. Interviews, community conversations and open feedback can uncover the emotions, motivations and barriers that shape behaviour.

These insights help explain why change happens and can highlight positive ripple effects that go beyond the original campaign goals.

Monitor progress and adapt

Behaviour change takes time and is rarely linear. Regular monitoring lets you adjust your approach, test new ideas and keep your campaign relevant. Check progress against your baseline and goals, learn from what works and adapt to what does not.

This cycle of measurement and improvement ensures that each campaign builds on the success of the last, increasing long-term impact.

Connect change to real-world value

Finally, link behaviour change to tangible benefits. Did it save money, improve wellbeing or reduce environmental harm? Show how small shifts in behaviour can add up to significant outcomes for both organisations and communities.

Measuring behaviour change is a continuous process of learning and reflection. When done well, it not only proves the value of your campaign but also demonstrates how thoughtful marketing
can drive a fairer, healthier and more sustainable future.

Our Expertise

We’ve been creating highly successful social marketing campaigns for our customers for over two decades. We love our work and utilise the latest marketing communication tools and customer insight techniques, including ethnographic research and co-creation workshops.

This enables us to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to influence behaviour that benefits individuals and entire communities for the greater good.

Within our team, we have leading nationally recognised academic professionals within Psychology, Mental Health and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy that advise what messages and mediums will deliver the best response when we scope out a communications campaign or deliver any targeted communications.

This provides our clients with the reassurance and confidence of knowing that their communication objectives are underpinned by recognised academic behavioural theory, executed with award-winning creative design and using the latest Marketing Automation communication tools, whether it’s on a local, regional or national project.

Perfect Circle has delivered social change for clients like schools, local government, not-for-profit organisations, the health sector and niche commercial businesses, and we’re really proud of what we’ve done so far.

If you’d like our help on your next Behaviour Change Marketing or Social Marketing campaign, we’d love to hear from you. Please visit our contact page and get in touch.

The Sustainable Materials & Manufacturing Centre (SMMC) has officially launched its new website a bold new platform built by Perfect Circle to accelerate innovation, showcase industry leadership, and strengthen the UK’s position in sustainable manufacturing.

More than just a website, this platform is designed to connect research, investment, and industry and to turn interest into action. 

Built for Impact

SMMC’s mission is ambitious: to drive the uptake of sustainable materials and advanced manufacturing across the UK.

To achieve this, it needed a website that matched its scale with intuitive UX, powerful content delivery, and the capability to grow with the organisation.

Perfect Circle delivered:

• A fully responsive, future-proof CMS

• A strategic design that connects content to commercial and public-sector audiences

• Automation-ready architecture, built for scale, systems, and smarter engagement

From wireframes to launch, we worked closely with the SMMC team to bring clarity, simplicity and polish ensuring every page reinforces SMMC’s mission and invites collaboration.

 
Designed for Manufacturing. Building Digital Journeys

At Perfect Circle, we bring the science of behaviour change into the world of digital design.

That means not just thinking about what content users want but why they want it, and how they interact with it.

We combined our expertise in digital user journeys with our knowledge of industrial personas researchers, manufacturers, innovation leads, and funders to create a seamless experience that guides visitors and strengthens stakeholder engagement. 

Why It Matters

Sustainability, supply chain shifts, and stakeholder expectations are transforming the manufacturing sector.

The new SMMC site is built to meet this moment - connecting industry, research, and innovation through a scalable, data-driven platform.

It’s not just a showcase. It’s a system - built for modern, data-led manufacturers, with capability for CRM integration, marketing automation, and engagement tools that generate leads and deliver measurable outcomes for today’s businesses.

Need a Smarter Website for Your Organisation?

Whether you’re leading in advanced manufacturing, precision engineering, life sciences or materials innovation we can help.  Perfect Circle combines behaviour change insight with enterprise-grade CMS, CRM and automation to deliver digital platforms that perform across sectors.

 
Let’s build something powerful together.

 
Contact Us Today

Find out why SMMC chose Perfect Circle

Ethnographic research and co-creation workshops can shift that pattern. Used together, they bring fresh insight and real-world relevance to every stage of design.

What is ethnographic research?

Ethnography is about stepping into the daily lives of the people you want to serve. Instead of relying on surveys or staged interviews, it means observing behaviours in the settings where they naturally happen. You see how people make decisions, what frustrates them and where workarounds appear.

Take the example of a household app designed to manage bills. A survey might suggest people want something that feels simple and clear. Sitting at the kitchen table with a family tells a richer story. You see the stress of shared responsibilities, the piles of confusing letters and the endless calls to providers. These details reveal the challenges people live with, often ones they cannot articulate.

What is co-creation?

Co-creation takes those insights and brings people into the design process as partners. Through workshops, customers, employees or community members work side by side with a team to explore problems and shape possible solutions. It goes further than asking for feedback. It gives people the chance to guide the direction from the very start.

The process builds trust and often uncovers fresh perspectives. A healthcare workshop with patients, for instance, might reveal that the frustration lies less with waiting times and more with the lack of communication around appointments. By opening the floor to those lived experiences, solutions can be crafted that genuinely respond to real needs.

Why workshops work best when combined

Ethnography and co-creation each hold value, but together they create something far more powerful. Ethnography gives you the depth of understanding, the quiet observation of what people actually do. Co-creation turns that understanding into action, bringing those same people into the process to generate ideas and test them.

The real strength comes from cycling between the two. You begin by observing to uncover hidden needs. Then you take those findings into a workshop where participants explore and reframe the challenges. Prototypes are created and tested back in real settings.

Further observation shows how people interact with them, leading to another round of refinement. What emerges is not a single burst of research or one-off session but a continuing dialogue between designers and the people who live with the outcomes.

The benefits of working this way

Combining ethnographic research with co-creation workshops transforms the way organisations understand and engage with their audiences. Teams move beyond abstract data and instead develop empathy rooted in real encounters. Solutions become more relevant because they are shaped and tested by the very people who will use them.

Customers feel respected and valued when their input influences decisions, creating stronger relationships. And by working together, unexpected ideas surface that might never appear in traditional meetings.

A more human way forward

Bringing these two approaches together is as much about mindset as it is about method. It asks organisations to see people not as subjects but as partners and to accept that the best answers come from those who live the questions every day.

It may take more effort upfront to run observations and workshops, but the reward is clear. You end up with services and products that fit naturally into people’s lives. More importantly, you build a culture that listens, learns and evolves with those it serves.

That kind of human-centred design is not only practical but also a powerful way to stand out in a world where expectations are always changing.

Our Expertise

We’ve been creating highly successful social marketing campaigns for our customers for over two decades. We love our work and utilise the latest marketing communication tools and customer insight techniques, including ethnographic research and co-creation workshops.

This enables us to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to influence behaviour that benefits individuals and entire communities for the greater good.
Within our team, we have leading nationally recognised academic professionals within Psychology, Mental Health and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy that advise what messages and mediums will deliver the best response when we scope out a communications campaign or deliver any targeted communications.

This provides our clients with the reassurance and confidence of knowing that their communication objectives are underpinned by recognised academic behavioural theory, executed with award-winning creative design and using the latest Marketing Automation communication tools, whether it’s on a local, regional or national project.

Perfect Circle has delivered social change for clients like schools, local government, not-for-profit organisations, the health sector and niche commercial businesses, and we’re really proud of what we’ve done so far.

If you’d like our help on your next Behaviour Change Marketing or Social Marketing campaign, we’d love to hear from you. Please visit our contact page and get in touch.