Alcome Taps Agency Josiane to Clean France's Streets of Cigarette Butts
TL;DR: French eco-organisation Alcome has chosen agency Josiane, after a competitive pitch, for its next public campaign to cut cigarette-butt litter — a behaviour-change brief backed by a reported €78m 2026 budget and a target of 40% fewer street butts by 2027.
The brief
Alcome, the French eco-organisation charged with tackling cigarette-butt litter in public spaces, has selected agency Josiane to run its next campaign, following a pitch, according to CB News and TOP/COM. Alcome is funded to help French municipalities clean up discarded butts, and reporting points to a substantial 2026 budget of around €78m and a goal of reducing street butts by 40% by 2027.
This is a public-interest, behaviour-change assignment rather than a product sell — the 'product' is a cleaner street and a changed habit, which is a very different creative challenge.
Why behaviour-change work is hard
Getting people to stop doing something small, habitual and low-stakes — flicking a butt to the pavement — is one of the toughest jobs in marketing. There is no purchase to win, only an ingrained convenience to disrupt, and lectures rarely work.
The brands that succeed here make the desired behaviour easy, social and even a little rewarding, rather than simply scolding. The creative task for Josiane is to make binning a butt feel like the normal, effortless thing to do.
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The scale of the budget signals how seriously France is treating this, and it puts real money behind creativity in the public-interest space — a reminder that behaviour-change marketing is a genuine discipline, not an afterthought.
Success will be measured in tonnes of butts, not brand-recall points. That outcome-based accountability is unusual and healthy; it forces the work to actually change behaviour rather than merely raise awareness.
What marketers can learn
If your goal is to change a habit, don't rely on information or guilt. Make the desired action the path of least resistance, give it a social signal, and reduce the friction that keeps the old behaviour in place.
And measure the behaviour, not the applause. Awareness is easy to buy; behaviour change is the real, harder outcome, and it should be the metric that matters.
Quick FAQ
What is Alcome?
A French eco-organisation tasked with reducing cigarette-butt litter in public spaces and helping municipalities clean it up, funded via the tobacco sector.
Which agency won the campaign?
Agency Josiane, selected after a competitive pitch, according to CB News and TOP/COM.
What is the target?
Reporting points to a goal of cutting cigarette butts on public roads by 40% by 2027, backed by a substantial 2026 budget.
Changing a small, habitual behaviour is one of the hardest jobs in marketing — there's no sale to win, just an ingrained convenience to disrupt. Scolding fails; making the right action effortless and social works. And notice the metric: tonnes of butts, not recall points. That outcome-based honesty is refreshing. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Behaviour-change marketing succeeds by making the desired action the path of least resistance, not by lecturing — and it should be judged on behaviour changed, not awareness raised.
How would you get people to change a small, stubborn habit? Tell us your approach.
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: CB News, TOP/COM, Recy.net.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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