Amazon Australia has tapped Aussie NFL star Jordan Mailata for a new social- and earned-first campaign that talks up the delivery giant’s efforts to reduce its packaging.
The campaign, developed in collaboration with Poem Group, leans on Mailata’s gridiron credentials to bring the idea to life.
As Amazon Australia’s ‘Packaging Reduction Officer’ the Philadelphia Eagles Star is tasked with tackling sustainability by finding ways to use better and fewer packaging materials. And as the Eagles’ left tackle, he will be utilising his defensive skills to stop excess package waste whilst not sacrificing protection.
“I have to find the coverage. Which, in this case is identifying the item. And then once I’ve identified the defence, I need to use the right tackling technique. In my ‘PRO’ role, it’s whether the item needs to be boxed or packaged and then sent on its way,” Mailata told B&T in an exclusive chat.
The two-metre-tall Mailata in his Amazon pads.
Many of the millions of products that Amazon delivers every week can be shipped safely in their original packaging without an additional Amazon box or bag. Amazon said its products are assessed carefully and tested to ensure deliveries have the right protection to reach customers undamaged.
Amazon said that in Australia, one in 10 orders that ship from its fulfilment centres is delivered in just its original packaging. Since 2021, Amazon said it has more than tripled the number of orders to Australian customers with no added delivery packaging, in a bid to reduce packaging waste.
Amazon Australia has also stopped packing products in single-use plastic delivery bags, it said. Customers instead receive packages in flexible paper bags and padded envelopes, which can be recycled in household recycling bins across Australia. Amazon has a range of other ways it has worked to deliver more sustainable packaging solutions in Australia. This includes using recyclable packaging material, replacing plastic air pillows with paper dunnage (brown packaging paper that is scrunched up to protect goods in a box), and using water activated tape—all of which can go in the kerbside recycling bin.
Mailata said that Amazon’s mission to reduce its packaging echoed the values that he grew up with.
“It was easy for me to hop on board Amazon, because of how my mum raised my siblings and I. Being one of five kids there was a lot of boxes, packaging and recycling lying around. She instilled recycling into us at an early age, and to test my siblings and I we would form a garbage line, breaking up boxes and separating them into the right bins,” he said.
This alignment made Mailata the perfect Amazon brand ambassador, according to the delivery giant’s country manager Matt Benham.
“Jordan is the best Aussie there is when it comes to tackling problems and efficient protection on the field. He’s proven just as capable in the warehouse as our Packaging Reduction Officer, showing how we deliver the right protection for every product using the least packaging possible,” Benham told B&T.
“We know our customers care about reducing waste, and so do we. That’s why we’re focused on eliminating delivery packaging where we can, reducing it where we can’t, and improving recyclability across the board as we work to deliver what’s best for customers and the planet.”
A proud Australian and Samoan, Mailata is determined to see more Aussies and Pacific Islanders follow in his footsteps. So when Amazon Australia approached him to lace up as the newest ‘Packaging Reduction Officer’, in its latest campaign, he knew it was the perfect platform to help grow the sport of gridiron on Aussie shores.
“I want to expand the game here in Australia,” Mailata said. I believe that there is so much more this game can give to Australians, and more than Aussies actually know. The more education we can can give to the the general public, the fans themselves, aspiring kids and athletes here in Australia, the more opportunity they will have in this sport.”
Closer to Mailata’s heart is a mission to use Amazon’s reach to resonate with the Pacific Islander community, challenging the notion that you can’t be what you can’t see.
“Working with one of the biggest brands in Australia, I want to create something symbolic that will resonate with Pacific Islander kids in the community I grew up in [Bankstown], as well as broader Australia,” Mailata saud.
Since 2015, Amazon states that its packaging reduction initiatives have helped Amazon avoid more than four million metric tonnes of packaging globally. And with the help of global NFL superstar Mailata, the company will be trying to drive that number higher.