Earth Hour. [PRIA Golden Target Awards 2011] Fall. Category 16 Low cost/pro Bono. Submitted by Access Public Relations

Transcription

1 Earth Hour [PRIA Golden Target Awards 2011] Category 16 Low cost/pro Bono. Submitted by Access Public Relations Fall 08 SUITE 301, 45 LIME ST KING ST WHARF SYDNEY NSW 2000 TELEPHONE

2 Executive Summary Communication Strategy Situation Analysis Implementation Goals and Objectives Results Research Evaluation Target Publics

3 1. Executive Summary Entering its fifth year, Earth Hour needed a fresh hook to maintain public participation in the famed lights out event. It had served its purpose to raise global awareness about the need for action on climate change and now event organiser WWF wanted to use it as a vehicle to communicate the need for people to Go Beyond The Hour and act sustainably on an ongoing basis. This derived from the conservation organisation s 2011 goal to tie Earth Hour closer to its parent brand, WWF. Access Public Relations was brought on board (pro bono) to advise on the strategy to raise awareness of WWF s ownership of Earth Hour, and actively promote messages around the need for Earth Hour participants to do more in their everyday lives to benefit the environment. The idea for the WWF Earth Hour Awards was born. Access PR s media campaign resulted in 4,300 media hits, an 8% increase in media awareness of WWF as Earth Hour s organiser, and public Earth Hour awareness was above 90%. Just under half of participants were aware of the need to do more beyond turning off lights a good result in line with the main campaign message Go Beyond The Hour. 200 words

4 2. Situation Analysis After its first four years, Earth Hour was stale and needed a new hook to maintain public interest and participation. At the same time, WWF wanted to broaden the Earth Hour campaign to incorporate messaging and actions that aligned Earth Hour more closely to the WWF brand. Earth Hour (as a lights-out event) had been purely symbolic, with no real measurable conservation outcome. WWF on the other hand, prides itself on its scientific credibility a solutions-focused conservation organisation that works to implement measurable and transformational conservation programs. The incompatibility between Earth Hour and the WWF brand was evident. WWF therefore wanted to increase Earth Hour s conservation merit to bring it under WWF s umbrella of programs. Achieving this would secure WWF s continued investment in the initiative into the future. The organisation also hoped to leverage Earth Hour s mass public following. It was apparent that public awareness of Earth Hour was eclipsing public awareness of its parent company WWF, which was a concern for the organisation. Public relations was needed to bridge the divide, overhauling Earth Hour s previous focus on turning off lights to promote a new focus on ongoing behavioural change to benefit the environment in line with WWF s organisational objectives.

5 3. Goals & Objectives The overarching public relations goal was to help WWF leverage the Earth Hour brand to introduce broader conservation messages and build a stronger association between the two brands. Objectives: 1) Build public awareness of The WWF Earth Hour Awards, driving minimum 100 award nominations. It was agreed achieving 100 nominations in the Awards first year was manageable, especially in a competitive green awards market. Garnering award nominations online would demonstrate the public were receiving and acting on publicity promoting the WWF Earth Hour Awards. 2) Build 30% public awareness of the need to Go Beyond The Hour. The success of introducing broader conservation messages, like Go Beyond The Hour, would be made evident through public awareness of the campaign s key message. 3) Achieve 35% participation in Earth Hour across Australia, expected to trend down from 2010 participation of 42%. In order for WWF to leverage the Earth Hour event and brand, participation in and awareness of Earth Hour still has to remain high. It was agreed that securing 35% participation through a public relations campaign was achievable and manageable in ) Maintain national media coverage figures, in line with 2010 s 4,400 media hits, while increasing the amount of WWF mentions in media coverage. Media coverage has to remain high to ensure the WWF-owned event and campaign key message Go Beyond The Hour are being promoted to the public as often as possible, and through as many media channels as possible.

6 4. Research A national research project led by AMR Interactive in May 2010 helped WWF and Access PR determine public awareness of the issue of environmental footprint as a way of testing the relevance of a campaign focused on educating people about the need to reduce their impact on the planet. The survey of 4,000 Australians revealed that most people had heard of the term environmental footprint, but that half did not fully understand the meaning of it, referencing inefficient ways to reduce theirs. Critically, only a negligible number knew about the extent to which their environmental footprint contributed to climate change. These results assured WWF there was indeed a market for a footprint-focused Earth Hour campaign in Go Beyond The Hour messaging, the 2011 campaign s 60+ brand creative, and the WWF Earth Hour Awards with their sustainability focus all eventuated from that. In addition, WWF realised the need for a long-term and in-depth footprint campaign.

7 5. Target Publics In line with the award categories, target publics were: 1) Groups and individuals educating others on how to live more sustainable lives (e.g. teacher, school, or scout group) Education Award. 2) Youth (15 years and younger) who have been proactive environmental advocates Young Panda Award. 3) Individuals or a team within an organisation, or the initiator of a small business, with a sustainable focus Workplace Champion Award. 4) Individuals (young or old) who preserve the planet for future generations or inspire others to do so Futuremakers Award. 5) Leaders in the community with ongoing dedication to the environment, who are inspiring others also Lifetime Achievement Award. Each of the target audiences played a critical role in the success of the campaign in that once officially nominated, they were adopted as hero ambassadors to spread key campaign messages to their own networks.

8 6. Communication Strategy The public relations strategy focused on unearthing inspiring stories of Australians Going Beyond The Hour leading by example while inspiring others to do the same and sharing these stories with the media. By providing authentic case studies from across Australia, we were able to genuinely communicate the campaign s key messages through metro media coverage, which in turn raised public awareness in all states, generated participation and drove Earth Hour Award nominations to the Earth Hour website. Genuine hero stories are often an easy sell, and by finding people doing all kinds of weird and wonderful things to reduce their impact on the environment we were able to give journalists authentic examples of real people doing real things in Going Beyond The Hour the campaign s key message. Earth Hour campaigns have always relied heavily on media coverage, as being charity-owned, there is never any money to spend on above-the-line advertising. The WWF Earth Hour Awards event held on Earth Hour night at the Museum of Contemporary Art was a necessary element of the public relations campaign as it enabled WWF to publicly recognise the winners of the different award categories, and promote their stories to a national audience, via event partner SBS.

9 7. Implementation The strategic focus of promoting Australians with genuine Beyond The Hour stories was achieved by offering exclusive interviews with key metro media, via a program of case study and profile writing and continued pitching. This was to build public awareness of the WWF Earth Hour Awards, driving nominees to the Earth Hour website, and the need to Go Beyond The Hour. To maintain national media coverage, a number of tactics were used: Celebrity ambassador relationships were secured, resulting in big hit media coverage from celebrities like Miranda Kerr, Jamie Durie and Rebecca Gibney. Global Earth Hour news, highlights and statistics from around the world were utilised as part of national Earth Hour news/press release schedule, tapping into Australia s pride as the home of Earth Hour. Pre-arranged interviews with WWF spokespeople were proactively sought throughout the campaign, including in regional areas. Media kits were issued to metro TV, radio and newspaper media in the week leading up to the event, complete with a list of community events and details of the WWF Earth Hour Awards, taking place the night of Earth Hour at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. A last ditch interview drive was initiated in the week leading up to Earth Hour, targeting radio. Media Game a national radio syndication program was also utilised, distributing pre-recorded interviews with WWF CEO Dermot O Gorman to regional and suburban media across Australia. Media calls were held the morning and night of Earth Hour at the WWF Earth Hour Awards. Images of icons switching off and of the awards event were distributed to national newspaper, online media, and wires. A global results/summary press release was distributed nationally the day after Earth Hour.

10 8. Results The 2011 Earth Hour campaign incorporating the WWF Earth Hour Awards garnered 4,300 media hits across Australia, and worked to introduce the notion of environmental footprint to the Australian public. AMR Interactive research conducted after Earth Hour 2011 revealed that the campaign s key message, Go Beyond the Hour had reached a sound majority of Australians. 43% of those polled demonstrated an awareness and understanding of Go Beyond The Hour. The research also revealed that a large majority of respondents intend to try and reduce their footprint into the future. 60% intend to recycle more 57% intend to swap to energy efficient appliances and products 44% intend to reduce their use of plastic shopping bags 39% intend to reduce water consumption 31% intend to heat or cool their house less 28% intend to walk or ride rather than driving for short trips The list goes on, but there is a clear indication in this second round of AMR research that Earth Hour 2011 had an impact in raising public awareness about environmental footprint. This was WWF s planned first step in a long-term campaign that aims to educate and involve people in a two-way conversation about reducing human impact on the environment, and what individuals can do to make a difference. It was recognised early on that a basic public understanding of the issue was needed before WWF started to publicly talk about the complex science behind environmental footprint, the key issues affecting Australia and Australian cities, and how Australia s footprint compares to other nations around the world.

11 9. Evaluation Objective: Build public awareness of The WWF Earth Hour Awards, driving minimum 100 award nominations to in the Awards first year award nominations were achieved, beyond the set target of 100. Good degree of success in achieving this objective. Objective: Build 30% public awareness of the need to Go Beyond The Hour as part of Earth Hour Awareness of Go Beyond The Hour came in at 43% (AMR Interactive), much higher than the target 30%. High degree of success in achieving this outcome. Objective: Achieve 35% participation in Earth Hour across Australia, expected to trend down from 2010 participation of 42%. - Participation in Earth Hour 2011 came in at 42% (AMR Interactive), much higher than the target 35%. Public participation in Earth Hour has dropped in sustained increments annually since its inception in 2007, therefore it was agreed that securing 35% participation through a public relations campaign was achievable and manageable in High degree of success in achieving this outcome, especially as the outcome is only 2% down from 2010 figures, bucking the trend of the annual average decline of 6%. - 72% of people said they would definitely participate in Earth Hour 2012 Objective: Maintain national media coverage figures, in line with 2010 s 4,400 media hits, while increasing the amount of WWF mentions in media coverage. - More than 4,300 print, radio, TV and online news items. This is on par with 2010 s media coverage figure of 4,400. Of these 4,300 items, 1,196 of them (around 28%) mentioned WWF a good increase from the 2010 figure of 20% and the 2009 figure of 18%. Total word count 1986

12