Insights from Earth Day 2010
by Matt Brass Art Director
By Social Media Specialist, Lance McCluskey
Here at Shelton Group, our employees spend countless hours working to motivate mainstream consumers to make sustainable choices. So to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, it’s no surprise a few of us rolled up our sleeves and got to work on an important project. We just got our hands a little dirtier than usual.
Two teams of Shelton Group employees took a few hours off to pick up trash at a couple of local parks. Of course, we also added some fun competitions into the mix to make things even more interesting. That’s just how we roll.
Team 1 (who dubbed themselves “Team Awesome”) was assigned to clean up Cancler Park, just a few blocks away from our office building. Associate Director of Research, Indra Chapman, had a frightening run-in with a snake. Even more frightening were some of the discarded “adult” items this team found. These won them the “Most Interesting Piece of Trash” award, but can’t be mentioned in this PG-rated blog.
When it was all said and done, Team 1 filled up 13 garbage bags full of trash and recyclables and took home the “Most Garbage Collected” honor.
Team 2 didn’t come up with a nickname because, according to team captain Jennifer Mullins, “We were too busy picking up trash.” They were assigned to Tyson Park near the University of Tennessee campus and finished with 9 bags full of trash and recyclables. In them, team members found soiled undergarments and evidence from what looked like a recent police crime scene. It was like an episode of CSI: Knoxville.
Team 2 did win the coveted “Most Creative Group Photo” award for their stunning recreation of the iconic green recycling logo. Brilliant!
Finally, Matt Brass won the “Most Obnoxiously Artsy” park photo award. Sure, he had an advantage because he’s one of our talented Art Directors, but the judges loved his inspiring portrait. It’s a shot of fellow team members Meredith Priest and Becky Stephens looking like the environmental rock stars that they are.
Both teams had a blast contributing to this small, but rewarding, Earth Day exercise. This event also reinforced a few of our core beliefs in our “day job” of motivating mainstream consumers to make sustainable choices. Here are the three main takeaways from Shelton Group’s Earth Day Extravaganza:
• Being Green Doesn’t Have To Be A Drag! In fact, being green can be a lot of fun! Consumers tend to tune out green messages based entirely on scare tactics and fear. On the other hand, messages delivered in fun, creative ways are always more memorable. Injecting fun and games into our day made it much more successful. That’s also a smart way to capture the hearts and minds of today’s consumers.
• Mix things up. Members from both teams expressed how fun it was to get out of the office for a little while and participate in something outside the normal routine. The takeaway here is to avoid ruts and keep evolving your message. This isn’t to say you should have a different tag line every week or abandon your core brand principals. But it’s easy for consumers to tune out if you become predictable and always deliver the same message in the same ways.
• Everyone Can Be Green: Both of our teams were wonderfully diverse. Each group represented a variety of ages, interests and backgrounds. What we all shared was a willingness to pitch-in and contribute to a worthy sustainable cause. As our most recent EcoPulse study shows, no longer is there one, easy-to-stereotype green consumer. We all have a stake in making greener, more sustainable choices. And we all can do our part, when given the right motivation for getting involved.
All in all it was a terrific way to celebrate Earth Day. We’re already looking forward to what we’ll do next year. Click here to see a video recap of our festivities. And please share with us what you or your company did for Earth Day. We’d love to hear about it!
Posted on April 26, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Categories: Green
Tags: Earth Day, green marketing, Knoxville Earth Day Activities, Shelton Group
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