Pitch
We want to encourage mainstream people to take steps to battle climate change by helping them understand financial & quality of life issues.
Description
Summary
We are proposing a scalable, strategic marketing campaign that is adaptable for use across diverse geographies, languages, cultures and issues across the globe. The campaign utilizes proven, mainstream marketing channels including print and digital distribution, and can be highly targeted depending upon target audience, location, building types and dozens of other criteria.
Category of the action
Changing public perceptions on climate change
What actions do you propose?
We want to encourage mainstream people to take common sense steps to battle climate change by helping them understand the inherent financial and quality of life issues.
We will start by using green building as an example. Green buildings have a tremendous opportunity to help mitigate global climate change, but mainstream consumers have not yet adopted most sustainable design and construction strategies for new construction and existing buildings. We believe that this is in large part due to the fact that average people around the world are not aware of all the benefits of green buildings that are available to them at little-to-no additional cost over typical building practices, and many more people are simply not concerned with climate change, pollution, natural resource depletion or social justice issues that are most commonly cited in promotion of green building as an important industry practice.
We need to change average citizens' perceptions of green building and get them to consider better building options. We need them to be better educated consumers so they can make a more informed buying decision.
Although each person will have a different decision making scenario, they likely share common misconceptions about green building – that it’s too expensive and not economical, that it “won’t work here” or that it’s just a trend amongst liberal environmentalists. These misconceptions distort the reality of what a green building will actually provide them. Even those people who initially have interest in a green building are likely to abandon their interest at one of the first signs of pushback from a builder, architect or contractor. Therefore, we must also work to continue changing the perceptions of mainstream building design and construction industry professionals.
We must then encourage our better informed mainstream consumers to connect with better informed mainstream building industry professionals to make rapid adoption and implementation of green building practices a reality.
We propose a scalable, strategic marketing campaign concept that is adaptable for diverse geographies, cultures and issues across the globe. The campaign utilizes proven, mainstream marketing channels including print and digital distribution, and can be highly targeted depending upon target audience, location, building types and dozens of other factors.
See examples of how our strategic marketing concept will appear in the United States here.
Who will take these actions?
The proposed marketing campaign can be utilized by governments, business associations, non-profit advocacy organizations, health organizations, or by collaborations thereof. For example, an energy efficiency advocacy organization could collaborate with a health organization to distribute mainstream advertising that promotes the health benefits of green buildings - allowing both groups to achieve their advocacy and awareness goals, while leveraging financial resources.
To start, the Oklahoma Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council will be rolling out several digital and print advertisements in mainstream media channels to raise awareness of many green building benefits that may not necessarily mention climate change or other environmental issues. This is notable because Oklahoma has been one of the least progressive states in the US in terms of average people recognizing green building as something smart to do. Oklahoma is a great test market for a campaign of this type.
Where will these actions be taken?
How much will emissions be reduced or sequestered vs. business as usual levels?
What are other key benefits?
Other key benefits of implementing this marketing campaign concept include:
1. An increase in construction, architecture, engineering and energy retrofitting jobs
2. New and expanded building material manufacturing jobs
3. Economic multiplier effect due to more mainstream citizens realizing major energy cost savings
4. Less pollution
5. Greater biodiversity
6. A sustainable supply of natural resources and raw building materials
7. Improved public health
8. Improved worker productivity
9. Improved energy productivity
10. Greater quality of life
What are the proposal’s costs?
The cost of this proposal is limited to the costs of designing locally relevant ads and digital and print distribution. Depending on scale, duration and other factors, costs could range from USThe cost of this proposal is limited to the costs of designing locally relevant ads and digital and print distribution. Depending on scale, duration and other factors, costs could range from US$10,000 for a week-long advertising campaign in a local market, to several million dollars for several months of nation-wide advertising across the United States. It is assumed that the more money invested, the larger the audience that can be reached, and the greater number of mainstream citizens demanding green building practices will be0,000 for a week-long advertising campaign in a local market, to several million dollars for several months of nation-wide advertising across the United States. It is assumed that the more money invested, the larger the audience that can be reached, and the greater number of mainstream citizens demanding green building practices will be
Time line
Marketing campaign roll-out in Oklahoma cities is scheduled to begin in Autumn 2014, and can begin within 1-2 years in other states and developed countries, within 2 years in developing countries. This concept would likely not be required in 10-15 years due to overall market transformation by that time.
Related proposals
References
U.S. Green Building Council Oklahoma Chapter Strategic Marketing Campaign
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