To get the attention of the media and the people, we knew we had to approach environmental work from a new angle. People are tired of seeing starving polar bears and comparison pictures of the Arctic glacier over the decades. As our aim was to get as much media space as possible, we decided to hijack the largest media spotlight of them all. That's why we made President Donald Trump our campaign face.

Mr. Trump had previously stated that his face should be put on Mount Rushmore among the other presidents. He also happens to be a climate change denialist, who's threatened to pull USA out from the Paris climate agreement. We decided to start a campaign to give him the monument he deserves – one made of the melting ice of the Arctic.

The campaign was launched in mid-April with a viral video and comprehensive PR work. On the day of the launch, we built a 1:26 scale model of the monument in the busiest square of Helsinki, and invited the domestic media to watch the ice sculpture melt.

With the success of the campaign launch, we are currently negotiating the funding of the project with interested parties. The alternative option is to launch a crowdfunding campaign during the summer.

Once the funding is secured, we will begin the construction phase. The monument will be carved into the melting ice of the Arctic, where the effect of global warming is said to be its most concrete. The execution of the project will be documented and live-streamed. The monument is set to be made in the fall, well before the COP24 climate conference.

When we started, the level of awareness of Project Trumpmore was zero. In just three weeks we managed to reach the attention of 898 million people. The equivalent advertising value is 7.61 million euros. (source: Meltwater.)

According to our research, the tone of media hits was positive and over 95 % supported the project.

The quality and quantity of media coverage are in balance. The largest media outputs, where Project Trumpmore was noted, include some of the largest and most reliable sources in the world, including The Washington Post, Business Insider, The Independent, Daily Mail, Novosti Mail, CNN and New York Post. Several media outlets, including CNN, interviewed project representative and chairman of Melting Ice, for more in depth coverage of the project.

The campaign succeeded in making the owner association and the dangers of disrespecting the Paris agreement headlining news all around the world in just three weeks. As the project and the association rely on mainstream publicity to thrive the cause and secure partners for funding the project further, the key to success was to make the masses experience the effects of climate change in a completely new manner. Only a small part of the population is active in the public discussion on environmental issues. The campaign succeeded in activating the silent majority with its creative approach.

The success of our campaign relies on publicity for practical and strategic reasons. Firstly, we have to get the masses behind the cause in order to affect the decision-makers. Secondly, we need the worldwide attention to acquire the partners and the funding needed for building the actual monument in the Arctic to carry the campaign even further.

As our aim was to get as much media space as possible, our strategy was to approach environmental work from a new angle. We made the controversial and debated President Donald Trump our campaign face, as we also wanted to resonate among the people who are not usually active in environmental discussion.

The COP24 climate conference takes places in December 2018. Its most important task is to work out and adopt a package of decisions ensuring the full implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Politicians tend to follow people, as their votes are crucial for their careers to continue. To urge all the world leaders to commit to the Paris Agreement, we had to make climate change the most talked about topic in the news and social media – also among the people who are not usually active in environmental discussion.

The short-term objective of the campaign is to increase the amount of discussion on climate change among the masses, which in long-term will increase its value in political decision-making. By gaining publicity, we are looking to open a dialogue with possible partners with which to start the crowdfunding, as the Finnish laws on fundraising prevent us from crowdfunding without an established partner.