PR > PR: Sectors
SEK, Helsinki / MELTING ICE ASSOCIATION / 2018
Overview
Credits
CampaignDescription
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.
Execution
The PR was made in three phases. First, we launched the project in Finland by building 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. We managed to get the attention of all important domestic medias. Second phase was the global launch, which was made by effective and successfully targeted PR work. We produced a press release and a viral video, which were widely distributed all over the world. We also did story pitching to approximately 40 main medias globally. Third phase is still ongoing. We continue story pitching and keep bringing new content to the story. The timeline was three weeks.
Outcome
When we started, the level of awareness of Project Trumpmore was zero. In three weeks we managed to reach the attention of 898 million people. (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 list of largest media outputs below, where Project Trumpmore was noted, include some of the largest and most reliable sources in the world. Several media outlets, including CNN, Washington Examiner, El Mundo and Novosti Mail interviewed project representative and chairman of Melting Ice, for more in depth coverage of the project.
The equivalent advertising value totaled to 7.61 million euros (source: Meltwater).
Largest media outputs:
Daily Mail Online
The Washington Post
Business Insider
The Independent
The Weather
Novosti Mail (Russia)
RT.com
Rambler (Russia)
New York Post
CBS News
RIA Novosti (Russia)
Metro.co.uk
The Hill
Eastday (China)
Vesti (Russia)
360doc (China)
CNN
Relevancy
The whole campaign was based on PR and earned media coverage. No paid media was used.
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.
Strategy
We were looking to create a major phenomenon, meaning we targeted the global audience. Our target media was primarily news media, entertainment media and journalists who are interested in environmental issues. In addition to the press, our target was to reach influencers and organizations who will spread the message. We created main messages, which were included in all communications materials. We created high-quality materials for the press to ensure our photos and video were widely used in all media hits.
Synopsis
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.
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