Invited presentation at the International Youth Green Summit. Jakarta, Indonesia, 2013.

1. Michelle Kovacevic
m.kovacevic@cgiar.org
Marketing your green project

2. What I am talking about today
• What is green marketing?
• What makes a successful campaign
• How to build a marketing campaign

3. What is (green) marketing?
Communicating an environmental idea to your target
audience in order to change their behaviour

4. What makes a successful
campaign?
• 3 case studies
• I want you to think about:
• What is the aim of the campaign?
• Who is the target audience?
• Which tools/methods did they use?
• What impact did it have?

5. Case 1: Advocacy
• Xxx

6. Why is it successful?
• Targeted
• Used social media to get the message out to
a wide audience
• Appeals to human emotions
• Simple message
• Uses iconic species (orangutan) that people
feel sorry for
• Gives you more information for how you can
take action (their website)

7. Case 2: Information dissemination

8. Why is it successful?
• Created a emotional connection with the
audience by communicating the importance
of making the change (crabs as food would
disappear)
• Gave them very specific advice instead of
making people feel like there was nothing
they could do
• Funny
• Targeted to the people in one area

9. Case 3: Raising finances

10. Why is it successful?
• People feel involved and connected, instead
of just donating money
• Lots of different types of marketing tools are
used (videos, blogs, images)

11. How to build a marketing
campaign
1. Identify your aim and target audience
2. Tailor a simple message
3. Choose the right media to reach your
audience
4. Find funding
5. Timing your campaign
6. Measure impact

12. How to build a marketing
campaign
1. Identify your aim and target audience
2. Tailor a simple message
3. Choose the right media to reach your
audience
4. Find funding
5. Timing your campaign
6. Measure impact

13. What is your aim?
• To increase awareness about an issue?
• To activate key influencers and thought
leaders?
• To change the behaviour of a certain group of
people?
• What actions do you want your audience to
take?
• Engage and encourage participation!

14. Who is your target audience?
• Local people?
• Government?
• Students?
• Consumers?
• Private sector?
Target different groups of people in different ways

15. Understanding the behaviour of
your target audience
Survey your target audience asking:
• How do they obtain information about the issue?
• What are their current perceptions and behavior in
relation to the issue addressed by the campaign?
• What prevents them from adopting the alternative
behaviour promoted by the campaign?
• What would motivate them to adopt the promoted
behaviour?

16. Example
Aim: Decrease use of plastic bags in Jakarta
Target audiences: Shoppers, supermarkets,
government
Survey your target audience:
• How do they obtain daily information on the issue? Online
• What are their current perceptions, knowledge, needs, wants,
preferences and behavior in relation to the issue addressed by the
campaign? I did not know plastic bags are bad for the
environment
• What prevents them from adopting the alternative behaviour
promoted by the campaign? The high cost of green bags
• What would motivate them to adopt the promoted behaviour?
Online campaign to raise consumer awareness about the issue +
free green bag giveaway at supermarkets across Jakarta

17. How to build a marketing
campaign
1. Identify your aim and target audience
2. Tailor a simple message
3. Choose the right media to reach your
audience
4. Find funding
5. Timing your campaign
6. Measure impact

18. Make the message simple, engaging and
easy to participate in
Remember:
The cornerstone of any
effective campaign is
great content presented
in an interesting and
engaging way.
But, you can only create
change one step at a
time!

19. How to build a marketing
campaign
1. Identify your aim and target audience
2. Tailor a simple message
3. Choose the right media to reach your
audience
4. Find funding
5. Timing your campaign
6. Measure impact

20. Choosing the right tools to reach
your audience
• Printed materials
• Social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube)
Tool Advantages Disadvantages
Leaflet/flyer • Reach a targeted audience
• Cheap
• Environmentally friendly?
• Only reach a very specific
audience
Social media (Facebook,
Twitter, Youtube, blogs)
• Reach a wide audience
• Easy to have a two-way
interaction with your
audience
• “Crowdsourcing”
• May not always grab
audience’s attention
• Many government
agencies do not use social
media
Education programs (e.g.
school visits, seminars, local
activities etc)
• Message can be very
clearly communicated
• Easy to stir passion in
people
• Can be expensive and time
consuming
Email campaigns • Reach a wide audience • If you audience is not
tailored, people could
consider it “spam”

21. How to build a marketing
campaign
1. Identify your aim and target audience
2. Tailor a simple message
3. Choose the right media to reach your
audience
4. Find funding
5. Timing your campaign
6. Measure impact

22. Find funding
Some places to look:
• Kickstarter
(www.kickstarter.com)
• Philanthropists
• Incorporate fundraising
into your campaign

23. How to build a marketing
campaign
1. Identify your aim and target audience
2. Tailor a simple message
3. Choose the right media to reach your
audience
4. Find funding
5. Timing your campaign
6. Measure impact

24. Timing your campaign
• Will depend on your
aim and audience
• “Surf the wave”
• Anticipate the news
to plan your
messages
• Fast response when
news breaks –
“second day news”

25. How to build a marketing
campaign
1. Identify your aim and target audience
2. Tailor a simple message
3. Choose the right media to reach your
audience
4. Find funding
5. Timing your campaign
6. Measure impact

26. Measure impact
Find out what worked about your approach and use it
to inform future campaigns
• Surveys
• Engagement statistics (how many people in your
target audience read your blog, commented,
retweeted etc)
• Environmental measures (e.g. has the city reduced
plastic bag consumption?)

27. Further reading
http://www.commpro.biz/marketing/lets-change-
behavior-not-just-minds-a-surefire-10-step-
program-for-green-marketing/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-
business/blog/social-marketing-behaviour-change

28. Any questions
before we
move on to a
simulation?

29. Campaign simulation
The year is 2050.
Global rice consumption has risen to beyond sustainable levels.
Forests are being cleared to make way for paddies, biodiversity is
being lost as these habitats are destroyed, and people are
struggling to get the nutrients they need because they are so
dependent on rice.
Your task: Design a campaign to convince people in your local
area to reduce rice consumption.

30. Campaign simulation
It approaching January in the year 2014.
Jakarta’s rivers are clogged with rubbish, which doesn’t allow
flood water to flow to the ocean.
The impending rainy season could mean terrible floods that
displace millions of people who live on the borders of the rivers.
Your task: Design a campaign that makes people aware of the
impact of littering on their environment.