Don't Move Firewood Campaign

Web Design & Social Media Marketing

Client: The Nature Conservancy

Through The Nature Conservancy’s Don’t Move Firewood Campaign, Carousel30 has won eight awards, ten honors, and has been featured in prominent industry publications such as Advertising Age. We have not only increased awareness by using Facebook, Google and its website, but we have increased awareness of the problem throughout the nation by a substantial amount.

Objective
The objective of The Nature Conservancy’s Don’t Move Firewood Campaign is to educate the public about the dangers of moving firewood. When firewood is moved long distances, invasive insects and diseases that have killed thousands of trees across the country are transported and the makeup of not only our national parks but also urban and suburban areas is threatened.

Since the Don’t Move Firewood brand and campaign launched in July 2008, Carousel30 has helped the Continental Dialogue on Non-native Forest Insects and Diseases work toward accomplishing its mission of cultivating and catalyzing collaborative action among diverse interests to abate the threat to North American forests from non-native insects and diseases. Focus group research was done to determine what visual and messaging points people respond to when talking about these issues. Research concluded that people consider trees to be very precious and seem to symbolize so many things to so many people.

The messaging and imagery used in the campaign highlights how this issue will impact the trees that we come into contact with every day.

Progress
Carousel30 has worked with The Nature Conservancy to develop a successful campaign through:

• Carousel30 has worked with The Nature Conservancy to develop a successful campaign through:
• Overall branding, graphic design and illustration for the campaign, which extends to all aspects on the Web, print and video.
• Main website at www.dontmovefirewood.org that features YouTube Channel integration, blogging and an interactive map.
• Social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Foursquare, Google+).
• Invasive Pests Library (GalleryOfPests.org).
• Print collateral in conjunction with state agencies and organizations throughout the United States.
• Print and Web advertisements, tradeshow displays and printed promotional material.
• DVD design for several short films.
• Plant Smart website at www.PlantSmart.org.
• Shred a Pest game and website at www.ShredaPest.org.
• Bug Match Game and ALB Match Game, both Flash-based, found on the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/DontMoveFirewood.
• Animated video for the film Lurking in the Trees.
• Flash map of affected areas.
• Gas calculator tool on the website.
• Podcast of Lurking in the Trees in the iTunes Podcast Directory.
• Collateral designs (print and swag development and production).
• Mini campaigns (“That’s What Tree Said,” Winter Sports, etc.).
• Earned media promotion (Backpacker Magazine, Berkshire Eagle, NPR).

Steps Taken
Success of the campaign is measured in many ways:

An estimated 6 million people have been exposed to the Don’t Move Firewood message through the website, print collateral posted in national parks and advertisements in magazines and e-newsletters. Based on the focus group research conducted before the launch of the campaign, we have helped to execute a campaign that is not only winning over the general public but is embraced by State and Federal agencies. The U.S. Forest Service believed in the campaign enough to award a grant to extend the campaign in January 2009.

In addition to the sheer number of people exposed to the message and the awards and mentions we have received, we measure the success of the Don't Move Firewood campaign on the activity level of those involved in the campaign. While the number of fans and members of our social networking profiles for the campaign might be enough on their own to make some happy, we are happy to say that we also have a high level of interaction on the accounts including posts, retweets, and blog posts.

Results
A 2010 national public survey found several key data points that prove the awareness needle is moving and the Don’t Move Firewood campaign is making its mark on American citizens. This data proves that the Don’t Move Firewood campaign with the help of Carousel30 Interactive is working. The survey found that awareness and concern over the problem has increased in the past five years. There is also widespread awareness of the damage non-native species can do. Awareness of the emerald ash borer has increased significantly, and awareness of the Asian long horned beetle is up in affected areas. In the Northwest and upper Midwest, awareness of messages urging people not to move firewood has increased. There has been a 13% decrease in the movement of firewood.

• 6% increase in awareness of the problem (59% of Americans)
• 13% increase in concern over the problem (54% of Americans)
• 38% increase in awareness of the emerald ash borer (81% of Americans)
• 21% increase in awareness in the Northwest and Midwest of the DMF message.

In our first regional campaign, That’s What Tree Said in Western Massachusetts during the summer of 2010, Don't Move Firewood saw a dramatic increase in awareness:

• 104% increase in website traffic            
• 110% increase in new visitors         
• 59% increase in Facebook fans        
• 524% increase in website referrals from Facebook

During the second year of the campagin during the summer of 2011, Don't Move Firewood experienced even greater gains than the previous year:

• 42% increase in website traffic
• 46% increase in new visitors
• 104% increase in pageviews
• 138% increase in Facebook fans

Awards

• 2008 Visionary Award from Summit Emerging Media Awards
           
• 2008 CoolHomepages.com Award for Excellence in Web Design
           
• 2008 W3 Award 
           
• 2009 ADDY Award
          
• 2009 Silver Davey Award
           
• 2009 W3 Award
           
• 2010 WebAward for Standard in Excellence
           
• 2010 Silver Davey Award

Our promotion of films has helped receive 10 prestigious honors:

• 2009 International Wildlife Film Festival Award
           
• 2010 Boston Film Festival
           
• 2010 Yosemite Film Festival’s El Capitan Award
          
• 2010 Montana CINE International Film Festival
           
• 2010 Colorado Environmental Film Festival
           
• 2011 Downtown Boca Film Festival
           
• 2011 Urban Forest Film Festival
• 2011 Creative Arts Film Festival
• 2011 Oregon Film Festival Gold Award
• 2011 Yosemite Film Festival Silver Sierra Award

Media Relations

• 2009 Advertising Age

• 2010 Design for the Greater Good, a HarperCollins Book
• 2010 Web Designer Magazine
• NPR
• Backpacker Magazine
• Washington Post
• Martha Stewart Living Magazine

Launch website »