Don't Move Firewood Campaign

Web Design & Social Media Marketing

Client: The Nature Conservancy with support from the US Forest Service

OBJECTIVE:
The objective of the Don't Move Firewood Campaign is to educate the public about the dangers of moving firewood long distances. Doing so can also transport invasive insects and diseases that have killed thousands of trees across the country and threaten to impact the makeup of our National Parks, and urban and suburban areas.

Focus group research was done to determine the visual and messaging points that people respond to when talking about these issues, and one of the main lessons learned was just how precious people consider trees, and how they can symbolize so many things to so many people.

The messaging and imagery used in the campaign highlights just how this issue will impact the trees that we come into contact in both our daily lives and the recreational activities we take part in regularly.

WHAT WE HAVE DONE:
Carousel30 has worked with the Nature Conservancy and the Hamburger Company to develop a far-reaching campaign that includes:

• Overall Graphic Design and Illustration for the campaign, which extends to all aspects on the Web, Print and Video
• Main Web site at dontmovefirewood.org that features YouTube Channel integration, blogging and an interactive map.
• Social Media presences on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, MySpace
• Supporting Web site for an Invasive Pests Library (invasive-pests.org)
• Print collateral in conjunction with State Agencies and organizations in New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Vermont
• Print and Web advertisements placed nationally
• Billboard advertisements, Tradeshow displays and printed promotional material
• DVD design for several short films produced by the Hamburger Company

HOW WE MEASURE OUR SUCCESS:
We measure the success of the campaign in a number of different ways:

An estimated 6 million people have been exposed to the Don't Move Firewood message, from the Web site, to print collateral posted in National Parks, to advertisements in magazines and e-newsletters. Based on focus group research done before the campaign was launched, we have helped to execute a campaign that is not only winning over the general public, but is being embraced by State and Federal agencies, all of whom had their own distinct initiatives that are now being tied together with a unified look and message. The U.S. Forest Service believed in the campaign enough to award a grant to extend the campaign in January of 2009.

In the Advertising and Design community, we have been recognized in several important ways. The Don't Move Firewood Web site won a 2009 ADDY Award and a 2008 Visionary Award from the Summit Emerging Media Awards. Advertising Age featured the campaign in August 2009 in its GoodWorks column. And HarperCollins, the renowned book publisher, will be featuring the Don't Move Firewood Web site in its upcoming book, Designing for the Greater Good.

In addition to the sheer number of people exposed to the message and the awards and mentions we've 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. This includes people posting comments, people re-Tweeting our Twitter postings, and bloggers picking up our blog posts. This is a message that is easy to share and understand and affects us all.

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Awards
(early 2010) To be featured in Design for the Greater Good, HarperCollins Publishers

2009 ADDY Award

2009 W3 Award for Web Design

2008 Visionary Award from Summit Emerging Media Awards

2008 W3 Award for Web Design

Coolhomepages Award for Excellence in Web Design

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Related News:

August 10, 2009
Advertising Age features Don't Move Firewood campaign in its GoodWorks column

July 22, 2009
Don't Move Firewood Web site to be featured in upcoming book, Design for the Greater Good by Crescent Hill Books/HarperCollins

March 19, 2009
Don't Move Firewood Web site wins a 2009 ADDY Award

September 3, 2008
Don't Move Firewood Web site is honored at Coolhomepages.com for excellence in Web Design

July 3, 2008
Don't Move Firewood Web site launches