the chesapeake club initiative: bringing new audiences to bay restoration
DESCRIPTION
The Chesapeake Club Initiative: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration. Christopher Conner Chesapeake Bay Program February 17, 2005. Why a Chesapeake Club?. Bay restoration is at a critical juncture The bay watershed’s population is growing - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
The Chesapeake Club Initiative:
Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Christopher ConnerChesapeake Bay Program
February 17, 2005
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Why a Chesapeake Club?
Bay restoration is at a critical juncture
• The bay watershed’s population is growing• New nutrient and sediment reduction goals are
extremely ambitious• Suburban & urban nutrient loads are quickly
growing• Long-term sustainability of the bay will require
changes to “business as usual”
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Why a Chesapeake Club?
Population Growth
• Watershed population is projected to grow from 16 million today to 18 million by 2030
Population in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030
Year
Ch
esap
eake
Bas
in P
op
ula
tio
n (
in
mil
lio
ns)
To accommodate this growth, we are clearing forests, paving farm fields and expanding our urban & suburban environment.
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Nutrient pollution reduction goals will be incredibly tough to meet
By 2010, we need to nearly double nutrient pollution reductions achieved since 1985.
Why a Chesapeake Club?
Estimated Phosphorous Loads Delivered to the Bay
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1985 2000 2002
Year
Lo
ads
(mill
ion
lbs/
year
)
Estimated Nitrogen Loads Delivered to the Bay
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
1985 2000 2002
Year
Lo
ads
(mill
ion
lbs/
year
)
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Where’s the pollution coming from?
We need to look everywhere for potential pollution reductions.
Why a Chesapeake Club?...
1985
Estimated Sources of Nitrogen Pollution to the Bay
2002
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Why a Chesapeake Club?
We’ve asked many stakeholders to do their part
• Wastewater Treatment Plants• Farmers• Waterman• Construction• Government
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Why a Chesapeake Club?
Now we’re asking average citizens to do their part too.
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
What is Chesapeake Club?
Chesapeake Club is a new outreach initiative designed to engage a new audience about the Bay… people not necessarily moved by environmental motives.
The Challenge:The environment is not everyone’s primary concern
The Solution:Engage them through other means
Chesapeake Club is about outreach, not in-reach.
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
What is Chesapeake Club?
It’s different than traditional public awareness campaigns
• Awareness is important, but it’s not enough
Campaign is based on social marketing principles
• Campaign strives to change behavior in exchange for a special benefit to the individual
• Relies on individual self-interest
• Most effective way to achieve what we are looking for… actual behavior change
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
What is Chesapeake Club?
Chesapeake Club was developed through the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership in cooperation with the Academy for Educational Development
Campaign funding comes from:• Commonwealth of Virginia• District of Columbia• U.S. EPA Chesapeake Bay Program
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
What is Chesapeake Club?
Chesapeake Club aims to engage people through a love of the “Chesapeake Lifestyle”
• Connects with their desire to use the Bay for recreation
• Promotes the Bay as a “get away” from urban life
• Capitalizes on the love of its seafood
While people may care about the Bay’s environmental health, it is not always the strongest driving factor in their decision making
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Why Focus on Lawn Care?
While we regularly promote many different Bay-friendly actions, the initial phase of the campaign focuses on lawn care
• High potential for significant nutrient pollution reduction
• A behavior change we can influence• Provided we offer a good alternative
• Lawn care actions can be part of their existing lifestyle
• Public behavior seen by others• Challenges social norms
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Why Focus on the Washington area?
The Washington-metro area will serve as the pilot market for the initiative
• Previous survey work showed activist potential• 2002 Chesapeake Bay Program/Virginia
Tech Survey of Bay Watershed Residents• High level of concern• High interest in getting involved• Uncertainty about how to get involved
• It’s a large media market• Reaches citizens in three Bay Program
partner jurisdictions
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
A couple of Washington facts…
Washington Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA)
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
A couple of Washington facts…
• About 1.96 million households
• Estimated “lawn” area of 530,000 acres
• Current estimated annual nitrogen load to local water bodies about 4.7 million pounds
• Current estimated annual phosphorus load to local water bodies about 560,000 pounds
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
A couple of Washington facts…
Suburban and urban nutrient management in this area could:• reduce annual nitrogen loads to an estimated 3.9
million pounds• 800,000 pound reduction
• Reduce annual phosphorus loads to an estimated 430,000 pounds
• 120,000 pound reduction
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
The Washington-area Campaign...
Primary Goals
• Encourage Washington-area homeowners to skip spring lawn fertilizer and wait until the fall
• Create a greater understanding of how individual actions impact local waters and the Bay
• Attract new audiences to Bay restoration
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
The Washington-area Campaign…
Four Key Components
• Internet Presence• Restaurant Initiative• Professional Lawn Care Initiative• Paid Advertising
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Internet Presence…
www.chesapeakeclub.org
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
ChesapeakeClub.org…
• Targeted toward people who have not yet realized a personal interest in the health of the Bay• First step to moving them to our interested
public• It’s probably not “us”
• Provides visitors with information about the “Chesapeake Lifestyle”• Does not preach “Bay health” to them, but
invites them to learn more
• Web content oriented toward primary campaign initiatives
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
ChesapeakeClub.org…
• Content, Tone & Graphic Identity• Very different than other Bay Program sites• Written in a conversational manner• Users do not have to know about the Bay to
engage with the site• Currently geared to Washington-area
residents
• Lifestyle Sections• “What People Care About”
• Home• Food• Life
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
ChesapeakeClub.org…
• Around the Home• Entertaining• Home Improvement• Yard Care• Lawn Services
• Food• Recipes• Restaurants
• Life• Daytrips• Romantic Getaways
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
The Washington Campaign…
Restaurant Initiative: The Lunch You Save May Be Your
OwnReaching People Through Their Seafood
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
The Lunch You Save May Be Your Own…
• Connects individual actions to the health and availability of Bay seafood
• Reaches people where they are experiencing an aspect of the Bay
• Several Washington-area restaurants participating in the program at varying levels
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
The Lunch You Save May Be Your Own…
• Chesapeake Club bar coasters with the “skip the fertilizer” message will be distributed at participating restaurants
• Waitstaff will be able to answer patron question “What’s this Chesapeake Club thing?”
• Head chefs are invited to take part in the kickoff event
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
The Lunch You Save May Be Your Own…
• Capital Grille• McCormick & Schmick’s• Blue Point Grill• Balducci’s Market• Johnny’s Half Shell• J. Paul’s• Kinkead’s
Restaurants involved with Chesapeake Club include:
A complete list of participating partners is
available at chesapeakeclub.org
• DC Coast• Fishmarket• Powtowmack Landing• Gauzuza• Gua Rapo• Russia House
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
The Washington-area Campaign…
Chesapeake Club Lawn Care Program:A New Brand of Green
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
A New Brand of Green…
• Professional lawn care providers are key stakeholders in reducing suburban & urban nutrient pollution• Pre-campaign survey shows 16% of
Washington-area homeowners use professional services
• Professionals have the ability to follow more detailed application guidelines
• One properly trained professional can reach many homeowners
• Chesapeake Club promotes a marketable product to professional lawn care providers that minimizes fertilizer’s impact on local waters
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
A New Brand of Green…
To be part of the Chesapeake Club Lawn Care Program, companies must:
• Keep fertilizer off any impervious surfaces
• Meet specific nitrogen and phosphorus application criteria developed by Bay Program partners and industry representatives• Criteria limit the amount and timing of fertilizer
applications throughout the year
• Semi-annually report the area of lawn being serviced under the Chesapeake Club brand
• Leave-behind Chesapeake Club lawn care materials
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
A New Brand of Green…
Leave-behind materials link homeowner actions to the health of local seafood and the Bay
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
A New Brand of Green…
Serving Virginia• Natural Lawns, Inc.• Lawn Doctor• Town and Country
Landscaping• Green Sun, Inc.• Kingstowne Lawn & Landscape• Twin Oaks Landscaping
Serving the District of Columbia
• Natural Lawns, Inc.• Bodkin Landscaping
Serving Maryland• Bay Country Natural Lawns• Complete Plant Health Care
Inc.• Bodkin Landscaping• Paradise Landscaping
Selected lawn care partners include:
A complete list of participating partners is
available at chesapeakeclub.org
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
The Washington-area Campaign…
Reaching New Audiences Through Mass Media:
The Lunch You Save May Be Your Own
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Print Advertising…
• Newspapers• Washington Post, Washington Post
Express
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Print Advertising…
• Outdoor Ads• Union Station• Metro Stations • Metro Cars
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Print Advertising…
• Outdoor Ads• Union Station• Metro Stations • Metro Cars
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Print Advertising…
• Outdoor Ads• Union Station• Metro Stations • Metro Cars
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Print Advertising…
• Outdoor Ads• Union Station• Metro Stations • Metro Cars
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Print Advertising…
• Outdoor Ads• Union Station• Metro Stations • Metro Cars
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Broadcast Advertising…
• Television Spots• “Delicious”• “Sod”• “Appetizer”
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Post-Campaign Follow-up
• Post-campaign Evaluation• April/May 2005• Replica of pre-campaign survey
completed in May 2004• Will allow us to assess behavior
change and elevated awareness levels
• Final Report• Possible STAC Workshop• Documentation for Future Work• Assess Future Campaigns
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration
Additional Questions…
Contact:
Christopher ConnerChesapeake Bay Program
Communications [email protected]
Chesapeake Club: Bringing New Audiences to Bay Restoration