Lessons Learned
August 2009
Communications for Green
We're proud to work with groundbreaking projects that move the needle on environmental sustainability and awareness, and we are always looking for new ways strategic communications can further this urgent cause.
If you are an environmentally conscious nonprofit, foundation or business, we want to hear about how you are promoting your greenness to key audiences. What is working?
What lessons can you pass on to our readers? Share your triumphs and challenges on our Facebook page.
A few examples
Some of our favorite green projects to date include a national public relations campaign for The Annenberg Foundation's "Not A Cornfield" project, and the launch of Southern California's Gas Company's state-of-the-art Energy Resource Center.
"Not A Cornfield"
"Not A Cornfield", an urban education and arts project transformed an industrial, trash-strewn brownfield in Los Angeles' historical center into a 32-acre cornfield for one agricultural cycle. A living sculpture, it was a powercornful testament to the possibilities of using earth and art to bring new life to blighted urban centers.
We created the project's visual identity, online and print materials, and a strategic communications effort to inform and educate the art community and the general public around how "Not A Cornfield" bridged the intersection of art, land use, food systems and sustainablity to revitalize a state park and a community.
The eco-friendly campaign secured more than 21 million media impressions across more than 40 markets, with placements in outlets including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Art in America and ABC. Weekend attendance to the site rose to approximately 200 to 300 visitors daily, with thousands of visitors attracted to the project's special events. Today, the site is knows as Los Angeles State Historic Park and functions as a public open space in the middle of our fair city.
Southern California Gas Company's Energy Resource Center
Southern California Gas Company is the nation's largest natural gas distribution utility, serving a population of 20.3 million consumers in more than 500 communities throughout Central and Southern California.
It invested $6.8 million in an Energy Resource Center (ERC) that was a pioneer in the "green building" movement and remains a model of advanced, energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive building technology.
Hershey|Cause created and publicized a leading-edge image for the ERC, including a compelling visual identity and public relations campaign complete with handmade press kits using soy-based inks and recycled paper that reflected Energy Resource Center's environmental leadership.
As a result of our efforts, the Energy Resource Center quickly became the best-publicized green building in the country, and an impressive 50 percent of elite invitees attended the facility's groundbreaking ceremony.
