By: Lucy Spratlin
For Earth Day and Earth Month this year, we’re seeing many corporate partners rally around one of these four themes: marine life conservation, clean water, reforestation, or food security. We believe this focused approach gives cause marketing campaigns an advantage in a crowded space with audiences looking for clear choices. Take a look at our picks for stand-out campaigns in each area of concentration.
Marine life conservation
“Save the whales” may be one of the most lasting and memorable cause marketing slogans of all time. Some people may support campaigns that promote marine life preservation because the animals are majestic, adorable or interesting. But awareness is also growing that protecting and conserving marine life helps keep ocean ecosystems in balance and slows global warming.
Spotlight campaigns
Natural Marine Sanctuary Save Spectacular
Next October will mark the 50th anniversary of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, a commitment to helping oceans and the Great Lakes thrive. For Earth Day, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is celebrating a half-century of progress and planning action steps for the next 50 years. The Save Spectacular campaign invites supporters to participate through:
- Making donations
- Pledging to be a steward and conservator
- Writing to legislators to take climate action
SodaStream Save a Baby Sea Turtle
SodaStream has long maintained its mission to reduce single-use plastic waste and ocean pollution. This year, the company has partnered with SEE Turtles, an NGO that protects sea turtles worldwide as critical species for natural biodiversity in oceans. Campaign components include:
- Celebrity endorsement from David Hasselhoff, who is featured in a personalized, one-of-a-kind augmented reality (AR) experience
- Commitment from SodaStream to saving one baby sea turtle for every SodaStream sparkling water maker sold worldwide during the month of April
- Continued commitment from last year’s Earth Day to reduce single-use plastic bottle waste by 78 billion by 2025
- Opportunities for SodaStream employees to volunteer in marine life preservation initiatives
Clean water
More than 771 million people around the world don’t have access to clean water. Without clean water, people are at greater risk of contracting serious infections and diseases. Their communities are also prone to higher death rates from what should be highly preventable or curable illnesses like diarrhea. Making clean water more widely available is critical to reversing the trend.
Spotlight campaigns
For Earth Month 2022, Aveda is building on its existing partnership with charity: water to bring clean, safe drinking water to people in need in India, Nepal, Madagascar and Ethiopia. The overall campaign goal is to raise $1 million through these campaign components:
- Donation of $5 from the sale of each limited-edition Shahpur Nurturing Shampoo Bar to charity: water (up to $400K)
- Donation of 100% of sales on Earth Day to charity: water (up to $600K)
Pantone The Color of Dirty Water
Pantone is also partnering with charity: water to bring clean water to communities that don’t have basic access. The Color of Dirty Water campaign tells the story of dirty water through an online color story that aligns with Pantone’s brand identity as the color expert. Site visitors can see what dirty water looks like in different locations and read personal stories for awareness, inspiration, and the opportunity to make a donation.
Reforestation
Earthday.org estimates worldwide forest loss at 18 million acres a year, obliterating natural habitat and accelerating climate change. Replacing harvested trees and planting trees in new areas are two important strategies for bringing sustainability back.
Spotlight campaigns
Through a partnership with nonprofit SeaTrees, Nixon lifestyle accessories is turning purchases from its sustainable product collection during Earth Month into mangrove tree plantings in the Biak Island region of Papua, Indonesia. Customers can participate by:
- Buying a product (1 product = 1 mangrove tree)
- Donating to SeaTrees directly
This Earth Month, Amazon is partnering with One Tree Planted, an environmental charity that supports reforestation around the world. Campaign components include:
- Donation of $1 million to One Tree Planted
- Opportunity for U.S. customers with an Alexa-enabled device to say “Alexa, grow a tree” to donate $1 to plant one tree
Avocado Mattress 1% for the Planet and Earth Month Sale
In conjunction with Earth Month, Avocado Mattress, makers of organic and eco-luxury sleep products, announced its new nonprofit partner re: wild. Focused on sustainability, re: wild collaborates with local leaders to protect and restore habitats vital to the planet’s most critical species. Campaign components include:
- Donation of 1% of revenues for 2022 to re: wild
- Deep customer discounts on their website during April
- Community educational programming on the importance of biodiversity
Herbal Essences Renew the Forest
Herbal Essences will continue to partner with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), as well as Meijer groceries, to support TNC’s mission to plant a billion trees. For every two bottles of certain Herbal Essences products purchased on Meijer.com between March 27 and April 23, 2022, Herbal Essences will donate $1.13 to TNC to cover the planting of one tree.
Food systems and food insecurity
Spotlight campaign
Navitas is a superfood manufacturer that offers an array of plant-based foods, berries and seeds in line with its cred: superfoods with purpose. For Earth Month, it will donate 5% of all website sales to A Growing Culture, a nonprofit that works to combat injustice in the food system and share resources for food security.
Walmart and Sam’s Club Continue the Fight Hunger. Spark Change. Campaign
Each Walmart store and Sam’s Club is matched to a local Feeding America member food bank, and all sales-triggered supplier donations and customer register donations in stores and clubs are tied to that local food bank. To kickstart this year’s campaign, Walmart invested $2 million, most of which will support food banks in communities with the highest rates of food insecurity and racial and access disparities. Donations can also be made at Feeding America’s Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign donation site.
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