OC Waste & Recycling Discovery Cube Partnership A N N U A L F e b
2 0 1 3
R E P O R T -
J a n
2 0 1 4
CONTENTS Executive Summary . . . . . . . . 4 Education Outreach Program. . . 12 Community Event Partnerships
Angels Baseball . . . . . . . . 14
Anaheim Ducks . . . . . . . . 20
Goodwill of Orange County. . . 22
Discovery Cube . . . . . . . . 24
Marketing & Promotion. . . . . . 28
Executive Summary 4
BACKGROUND/PARTNERSHIP OVERVIEW Since joining forces to create the Eco Challenge exhibits in 2011, OC Waste & Recycling (OCWR) and Discovery Cube have established a meaningful partnership, whose impact transcends the walls of the Science Center to stimulate long-term behavioral change. As a result of this partnership, several influential Orange County businesses are also getting on board including Angels Baseball, Anaheim Ducks and Goodwill of Orange County. As an extension of that goal, both organizations have a mutual interest in increasing the amount of traffic through the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube, thereby maximizing the educational reach and impact of these messages and accelerating behavioral change. In addition, collection events at Angel Stadium, Discovery Cube’s facility and the County’s Household Hazardous Waste Collection Centers have generated over ten (10) tons of materials diverted from our landfills and the first annual Eco Challenge Poster Contest inspired kids to think creatively about conservation. In combining the resources, reach and goals of these organizations, Eco Challenge has emerged as Orange County’s face for recycling.
In partnering with Discovery Cube, OCWR’s primary objective is to create a strategic, purposeful and cost-effective program that provides the greatest impact. In addition, this partnership with Discovery Cube is in alignment with OCWR’s strategic marketing and communication goals of:
1. Reducing the amount of waste individuals generate 2. Reusing items that would otherwise be discarded as waste 3. Recycling appropriate items for future reuse 4. Establishing the Eco Challenge as a trusted brand and respected source of Eco information Through educational outreach, community events, partnerships and strategic marketing strategies, OCWR and Discovery Cube have developed a comprehensive program made up of measurable activities and have established a baseline in this first year upon which this partnership can grow for years to come.
5
Executive Summary 6
On April 18, 2006, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a surcharge on all self-hauled waste disposed of at Orange County landfills to support compliance with the AB 939 waste diversion and recycling mandate. The surcharge was a market-driven solution to increase the use of privately owned recycling centers in order to divert recyclable items from Orange County landfills. The revenue from the surcharge is restricted, by the California Public Resource Code, from being spent on any program or activity that fails to support the implementation of specific programs, such as outreach, education, marketing, branding and partnership activities, that increase waste diversion and recycling activities. The Board of Supervisors placed further restrictions on these funds, prohibiting the use of these funds on additional staff or the supplanting of existing levels of service at the time of approval. Finally, the Board required that all programs and activities support our partner cities through the development of regional programs that benefit the County of Orange as well as all 34 cities in compliance with AB 939. To achieve this standard, on April 28, 2009, the Board of Supervisors approved a $3.6 million investment with Discovery Cube to design, engineer and construct three
educational exhibits on waste reduction and recycling. This partnership produced the Eco Challenge exhibits, a multidisciplinary approach designed to change public behavior through handson educational experiences. The County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube opened to the public on September 1, 2011, and its exhibits have become the cornerstone of OCWR’s regional public education and outreach programs. In February 2013, OCWR began this partnership with Discovery Cube to launch a strategic initiative to educate the public by leveraging the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube and improve Orange County residents’ behaviors related to reducing waste, reusing materials and recycling products. This partnership is key for the County because it leverages the educational content of the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube and provides the County with new resources including Discovery Cube’s Marketing and Education teams, advertising/partner relationships, general audience reach, and use of the Eco Challenge brand. In this agreement, Discovery Cube was tasked to develop a strategic marketing and communications plan that uses the Eco Challenge brand to communicate “reduce, reuse, recycle” messaging and drive traffic to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube. Discovery Cube was
tasked to identify measurable goals in partnership with the County and build a plan to meet those goals. In-kind value items such as free child admission coupons and complimentary admission tickets were also identified to help meet these goals. This report highlights each activity and includes an evaluation of its importance and success through strategic performance metrics.
GOALS & MEASURABLES The goals of this partnership align with both OCWR and Discovery Cube’s respective organizational initiatives and are as follows:
• Drive target audiences to Discovery Cube for a hands-on, educational experience with the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits.
• Increase awareness and sustain meaningful behavioral improvement of reusing, reducing, recycling and household hazardous waste (HHW) practices.
• Implement integrated marketing activities including
high-potential, cost-effective paid and unpaid media (in-kind activities). Unpaid media refers to activities and opportunities through partnerships, sponsorships and value-added opportunities.
• Expose the Orange County public, department partners and other strategic entities to the Eco Challenge brand and key messages.
• Create universal, county-wide messages and materials that can be utilized by other partner agencies for customization and implementation.
• Develop and implement meaningful tracking methods to
In order to evaluate our success in relation to these specific goals, the following tracking methods have been identified. One or more measurable will be associated with each activity conducted under this partnership.
• Attendance • Coupon Redemptions • HHW Visits/
Pounds Collected
• Consumer Feedback/ Surveys
• Pre & Post Testing • Outreach/Field Trips • Message Impressions
measure success of the project/programs through measurable outcomes.
• Build upon business and community partnerships developed by identifying and securing additional opportunities with regard to Eco Challenge at no additional cost to the County.
• Integrate social marketing programs around reducing, reusing and recycling as related to Eco Challenge.
• Conduct ongoing and aggressive monitoring to identify
new opportunities, programs and events to ensure success.
7
Executive Summary
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES
8
In order to achieve the above objectives, Discovery Cube and OCWR developed a balanced portfolio of marketing, advertising, education, collection and branding activities in conjunction with three other partners: Angels Baseball, Anaheim Ducks and Goodwill of Orange County. Below is a summary of the activities by which each measurable was achieved. EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH PROGRAMS In the previous year, OCWR funded a $500,000 public education and outreach grant to develop state standard teaching curriculum with Discovery Cube consisting of an in-school assembly and field trip to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube. This grant acted as seed money with the terms that Discovery Cube would extend the life of this outreach program by securing new funding partners consisting of Orange County agencies and cities in the following years. In its first year of securing new partners with the goal of program sustainability, Discovery Cube added eight new cities to this program reaching an aggregate total of 17,787 students.
ATTENDANCE & COUPON REDEMPTIONS Attendance and coupon redemptions at Discovery Cube were achieved through several activities in order to drive traffic to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube. Print ads with free child admission coupons were strategically placed in family-oriented magazines and coupon publications, and promotional partners were utilized to distribute high volumes of coupons at retail locations. Free child admission coupons were also distributed at outreach/community events and at Eco Challenge collection events. Finally, branding opportunities were used to drive traffic online to download a free child admission coupon to visit the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube. Through these activities, 22,010 visits to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube were generated. HHW VISITS, POUNDS COLLECTED, COLLECTION DATA These measurables were generated and tracked through Eco Challenge collection events conducted in partnership with Discovery Cube, Angels Baseball and Goodwill of Orange County. Eco Challenge collection events were held at Angel Stadium, Discovery Cube and Prima Desecha Landfill where residents were encouraged to bring their e-waste, HHW, and/or recyclables. Additional marketing efforts were put towards driving traffic to these events as well as guest incentives including “free” admission tickets and prizes provided by the Angels and Discovery Cube. As a result of these efforts, ten (10) tons of materials were collected and diverted from our landfills. CONSUMER FEEDBACK / SURVEYS Consumer feedback was collected and used to continually monitor and improve Eco Challenge programs and create a benchmark for public understanding of our initiatives. Surveys were also valuable in building a database of interested individuals and growing the Eco Challenge brand. In utilizing community events and Angels outreach opportunities as a venue for survey collection, 940 completed surveys were collected. MESSAGE IMPRESSIONS Efforts to strengthen the Eco Challenge brand and gain awareness through message impressions were concentrated in activities with Angels Baseball and Anaheim Ducks. A major component of these partnerships consisted of display advertising to their large audience at each venue through LED displays, flier distribution and more. A large number of impressions were also achieved through media buys with Time Warner Cable and were also a secondary measurable resulting from Eco Challenge print ads and promotional partners. As a result of these activities, over 58.6 million impressions were gained.
9
Executive Summary
PROGRAM RESULTS Community Impact Education at Discovery Cube Marketing Results
Students Taught in Outreach Material Derived from Landfills
10 TONS
Stage Show Participants
74,350
Total Visitors to Eco Challenge Exhibits
393,968
Message Impressions
58.6 MIL
Surveys Collected
940
Visits Added to Eco Challenge Exhibits (through free child coupon)
OVERALL RECOMMENDATIONS There are several program recommendations that can be made with respect to all partners, programs and messaging to improve each respective measurable and ultimately impact a greater behavioral change toward a sustainable future. STRATEGIC MESSAGING AND CALL TO ACTION This year has been a valuable learning experience in testing the County’s Eco Challenge messaging options and effectiveness with regard to Angels Baseball and Anaheim Ducks display 10
17,787
22,010
advertising, which included messaging on LED screens at events in each location (scoreboards, fascia rings, etc…). In testing different messages and call to action, we have learned how to best leverage these assets and achieve the best measurable results. Our overall recommendation is to utilize these assets (and strategic advertising space) to promote collection events and other programs (i.e. Poster Contest) whenever possible according to a predetermined communications schedule. When there is not the opportunity to promote a collection event or other program, there should always be a call to action to download a free child admission coupon, to visit the County’s Eco Challenge
exhibits at Discovery Cube, or at the very least, include the ocEcoChallenge.com URL. This will ensure that we are always providing a way for our audience to take a specific, measurable action. BETTER UTILIZE PARTNERS TO DRIVE RESULTS After a full season with Angels Baseball and Anaheim Ducks, we have realized the potential for Eco Challenge collection events in partnership with these organizations. Not only can these partners reach a large audience, but they also offer a great collection space and valuable incentives to help drive traffic to these collection events. Eco Challenge collection events provide clear measurables as well as the basis for a strong communications plan that includes a call to action and results in behavioral change when people bring items to recycle. In addition, OCWR has cultivated a strong partner in Goodwill of Orange County who is able to operate Eco Challenge collection events and help to promote them. Goodwill of Orange County offers e-waste and clothing collection, as well as shredding services at little to no cost to the County. For these reasons, it is recommended to leverage Angels Baseball, the Anaheim Ducks, and Goodwill of Orange County as primary Eco Challenge collection event partners moving forward.
COMBINE DISCOVERY CUBE & ECO CHALLENGE MESSAGING A major lesson learned through print advertisements is the importance of strong messaging in order to strengthen the call to action and solicit a measurable outcome. While a free child coupon to visit the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube is a great offer, it is only as strong as the product that it represents. The brand is still widely unknown in the public and may be strengthened when combined with Discovery Cube’s mainstream messages promoting popular traveling exhibits. If we want to maximize attendance to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube, it is important to also maximize the strength of our message so that our audience takes action. We therefore recommend a strategy that combines the County’s Eco Challenge ads with Discovery Cube messaging when appropriate.
11
Education Outreach Program
PURPOSE
12
The purpose of the Eco Challenge education outreach program is to create a sustainable outreach program through which Discovery Cube can provide “reduce, reuse, recycle” centric education to students in Orange County. In the previous year, OCWR funded the development of an educational outreach program with Discovery Cube consisting of an in-school assembly and field trip to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube. This grant acted as seed money with the terms that Discovery Cube would extend the life of this outreach program by securing new funding partners consisting of Orange County agencies and cities in the following years.
STUDENT ASSEMBLIES AND FIELD TRIPS The Eco Challenge education outreach program consists of two separate elements for 6th grade students: an in-school assembly taught by a Discovery Cube teacher and a field trip to visit the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube. Together, the two programs increased students’ awareness of the types of recyclables that can be diverted from our landfills and items that need to be deposited at a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center. The program also provided an understanding as to how the actions of reducing, reusing and recycling enable us to protect our resources, including our landfills. The assembly incorporated the use of keypad technology in order to tabulate the retention of these concepts. By the end of the assembly, over 80% of the participating students understood how to properly sort their waste items.
Take-home items were also established to enhance and prolong the understanding and practices provided by the assembly and field trip. At the end of each assembly, the students receive an educational booklet, home survey, household hazardous waste information sheet, and household hazardous waste collection box. From the home surveys, we learned that 92% of the students felt encouraged to sort their waste more effectively and 97% learned at least one new action they could do at home to help reduce, reuse, and recycle. “MINUTE TO WIN IT” STAGE SHOW The Eco Challenge “Minute to Win It” show teaches the community through teaching behaviors of reducing, reusing, and recycling to stimulate behavior change. The audience is split into two teams that compete against each other doing different tasks within a minute time frame. Each task teaches about a different
area of reducing, reusing, and recycling, as well as the concept of proper household hazardous waste disposal. This show has been presented to 74,350 guests, and 100% of survey respondents stated that they learned something new and 96% of them found the County’s Eco Challenge exhibit to be extremely educational. GRANT MANAGEMENT & SUSTAINABILITY Through seed money provided as a grant from OCWR in the previous year to create this educational outreach program, Discovery Cube has been successful in creating sustainability for this program by securing new funding partners in 2013. This grant funded the development of the program and was provided with the commitment that Discovery Cube will secure new partners in years 2-5 that will fund new students to participate. Discovery Cube secured eight new city partners in 2013, allowing 4,657 additional students to participate in this outreach program. Discovery Cube also continues to actively reach out to additional cities such as Orange, Brea, Buena Park, Garden Grove and Lake Forest, in hopes of creating additional sustainable partnerships away from the landfill.
RESULTS RECAP: Students Taught in Outreach: 13,130 Stage Show Participants: 74,350 Students Added in Outreach: 4,657 Total Participants: 92,137
RECOMMENDATION It is recommended to continue the Eco Challenge education outreach program as planned over the next 3 years. Discovery Cube has demonstrated their ability to provide sustainability through new funding partners, allowing OCWR’s seed money to multiply year after year in educational impact. In addition to the continuance of these outreach activities, it is also recommended that Discovery Cube utilize OCWR’s partners and agency relationships to gain new funding sources. As the number of students reached rises in the coming years, we should also evaluate whether adding additional grade levels and/or program elements is necessary.
Partners Added for 2012-13: City or Agency
Students
City of Irvine/Waste Management
600
City of La Habra
456
City of Placentia
250
Costa Mesa Sanitary District
480
City of Huntington Beach
400
City of Cypress
347
City of Los Alamitos
974
City of Fullerton
TOTALS
1,150
4,657 13
Community Event Partner • Angels Baseball 14
ANGELS BASEBALL As part of OCWR’s efforts to promote the Eco Challenge exhibits and develop regional partnerships to further comply with AB 939, an agreement with Angels Baseball LP was executed on Feb 5, 2013. A partnership with Angels Baseball brings with it the 3rd largest physical annual audience of any entertainment/sporting event in Orange County and is #1 in reach based on its massive radio audience. Through awareness of message, fan engagement and collection event opportunities, the Angels bring a broad range of entry points to engage at multiple levels resulting in a wide range of measurable results. This partner is committed to the County’s mission as demonstrated in its own recycling practices, and remains flexible to keep taking steps toward a mutually beneficial partnership that grows awareness and delivers measurable results.
Overall Recommendation Based on Angels Baseball’s broad reach, unique assets and strong commitment shown through added value, it is recommended to continue this partnership and all of its components. Angels Baseball
offers a wide, balanced portfolio of promotional event and educational resources that form a solid platform for achieving our goals of educating the public and driving traffic to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube. Applying lessons learned from the past year will allow this program to be even more successful over the next year and facilitate a stronger, mutually beneficial partnership with Angels Baseball. The goals will be to better utilize stadium graphics and Spanish radio to promote Eco Challenge collection events with a clear call to action and to expand the Eco Challenge education and outreach elements at Angel Stadium by implementing a permanent County Eco Challenge kiosk. OCWR will have the ability to conduct (education, surveys, etc.) with Orange County fans during every Angel Stadium event without the addition of County staff hours. In addition, the permanent kiosk demonstrates the partnership between OCWR, Discovery Cube, and Angel Baseball. RESULTS RECAP: Total Impressions: 47.5 Million Total Participants: 5,575
Angels Baseball LP (ABLP) is going to demonstrate that it is “Taking the Eco Challenge” by providing Angels Baseball fans with facts about the Angel Stadium Reduce, Reuse, and Recycling initiatives.
E-WASTE & COLLECTION EVENTS A major component of OCWR’s partnership with Angels Baseball in conjunction with Discovery Cube was the execution of five Eco Challenge collection events in partnership with Goodwill of Orange County. The goal of these events was to reward the behavior of recycling and properly disposing of e-waste, used clothing, and paper by providing unique and valuable incentives to Orange County residents. Angels Baseball was an integral partner in facilitating this initiative by providing promotional support for all Eco Challenge collection events, a venue for three events, player appearances at two events, and great incentives for Angel fans to participate such as game tickets and merchandise. In addition, the majority of this support was added value and provided at no cost to the County. This came in the form of Angel tickets, Strike Force participation, staff support and event promotion.
Recommendation It is recommended for the County to continue with the Eco Challenge collection events in partnership with Angels Baseball, Goodwill of Orange County and Discovery Cube. Lessons learned include planning Eco Challenge collection events with greater lead time to better take advantage of all of the promotional opportunities available from Angels Baseball, Discovery Cube and other advertising outlets. Focused efforts in leveraging our existing municipal relationships in promoting the collection event in surrounding jurisdictions should also boost awareness and participation in future events. While ten tons of materials collected is an impressive figure for year one, we aim to exceed that number greatly in year two of this partnership.
15
Partnerships • Angels Baseball
ECO CHALLENGE POSTER CONTEST
16
The Eco Challenge Poster Contest was the product of a unique partnership between OCWR, Angels Baseball and Discovery Cube. Leveraging the rare experience of becoming an Angels “bat kid” as the prize and the extensive reach of Angels Baseball, the County of Orange was able to generate excitement and inspire 102 kids to create a poster about reducing, reusing and recycling. Angels Baseball was a key factor in gaining excitement around this contest not only because of the attractive “bat kid” prize, but also because of their additional, unpaid support. The culmination of the Poster Contest came with the recognition of the winners during an on-field ceremony featuring members of the Board of Supervisors and Board staff. This ceremony not only impacted the winners, but also thousands of fans in attendance who were educated about Eco Challenge and joined in the excitement around the culmination of the contest. This was purely added value and was key in helping the winners and County participants understand the true impact and future potential of this contest VALUE ADDED: Contract Cost: $11,500 Value Added: $39,500
Recommendation It is recommended to continue forward with the Eco Challenge Poster Contest. The inaugural Eco Challenge Poster Contest was an important and meaningful way to engage children and educate them on improved sustainable behaviors. In future years, OCWR will collaborate with Discovery Cube to begin contest promotion earlier and market the opportunity in more venues to increase the reach and participation of children. One important way to increase participation is by using our in-class school program to promote the contest. Another way to increase participation is to host a weekend or series of days that Discovery Cube’s guests can create their posters during their visit to the Science Center. With more time and improved distribution and awareness, we anticipate a significant improvement in the number of posters submitted for year two and increasing each additional year. Therefore, it is recommended to continue the Eco Challenge Poster Contest for year two and to re-evaluate its success each year.
GAME DAY EDUCATION & OUTREACH BOOTH This activity at Angel Stadium was intended to engage the public and promote Eco Challenge while educating the public on how to reduce, reuse and recycle. Eco Crew ambassadors worked 16 weekend Angel games where they surveyed fans, handed out free child admission coupons to visit the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube, and distributed educational information about household hazardous waste. As a result of these efforts, 257 visits were generated to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube and 940 surveys were collected, 160 of which opted in to receive e-mails from Eco Challenge. This was a valuable activity to reach Orange County families on a one-to-one basis for educational purposes, survey gathering, and to gain new email contacts to promote future Eco Challenge related activities and events.
Recommendation It is recommended for the County to continue with the Eco Challenge Game Day Education & Outreach Booth. The game day Eco Challenge outreach booth was very successful. Eco Crew ambassadors assisted participants in taking the Eco Challenge survey which asked fans at the game, as well as at Angels sponsored events, to provide the County with data on the publics general awareness of the County’s recycling programs and its Eco Challenge exhibits. Participants were awarded with exclusive giveaways such as the popular Angels can cozies and reusable grocery bags. Lessons learned included adding an Eco Challenge educational element that tested each participant’s awareness of proper behaviors related to how they can effectively reduce, reuse & recycle. In addition, OCWR should focus their tabling efforts on Family Sunday game days when their target audience of families with kids is in high attendance.
VALUE ADDED: Contract Cost: $17,250 Value Added: $42,250
17
Partnerships • Angels Baseball 18
SPANISH RADIO PROMOTIONS Spanish radio promotions through Angels Baseball (ESPN AM 1330) were aimed to educate the Angels’ Hispanic fan base by providing awareness of the County’s Eco Challenge exhibit at Discovery Cube and proper disposal of household hazardous waste, and by encouraging listeners to download a free child admission coupon to visit the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits. With a fan base that’s roughly 34% Hispanic, Angels Baseball was able to provide a captive targeted audience to allow for effective multicultural outreach. In addition, the Angels were able to bonus a significant amount of media to promote Eco Challenge messaging. VALUE ADDED: Contract Cost: $2,100 Value Added: $18,450
Recommendation It is recommended to continue with the Eco Challenge Spanish Radio Promotions. The Eco Challenge Spanish radio promotions were carried out successfully and in a cost-effective manner. Lessons learned from the Spanish radio promotions were to utilize the radio promotions for Angels sponsored Eco Challenge collection events.
BRANDING OPPORTUNITIES & PROMOTIONS Angels Baseball provided a significant amount of branding and promotional opportunities inside and outside Angel Stadium through LED graphics, giveaways, coupon opportunities and more. These activities were valuable in increasing public awareness of Eco Challenge, driving traffic to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube, and promoting Eco Challenge collection events and activities. BRANDING & PROMOTION OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDED: • BIG A LED • In-Stadium LED Halo ½ Innings • Concourse Posters • Fan Appreciation Day Giveaways • Lucky Fan of the Day Giveaways • Angels 5K Coupon Insertions • Scholar Day Partner • Angels Kids Club Participation
Recommendation It is recommended for the County to continue with the Eco Challenge Branding Opportunities & Promotions. While the focus of our program is educational activities, the strategic integration of branding, traffic drivers, and promotional activities is instrumental in providing the public with quick reminders of our events, our exhibits, and other activities. The County’s primary use of branding and promotional activities is to drive traffic to our website to download a free child admission coupon to visit the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube and to inform the public of the dates and times of the County’s Eco Challenge collection events.
VALUE ADDED: Contract Cost: $102,500 Value Added: $174,500
19
Partnerships • Anaheim Ducks
ANAHEIM DUCKS
20
Partnering with the Anaheim Ducks presents an opportunity to partner with one of the County’s largest entertainment/sporting attractions. This family-based partner also brings spill over opportunities with one of the Top 10 Venues in the country (Honda Center). Through awareness of message, fan engagement and promotional opportunities, the Ducks bring a broad range of entry points to engage at many levels.
Game Day Education & Outreach Booth This activity during Ducks games at the Honda Center was intended to engage the public and promote Eco Challenge while educating the public on how to reduce, reuse and recycle. Eco Crew ambassadors worked eight Ducks games where they handed out free child admission coupons to visit the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube and distributed educational information about household hazardous waste. With a family-centric, Orange County heavy audience, this was a valuable activity in the ability to reach Orange County families in a one-on-one interaction for both educational and promotional purposes.
Branding Opportunities & Promotions The Anaheim Ducks provided a significant amount of branding and promotional opportunities inside and outside the Honda Center through LED graphics, fan communication opportunities and more. These activities were valuable in increasing public awareness of Eco Challenge, driving traffic to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube, and promoting Eco Challenge collection events and related activities.
BRANDING & PROMOTION OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDED: • 57 Fwy LED Rotation Ad • LED Upper and Lower Ring • “Digital Network” Concourse Advertising (Games & Family Shows) • 3 Coupon Opportunities Upon Game Egress • E-mail blast to season seat holders (added value)
Recommendation While the outreach, branding and promotional avenues utilized in 2013 were a great resource for reaching our target audience, there are untapped resources that can be explored in 2014, such as the incorporation of surveys into tabling events. Surveys are an important tool because they help us understand our audience.
Other untapped resources include possible Eco Challenge collection events, an “Eco Challenge Day” and other engagement opportunities and promotion via Ducks’ social media. Similar to the Angels, another goal over the next year will be to better utilize LED graphics to promote Eco Challenge collection events and always contain a clear call to action.
RESULTS RECAP: Total Participants: 230 Total Impressions: 650,000 Contract Cost: $49,999 Value Added: $1,500
• One Full Page Advertisement in Ducks Digest
21
Partnerships • Goodwill of Orange County 22
GOODWILL OF ORANGE COUNTY Goodwill of Orange County has been a natural fit for a mutually beneficial partnership as their mission and goals align with OCWR’s priorities of recycling (particularly electronic waste) and reusing materials. In fact, 95% of waste collected by Goodwill is reused. Goodwill compliments the County’s efforts to educate and change behavior in their ability to physically collect items as well as their ability to provide promotional/communications support.
E-Waste & Collection Events Goodwill has partnered with the County in executing Eco Challenge collection events in support of partnerships with Angels Baseball, Anaheim Ducks and Discovery Cube. While these partners are rich in promotional resources, Goodwill provides the ability and resources to physically collect and execute these events. This partnership is valuable not only because it comes at little to no cost to the County, but also because Goodwill is an exceptional partner in providing a high quality service. VALUE ADDED: Contract Cost: $0 Value Added: $2,881 Deferred Cost: $75,000
Event Marketing & Promotion In addition to the physical collection of materials, Goodwill has been a great partner in helping to promote collection events. They have utilized their own media contacts and in-store communication channels in addition to paid radio media in support of promoting these events. VALUE ADDED: Contract Cost: $0 Value Added: $1,200
Recommendation It is recommended to continue a partnership with Goodwill of Orange County to support Eco Challenge collection events. Not only have they been a great resource in event execution at no-cost, but they are a very willing partner in promotions and other areas of possible collaboration. Discovery Cube also recommends exploring additional avenues of partnership with Goodwill in terms of marketing and events. Their strong alignment with collection events suggests a larger partnership may be mutually beneficial.
RESULTS RECAP: 780 lbs of Clothing Collected 2,520 Household Items Collected 6,480 lbs of E-waste Collected 650 lbs of Paper Shredded 7,200 lbs of Coffee Machines Collected
23
Partnerships • Discovery Cube
DISCOVERY CUBE Discovery Cube is an existing partner, housing the Eco Challenge exhibits funded by the County of Orange. The foundation of this partnership lies in the shared value of educating children with the goal of changing behavior in favor of the environment. This was achieved with the development of the Eco Challenge exhibit. The continued essence of this partnership revolves around driving traffic to the Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube and educating as many Orange County residents as possible using this and other integrated vehicles. In partnering with Discovery Cube, OCWR has also gained a wealth of resources from leveraging Discovery Cube’s advertising partners and media buys, to accessing their audience and utilizing their marketing expertise and creative assets.
Existing Advertising/Media Buys OCWR benefits from the additional Eco Challenge marketing done as a result of our partnership as well as Discovery Cube’s routine marketing efforts outside of Eco Challenge related activities. Since over 96% of visitors to Discovery Cube visit the Eco Challenge exhibit, any traffic-driving activities that Discovery Cube participated in are also considered added value as they directly resulted in additional visits to Eco Challenge. This includes TV commercials, print advertising, radio, outdoor advertising, direct mail and PR and communications efforts.
Discovery Cube’s Self-Promotion of Eco Challenge As part of this partnership, Discovery Cube also used several of its own channels and efforts to promote Eco Challenge outside of the activities included in the Marketing & Promotion plan. These in-kind activities included Eco Challenge tags and “reduce, reuse, recycle” messaging in its monthly newsletters and fliers distributed to cars at its parking booth. In this way, Discovery Cube became a valuable partner in adding value and supporting the partnership and the efforts of OCWR. RESULTS RECAP: Visitors to Discovery Cube: 21,927 Free Child Tickets Provided: 6,828 Total Cost Avoidance: $1,078,836
24
Use of Eco Challenge Artwork & Discovery Cube Creative Team A primary benefit of partnering with Discovery Cube has been the use of Eco Challenge branding and graphics to communicate OCWR’s Eco Challenge related messages. In addition, OCWR has benefited from the support of Discovery Cube’s Marketing, Public Relations, and Creative Team to develop the marketing strategy and Eco Challenge creative. Discovery Cube has provided creative support for all Eco Challenge related initiatives and artwork requests over the past year. On the PR/ media communications front, Discovery Cube has leveraged their contacts to gain media coverage on several blogs and other outlets for Eco Challenge collection events and other Eco Challenge promotions. These relationships are key in supporting the communications team at OCWR. On the creative front, the ability to leverage the Eco Challenge brand and artwork licensed from Discovery Cube is a critical piece of this partnership that is extremely valuable to OCWR. The Eco Challenge brand has provided OCWR with a fresh look and brand identity that is unique to their efforts within the County and a platform for creative messaging with maximum impact in the community
Admissions & Discounts As a part of the partnership between Discovery Cube and OCWR, Discovery Cube has agreed to provide in-kind value in the form of tickets, coupon free child admissions, parking passes, and other discounts. In addition, Discovery Cube also hosted an e-waste event in partnership
with Angels Baseball and Goodwill of Orange County as in-kind value. Over the past year, this partnership resulted in: • 20,010 visits to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube (21,156 coupon/854 ticketed) • 6,828 free child tickets • 2,954 free general admission tickets • 239 free parking passes (with new Discovery Cube memberships) TOTAL COST AVOIDANCE $1,078,836
Recommendation It is recommended to continue this partnership between Discovery Cube and OCWR. OCWR has embodied a new, fresh public face in utilizing the Eco Challenge brand to communicate its messaging. Eco Challenge not only puts an engaging, youthful spin on otherwise “PSA-like” messaging (messaging that is factual, straight-forward and unengaging), it also encourages Orange County residents to actively participate in Eco Challenge by visiting Discovery Cube to experience the exhibit. This 360-degree strategy not only educates Orange County residents, it also encourages them to take the Eco Challenge by making better decisions, and ultimately change their behavior.
25
Marketing & Promotion
Partner Promotions & Time Warner Cable By combining the power and reach of television with local QSR (quick service restaurant) brands (i.e. Papa John’s Pizza), this traffic driving strategy created a cross marketing promotional opportunity whereby local brands/ stores promote our message to their audience. METHODOLOGY The activity proposed with Time Warner Cable (TWC) brings together the largest reach of message along with promotional tie-in of messaging with third parties to drive the desired measurable. This allows leveraging of the cable media campaign by advertising promo partners as the place to obtain a free child coupon to visit the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube. With this partner promoting its guests to “Take the Eco Challenge,” this promotion extends the reach of message beyond commercial spots and into “consumer places” of high traffic.
STRATEGY This marketing tactic was employed in two flights: July/August and Nov/Dec. The first flight included promo partners Baskin Robbins, Papa John’s, Togo’s and Wahoo’s Fish Taco. Under this campaign, Eco Challenge was promoted to families in conjunction with Discovery Cube’s summer exhibits (both on TV and instores) to encourage guests to visit the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube using a free child coupon. The second flight targeted a Hispanic audience by running Spanish commercials on Spanishspeaking channels and directing viewers to Little Caesar’s Pizza locations, which has a 72% penetration of the Hispanic market, for a free child coupon to visit the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits at Discovery Cube. Under this campaign, Eco Challenge was co-branded with Discovery Cube’s traveling exhibit, “The Science of Ripley’s Believe It or Not”, to maximize potential traffic driven to the County’s Eco Challenge exhibits.
THIS ACTIVITY HAD FOUR STEPS: 1. Cable audience receives message to visit Eco Challenge exhibit and “Reduce, Reuse & Recycle” 2. Within the commercial is a call to action to visit promo partners for Discovery Cube coupon 3. Third-party promo partner promotes the savings offer in stores with print collateral to their base audience 26
4. Target audience visits Discovery Cube and takes the Eco Challenge
RESULTS RECAP
Attendance Generated (Summer Promotion) Papa John’s
2,094
Baskin Robbins
1,567
Wahoo’s Fish Taco
769
TOGOs
630
Total Participants
5,060
Recommendation Attendance Generated (Fall Promotion) Little Caesar’s
1,834
RECOMMENDATION By combining the wide reach of TWC with the heavy foot traffic of selected promo partners, this is one of the most efficient and effective ways to communicate with a large volume of families in Orange County.
While these campaigns were successful, it may be beneficial to find even stronger promotional partners in addition to the partners used in 2013 (including a larger audience and greater store presence) and longer duration of promotion. It is also important to recognize the benefit of combining Eco Challenge messaging with Discovery Cube’s current exhibit. While communicating Eco Challenge messaging is the goal, Discovery Cube’s traveling exhibits may provide a more compelling, more urgent call to action and are more likely to entice our audience to take action. By combining Eco Challenge messaging with Discovery Cube’s current traveling exhibit that it is promoting in the market, OCWR is able to leverage its partnership with Discovery Cube and maximize traffic driven through the County’s Eco Challenge exhibit at Discovery Cube. RESULTS RECAP: Total Participants: 6,894 Total Cost Avoidance $29,000
27
2500 N. Main St. Santa Ana, CA 92705 • 714.542.2823 • www.discoverycube.org