Massive Carbon Initiative: 100,000 Trees
SC&A Natural Resources was set to celebrate 35 years in business. That's cause enough for celebration, but it was also a time to honor the man who began a forestry management legacy: founder Steve Clark, who had passed away just a few years prior.
The Challenge
To enlighten more people about the importance of natural resources, and to honor his Company’s founder (now deceased), SC&A’s president commissioned a major donation of 100,000 trees to residents across Tennessee. Our charge was to market the ambitious idea and land enough public support through volunteerism to put those trees in the ground.
Ultimately, what started as a simple idea to honor a CEO’s legacy grew into the single largest reforestation project by an individual in all of Tennessee — Steve Clark’s son and successor, Chris.
Our Approach
On the surface, SC&A appeared as a large tactical assignment. But Envolve accepted the mightier mission: To engineer strategies that could bridge meaningful engagements for SC&A’s business as a whole.
Through a four-month media and public relations campaign, we connected SC&A with impassioned CEOs, corporate sustainability officers, private sector engineers, government agencies, school children, volunteers and non-profit organizations in 93 of Tennessee’s 95 counties. We also engineered a statewide media campaign that yielded radio, television and print engagements, yielding millions of impressions over a two month period.
The Results
Our grassroots campaign inspired thousands of Tennessee residents and hundreds of businesses; it secured consistent coverage by media statewide; and exceeded goal by 1,482 trees — a total of 101,482 trees. Together, we connected SC&A with impassioned environmentalists through hundreds of tree planting events statewide.
Should all of the adopted trees survive a mere 20 years (which is likely), they will absorb 41,112.5 tons of carbon annually. That’s nearly equal to a 350-acre forest – imagine Washington, D.C.’s Capital Mall filled with trees from tip to toe.
The campaign produced several documentary-style stories from major market television stations, and was named "Story of the Year" at Chattanooga's WUTC public radio. The campaign also captured a coveted Governor's Environmental Stewardship Award in the State of Tennessee for Natural Heritage Conservation.
Always the best indicator of successful work, SC&A engaged Envolve Strategies for long-term business initiatives including partnership development, strategic business development, and, of course, marketing and PR.
