Tag Archive for: nalgene

Boston Advertising and PR Agency Cercone Brown & Co. Wins Silver 2010 Bulldog Award for “Best Green Campaign”

Agency’s Earth Day Campaign for Nalgene Highlights Nation’s Least Wasteful Cities; Urges Environmental Responsibility Across U.S.

Boston, Mass. (May 7, 2010) – Advertising and PR agency Cercone Brown & Co. (CBC) was recently bestowed one of the PR industry’s top honors: a 2010 Bulldog Award for “Best Green Campaign.”

Recognized from a total pool of 800 submissions, the Boston PR agency earned a Silver award for its “America’s Least Wasteful Cities” program, developed for reusable bottle icon Nalgene.  The program combined social media, online marketing and traditional media relations to reach millions across America.  The Twitter campaign alone reached more than one million prospects.

“Many ‘experts’ will have you believe that social media alone is the silver bullet for PR campaigns today.  But it’s really the combination of traditional media relations and social media marketing that makes the online universe come alive,” said Cercone Brown & Co. partner Len Cercone.  “Creating content that people want to share is the key, whether that be from journalist to reader or person to person.”

Launched in April, the news was featured on the home page of USA Today, AOL, numerous green and news blogs and scores of TV stations, newspapers and magazines nationwide.  Each piece of coverage fueled sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and other social sites, as well as through the campaign site itself.  As a result, the news reached more than 4 million people within one month.

“Thanks to our partnership with CBC, Nalgene continues to think beyond the bottle,” said Tiffany Teaford, product manager/product development lead ,Nalgene-Outdoor. “The award-winning Least Wasteful Cities campaign reflects Nalgene’s broader mission of empowering people to create change, once choice at a time.”

The Campaign: America’s Least Wasteful Cities

During a time when many Americans sought to make environmentally friendly decisions in their lives, the “America’s Least Wasteful Cities” campaign identified wasteful behaviors in everyday actions.

As the focal point of the campaign, Cercone Brown & Co. designed an online research survey, polling 3,750 participants in the largest 25 cities (based on DMA) on waste-focused habits – from recycling, to using public transportation, to shutting off lights. When the results were tallied, San Francisco earned the title of America’s Least Wasteful City, while Atlanta ranked last.

With the news launched just prior to Earth Day, Boston PR agency Cercone Brown & Co. leveraged traditional public relations tactics along with social media tools, including Twitter and Facebook, to spread the word directly to consumers and online press alike.

In addition, the PR agency deployed a content-filled online microsite, which educated millions of Americans on their own wasteful behaviors, while providing an intimate setting for consumers to interact with the Nalgene brand.

Visitors were invited to purchase a special Nalgene bottle designed by Cercone Brown & Co., with a portion of the proceeds going to the Surfrider Foundation, an environmental organization dedicated to protecting the world’s waves and beaches.

The prestigious 2010 Bulldog Award for the “America’s Least Wasteful Cities” campaign underscores Cercone Brown & Co.’s commitment to developing campaigns yielding socially responsible outcomes.

“As an action-oriented advertising and PR agency, we feel a tremendous amount of accountability toward our clients, the general public and the environment around us,” said Caroline Budney, director of corporate social responsibility at Boston PR agency Cercone Brown & Co. “With the ‘America’s Least Wasteful Cities’ campaign, we encourage the general public to make environmentally-responsible decisions by highlighting the impact simple, everyday actions can make.”

In addition to developing campaigns for individual clients, PR agency Cercone Brown & Co. is renowned for its annual Green House event, where the nation’s top “green” editors are immersed in the latest practical and planet-friendly products, services and technologies. This year’s experiential marketing event will take place in Boulder, Colo. in August. For more information on getting involved, visit the Green House website at http://www.cbcgreenhouse.com/.

About Cercone Brown & Co.

Located in Boston, Massachusetts, Cercone Brown & Co. (CBC) provides branding, advertising, public relations and promotions services to companies in a range of industries. Founded in 2001, the company has worked with leading brands that include adidas, GMAC Insurance, Hasbro, Nantucket Nectars, Orvis, Cognos, Sperry Top-Sider, K2, The Timberland Company, Vibram and ZOOTS. For more information, visit www.cerconebrown.com, join the Cercone Brown Facebook page and follow Cercone Brown on Twitter.

###

Cercone Brown & Co. Honored as One for the “Best Online Marketing Campaign for 2009”

Boston Advertising & PR Firm One as Six “Honorable Mentions from 800 Submissions for “America’s Least Wasteful Cities” Campaign for Bottle-Maker Nalgene

Blending social media marketing, interactive design, and press relations has become a hallmark of Boston advertising and PR firm Cercone Brown & Co., helping brands such as GMAC Insurance, adidas, Quiksilver and others build campaigns that drive awareness, sales leads and ROI.

On October 21st, the firm was honored for Best Online Campaign for 2009 for the prestigious Platinum PR Awards for its “America’s Least Wasteful Cities” work for reusable bottle icon Nalgene. Cercone Brown & Co. was among the top eight companies with the Best Online Campaign out of a total pool of 800 submissions.

With thrift and conservation on the minds of many Americans, the campaign put the spotlight on wasteful behavior in our nation’s top cities. “The Nalgene Least Wasteful City Study” ranked 23 waste-focused habits of urban Americans, from recycling, to using public transportation, to shutting off lights. When the results were tallied, San Francisco earned the title of America’s Least Wasteful City, while Atlanta ranked last.

Launched just prior to Earth Day, the program leveraged social media networks including Twitter and Facebook as primary channels.

“From a simple strategy of creating usable, compelling content, the effort quickly caught fire and extended beyond our hopes,” said Caroline Budney, director, social responsibility, Cercone Brown & Co.  “Almost immediately the ‘Net reacted with Twitter the clear epicenter of activity, as our frequent tweets were fueled by the tweets of columnists and bloggers.”

In total, the campaign reached more than 1 million on Twitter alone, and was extended by numerous television and print new stories. The campaign allowed Nalgene to strengthen its online community, adding fans to Facebook and followers to Twitter, making direct conversations with important alpha consumers easier and stronger.

The Platinum PR Awards

Del Monte Foods, GE, Time Warner Cable and American Express are among the organizations competing for honors in the 2009 Platinum PR Awards. Presented by PR News, the leading information resource among communicators, this highly competitive program honors the best PR campaigns and initiatives of the year.

The finalists in this year’s awards program included corporations, nonprofits and agencies large and small. The award winners were announced at an October 21, 2009 awards luncheon at the Grand Hyatt in New York City and in PR News’ Platinum PR Awards special issue in October.

The awards were judged by a blue-chip panel that includes PR executives from corporations, agencies, nonprofits and associations, and leading educators and industry consultants.

“It is remarkable how far the PR discipline has come in the past few years in terms of impacting an organization’s bottom line and reputation,” says Diane Schwartz, vice president and group publisher of PR News. “This year’s finalists in the Platinum PR Awards reinforce how powerful public relations is in moving the needle.”

PR News’ Oct. 26 Platinum PR Issue profiles the top PR campaigns of the year and will serve as a users guide to PR departments of all sizes and missions. Coverage will include profiles of the top innovative campaigns, the smartest communications initiatives and the people behind them.

Study Shows San Francisco is America’s Least Wasteful City

From Rain Barrels and Recycling to Walking and Buying Second-Hand Clothes,
“The Nalgene Least Wasteful City Study” Puts Top 25 Metros Under Scrutiny for Wasteful Behavior

With thrift and conservation on the minds of many Americans, a new study put the spotlight on wasteful behavior in our nation’s cities. “The Nalgene Least Wasteful City Study” ranked 23 waste-focused habits of urban Americans, from recycling, to using public transportation, to shutting off the lights when leaving the room.  When the results were tallied, San Francisco earned the title of America’s Least Wasteful City, while Atlanta ranked last in the study.

Other cities at the top of the least wasteful list are New York (2), Portland, OR (3) and Seattle (4). In addition to Atlanta, Dallas (24), Indianapolis (23), Houston (22) and St. Louis (21) were in the bottom five of those surveyed. Individuals can visit www.leastwastefulcities.com  for complete rankings or to the take the survey themselves.

Surprisingly, in trying economic times, frugality isn’t the leading factor motivating Americans to change wasteful ways.  In fact, over half surveyed (57 percent) cited “that it is our responsibility to ensure the health of our planet for future generations” as the motivation for changing behavior, followed by “it makes financial sense” (22 percent).

The study was commissioned by Nalgene, the leading manufacturer of reusable water bottles, as part of its FilterForGood campaign, an ongoing partnership with Brita to encourage less wasteful behavior.

“This study highlights habits that our society has adopted out of convenience, but on a whole can have a huge impact on the sustainability of the planet,” said Eric Hansen, Sr. Business Manager, Nalgene-Outdoor. “Clearly, some cities are ahead of others when it comes to changing our approach to wastefulness in our actions big and small, but there’s room for all to improve.”

The study questioned 3,750 individuals living in the top 25 largest U.S. cities, gauging behavior on waste, sustainability, shopping, transportation and more. The results were weighted to give more credit to behaviors that had immediate and significant impact on the planet (e.g., driving less, recycling or reducing trash) to small habits that are more indicative of a mindset and non-wasteful approach to life (e.g., reusing containers, limiting shower time or saving wrapping paper and ribbons).

Survey Says: Environmental Efforts Need to be Easy and Convenient … and Save Money
Results show that with the exception of recycling (the 5th top least wasteful behavior), urban Americans are more readily embracing small, everyday habits to cut waste: (1= Never; 10 = Always/Without Fail):

Save leftover food/meals to eat again 8.58
Shut off lights when not in the room 8.48
Turn off water when brushing teeth 7.22
Use energy efficient light bulbs 7.16
Recycle glass/metal/plastics on a regular basis 6.87

The study also suggests that convenience is trumping prudence when it comes to significant wasteful behavior including transportation and personal conservation efforts (average score, 1= Never; 10 = Always/Without Fail):

Avoiding drying clothes in an electric or gas clothes dryer 2.05
Use a rain barrel 2.13
Compost my fruit and vegetable scraps 3.15
Take public transportation 3.37
Drive my car for trips that are less than two miles from home 3.73

CITY HIGHLIGHTS

  • San Francisco led the way in many categories, and was best overall at recycling, reusing wrapping paper, turning off the water to brush teeth and not using cars for short trips from home.
  • Less is Best in the West. San Francisco, Portland and Seattle are among the top four in practicing least wasteful behaviors.
  • NYC’s Surprising Hot Commodity, Rain Water. New York, coming in as the second least wasteful city in the U.S., is the only east coast city to rank in the top seven. They rank number one at collecting rain fall by using a rain barrel and taking public transportation. Los Angeles comes in second for using a rain barrel.
  • Second-Hand Style Doesn’t Work in Beantown. Not many Bostonians are wearing second-hand outfits or sitting on used couches these days. Boston comes in last at buying second-hand, followed by New Yorkers. Portland is the best at second-hand shopping.
  • The Heartland Loves Local Libraries. Clevelanders love their local libraries, coming in number one for borrowing books from the library.
  • Hot Enough for Ya? Miami is the worst at avoiding the purchase of bottled water.
  • Last Night’s Noshes Loved in Sugar Land. Houston loves leftovers, coming in as the best at saving leftovers to eat again. However, their neighbors in Dallas are not so great at saving leftovers

HOW AMERICANS PLAN TO CHANGE THEIR LEAST WASTEFUL WAYS THIS YEAR:
Sixty-three percent of respondents said they are already living a somewhat eco-friendly lifestyle; while 85 percent plan on being more environmentally conscious in the next year.

  • Electric Shock: Two-thirds (65 percent) will shut the lights off when not in the room and 65 percent will use energy efficient light bulbs
  • Around the House: More than half (56 percent) will recycle more and turn off the water when brushing their teeth (both 56 percent), while 57 percent will save leftover food to eat again
  • At the Market: More than one-third (38 percent) will avoid using bottled water, opting instead for reusable containers. Half (56 percent) plan on using reusable grocery bags
  • Walk the Line: One-third plan to forgo the car for trips less than two miles from home

For information on how to rate your own least wasteful behavior and to find out how your city can make a small change towards a big difference by adopting reusable water bottles in place of disposable, single serve bottled water, visit www.leastwastefulcities.com and www.filterforgood.com.

About Nalgene Outdoor
Nalgene Outdoor Products is based in Rochester, New York. Founded in 1949 as a manufacturer of the first plastic pipette holder, the company soon expanded its product line to include state-of-the-art polyethylene labware under the NALGENE brand.  By the 1970s, outdoor enthusiasts had discovered the taste and odor-resistant, leakproof and rugged properties of NALGENE’s large selection of plastic containers. In response to this emerging demand, the NALGENE Consumer Products Division was formed. For more information, contact NALGENE Consumer Products or visit our website at HYPERLINK “http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/”www.nalgene-outdoor.com.

# # #

Media Relations Succees: Nalgene Featured in MSN’s “Made In America” Feature

 

MSN featured Nalgene as a way to buy American

MSN featured Nalgene as a way to buy American

One of the most pleasing things that can happen to a PR agency is when a high-level journalist covers a client.  What makes it better is when that coverage parrots the top-line messages you’ve been pushing for some time, and they didn’t even talk to you directly.  

 

This happened today when MSN featured water-bottle manufacturer, Nalgene, in the feature 10 Ways You Can Still Buy American.  In the article, they not only hit all the major high points on BPA-free bottles and the company’s heritage in the outdoors, the writer referred to the bottle as “the symbol of hip environmentalists” and went on to mention the whole range of product.

This is a vote of confidence for laying out a clear, AUTHENTIC, messaging strategy, then making sure you execute in all media relations efforts, search engine optimization (SEO) PR, in store, online, etc.  After a while, the aggregate mesage takes hold and you will be noticed for who you really are.

The recognition couldn’t happen to a nicer group.  Nalgene (in my opinion) is a company that always does the right thing, even when it’s not the easiest thing.  And isn’t that really American after all?