OCRRA (Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency)

SWANA Marketing Excellence Award Application

April 15, 2011 Executive Director: A.T. Rhoads 100 Elwood Davis Road North Syracuse, NY 13212 (315) 453-2866 www.OCRRA.org

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

2

Table of Contents Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 2 Statement of Intent ........................................................................................................................ 2 Research / Planning ...................................................................................................................... 2 Implementation / Execution ........................................................................................................... 5 Results / Evaluation ...................................................................................................................... 9 Supplemental Materials .............................................................................................................. 12

Executive Summary OCRRA (Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency) is a non-profit public benefit corporation which, for 20 years, has challenged local residents, businesses, and schools in Onondaga County, NY to continually reach for new levels of recycling excellence. OCRRA strives to help the community of nearly half a million residents maintain an excellent recycling rate through a variety of public education and outreach programs. In 2009, OCRRA launched a new public education campaign that has increased paper recycling by 14% community wide, resulting in an additional waste reduction of almost 44 million pounds in one year. Entitled “Save the World a Little Each Day,” the campaign’s impact is derived from two key analyses: 1) a local community opinion survey and 2) a study analyzing the composition of the community’s trash stream. “Save the World a Little Each Day” focuses on paper recycling and underscores how the simple act of recycling can have a big impact on the environment and make the world a better place for children. This message has stimulated additional recycling and struck an emotional chord throughout Onondaga County by featuring local children in print, internet, and television ads. This campaign truly is an effective approach to recycling public education.

Statement of Intent OCRRA (Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency) is applying for the Marketing Excellence Award for its “Save the World a Little Each Day” public education campaign. This campaign is a comprehensive marketing plan consisting of a rebranding effort, advertising, a unique contest, and promotional materials; and was developed based on local waste analyses and public opinion surveys. The ultimate goal of this campaign is to increase recycling by encouraging residents to recycle as much as possible in order to make a positive environmental impact. The following application will demonstrate that this campaign has been effective and has helped to increase paper recycling in Onondaga County.

Research / Planning In 2009, OCRRA launched a new public education campaign, “Save the World a Little Each Day”. This campaign took OCRRA’s public outreach in a new, creative direction, aimed at grabbing public attention, stimulating real behavioral change, and generating significant environmental benefits.

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

3

This program was developed in response to insights gained from OCRRA’s 2005 Waste Quantification and Characterization Study and a 2008 telephone survey, aimed at analyzing the community’s level of recycling awareness. The 2005 waste study found that recyclable paper (does not include non-recyclable paper, such as paper towels and tissue paper) constituted a significant portion of municipal solid waste; at approximately 15% (in comparison, recyclable plastics comprised less than 3% of the waste stream). This equates to over 40,000 tons of recyclable paper being thrown away each year. OCRRA took these data as a clear signal to focus on capturing that paper. Previously, OCRRA’s public education was focused on “what” to recycle, giving basic instructions and visuals. The phrase “BlueBinit” (image at right) was incorporated throughout the messages and materials, which was intended to prompt residents to use their blue bins (recycling containers for Onondaga County). “BlueBinit” was not only a printed catchphrase, but was a recorded message repeated on various website, radio, and television ads. While the ads were catchy, OCRRA felt that its communication with the public could be improved in order to capture more recyclables, particularly paper, that were ending up in the trash. Before making any changes, OCRRA sought to determine Onondaga County residents’ recycling knowledge and attitude with a phone survey conducted in 2008. This ultimately helped focus new public outreach. 501 residents were surveyed. Among the findings were:

1. Only 10% of respondents recalled the phrase “BlueBinit” 2. More than 90% of those surveyed knew they could recycle paper 3. 88% of survey respondents believed that recycling is “easy” 4. Over 60% of respondents said that each of the following messages would be extremely

effective in motivating themselves and others to recycle more: • Recycling makes the world a better place for our children • Recycling conserves natural resources • Every little bit of recycling helps (see chart below)

“…please tell me how effective (each message) would be in encouraging you to recycle more.” (percentage rating message “5” or “4” on a 5-point scale):

46%

55%

57%

60%

61%

65%

68%

17%

12%

20%

13%

16%

21%

15%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Throwing away something (recyclable) is just wrong

Recycling is the law

Recycling is easier than you think

Recycling reduces our dependence on foreign oil

Every little bit of recycling helps a lot

Recycling conserves natural resources

Recycling makes the world a better place for our children

80% 100%

5 (Extremely Effective) 4 (Effective)

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

4

These two studies indicated that although more than 90% of residents know they should recycle items like newspapers, cardboard, magazines, pizza boxes, etc.; a significant amount of these items are not making it into the recycling bins. There was a disconnection between knowing what to do and actually doing it. In addition, few people recalled the then current “BlueBinit” campaign, which signaled its lack of effectiveness. Therefore, OCRRA decided to improve its public education and extend it beyond the “what” of recycling to more fully embrace the “why” of recycling. By doing so, OCRRA aimed to stimulate behavioral change by striking an emotional chord with its audience. OCRRA worked with Pinckney Hugo Group, a Syracuse-based communications agency, to create and execute this new approach. Out of this partnership stemmed the recycling campaign, “Save the World a Little Each Day”, which highlights that the seemingly small act of recycling paper items really adds up over time. It debuted at the beginning of 2009. The ultimate goal of this campaign is to recycle more material by reminding people why they should recycle and demonstrating the impact an individual can have by recycling every day. The intent is to bridge the gap between knowing how to recycle and actually doing it. While the overall message focuses on the reasons why to recycle, it also incorporates what is recyclable (i.e., paper products) to maximize the information disseminated. If these messages resonated with the public, OCRRA expected to see an increase in recycling tonnages, which are measured each year. While the target audience for OCRRA’s recycling program is the community as a whole, the residential aspect of the campaign is directed at adult females. Messages centered around saving the world for the next generation were intended to make an impact on this demographic. As shown in the 2008 phone survey mentioned above, females tend to make the recycling decisions in most households. Therefore, they should have the most influence on a household’s recycling output. In addition, OCRRA recognizes that a significant amount of potentially recyclable paper is generated by local businesses. Because of this, another major focus for the campaign is to encourage recycling while at work. A secondary goal is to drive residents to the OCRRA website (www.OCRRA.org) for information. OCRRA changed its logo slightly to include “org” (see below), which alerts people to the availability of the website, and incorporated the new logo as a key graphic element in all of the ads. The website houses a plethora of useful information, is easy to navigate, and is updated frequently. Therefore, it is an efficient way for residents to get answers to their recycling questions, 24 hours a day. While this new campaign had great potential by using public opinion as the basis for its message, there were (and still are) plenty of obstacles that stood in the way of improved recycling. In particular, the downturn in the economy lessened many consumers’ discretionary spending. This translates into fewer items purchased and thereby less packaging to be disposed of, such as cardboard. Because of this, OCRRA was aware that an increase in fiber recycling would be difficult, but the goal was to make sure what was being used was going into the recycling bin and not the trash. The other hurdle to increasing recycling is the practice of “thinwalling”, where manufacturers reduce the amount of material used in particular packaging. For example, the same size

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

5

corrugated cardboard box may now have less actual material in it – so it is thinner. This is occurring with many packages, such as plastic bottles and aluminum cans. While this is a positive trend for waste reduction, it is eliminating material that could be recycled. Since recycling programs are generally measured by weight, thinwalling could give the appearance that recycling is declining. Therefore, achieving a measurable increase in recycling has become increasingly difficult. While there are always obstacles to improving a community’s recycling, OCRRA saw this new campaign as an opportunity worth the investment. Its development was based on local market analysis using statistically relevant methods, so it has the potential to make significant impact. The new advertising and promotional material was also an opportunity to make OCRRA more visible to the public, which helps keep recycling on peoples’ minds and helps them to make it a habit. As discussed in the following sections, this public education campaign can be directly correlated with a 14% increase in recycling in 2009 – it has been quite a success!

Implementation / Execution The creative and logistical aspects of this campaign were the combined efforts of OCRRA and Pinckney Hugo Group, a Syracuse-based communications agency. The resulting messages encourage people to recycle not only to “Save the World”, but to do it for their children, by using phrases such as:

• “Every time you recycle…you’re making my world cleaner and my future brighter.” • “Just place your papers in an OCRRA blue bin to create a brighter future for those who

need it most.” Below is a timeline of milestones for the “Save the World a Little Each Day” public education campaign, 2009 – 2010. These activities were a collaborative effort between OCRRA and Pinckney Hugo Group.

2008 Jan – Mar 09

Apr – Jun 09

Jul – Sep 09

Oct – Dec 09

Jan – Mar 10

Apr – Jun 10

Jul – Sep 10

Oct – Dec 10

Beyond

Community phone survey

Initial creative development

Ad placements

Ongoing creative development

Kid Contest Kid Contest ad placements

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

6

The messages stem from the 2008 public opinion survey, which indicated that the significance of saving the Earth for children would resonate with the public. The ads are directed towards both residential and business recycling. Ads meant to reach residents have run in the local daily Post Standard newspaper, with over 100,000 daily readers, as well as local weekly Eagle and Scotsman Newspapers. Examples of printed advertisements, featuring children and a message that recycling will help make their world a little better for them, are highlighted below. Online banner ads have been featured on Syracuse.com (an extension of the Post Standard), and on various local news websites. Ads encouraging businesses to recycle more ran in business-specific publications, such as the CNY Business Journal, CNY Business Exchange magazine, and Chamber of Commerce newsletter. See Tables 1 and 2 for the planned media schedules for 2009 and 2010.

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

7

Table 1 - OCRRA 2009 Media Plan Media Type Medium Ad type

Residential

Print Post Standard (prominent local newspaper)

Monthly color ads

TV Cable channels (most with family focus)

Over 250 ads per month

TV Local channels Average of 370 ads per month

Radio Local radio stations Over 800 spots in 2009 Web Three prominent local websites

(one an extension of the local newspaper, the Post Standard)

Multiple banner ads, running for months at a time

Total Placement Costs - Residential focus, 2009 $138,000

Business

Print Various local business publications

Monthly ads Jun – Dec

Radio Local radio stations Over 500 spots and live reads, Jun – Nov

Total Placement Costs - Business focus, 2009 $43,000

Table 2 - OCRRA 2010 Media Plan Media Type Medium Ad type

Residential

TV Cable channels (most with family focus)

Multiple placements, Feb – May and Sept – Nov

TV Local channels Multiple placements, Feb – May and Sept – Nov

Total Placement Costs - Residential focus, 2010 $87,000

Business

Print Post Standard Green Section (quarterly publication)

3 ads

Print Various local business publications

3 ads

Web Two prominent local websites (one an extension of the local newspaper, the Post Standard)

34 weeks (combined) of banner and logo ads

Total Placement Costs - Business focus, 2010 $24,000

The total public education campaign budgets for 2009 and 2010, respectively, were $340,000 and $175,000. These covered the above placement costs, as well as creative development costs for ads and promotional materials. Due to budget constraints agency-wide in 2010, dollars devoted to public education were significantly lower than 2009. However, OCRRA was able to maintain a strong community presence by strategically placing ads where they would reach the most people at one time, as well as utilizing unique low-cost methods, such as a bimonthly

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

8

email blast to over 17,000 people and a quarterly newsletter, distributed to over 150,000 households. Another unique extension of this campaign was OCRRA’s “Recycling Kid Contest”. In late summer 2009, OCRRA held a contest for Onondaga County kids, where the winners would be featured in upcoming “Save the World a Little Each Day” advertisements. Eleven local children were selected and starred in print and television ads, developed by Pinckney Hugo Group. The ads are still running: Visit http://www.youtube.com/user/OCRRAtv. By featuring local children, the ads created a sense of pride for the community and a tangible connection to the importance of recycling. The “Recycling Kid Contest” was an innovative aspect of the campaign that captured the public’s interest. The contest attracted roughly 100 entrants, who filled out an application which consisted of a short online form and a brief essay about the importance of recycling. OCRRA was able to encourage parents and children to think about recycling through the essay, and also collect the parents’ email addresses, which augmented OCRRA’s extensive email list that is used to educate the public on upcoming recycling programs. Once the commercials were completed and aired on television, there was a great community response. An appeal to the public by local children to recycle made more of a connection with residents than one made by professional actors. And, because of the unique approach, the project garnered the interest of the media: one of the children and OCRRA’s Public Information Officer were featured on the local ABC affiliate’s popular morning show, “Bridge Street”, which highlighted the new commercials and discussed the importance of recycling. Several of the local children were also prominently featured in their respective community newspapers (see image above). In general, this campaign demonstrated simplicity and creativity in its message and methods. It stands out among public education campaigns for a few reasons:

1. Many recycling programs focus on educating residents about the rules of recycling – basically, “what goes where”. While this is essential to successful recycling, OCRRA has taken it a step further by also focusing on WHY Onondaga County residents should care about recycling. Instead of using a “how-to” approach, OCRRA examined what is important to most residents and reminded them that the simple act of recycling can make the world a better place for their children. It is aimed to influence behavior by making an emotional connection with the audience.

2. What makes this stand out among other recycling public education campaigns is that it is based on actual survey data, not on assumptions or best guesses, as can often be the case with recycling education. Instead of making assumptions about residents’ attitudes, levels of knowledge, and concerns, OCRRA asked them via a statistically valid public

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

9

opinion analysis. OCRRA relied upon these survey results in formulating a communications theme that would connect with the audience and stimulate action.

3. Using waste characterization data, OCRRA was able to determine what material to focus on: Paper, 15% of which was being trashed.

4. OCRRA’s new approach to public education has been validated from recycling data in

2009 and 2010 (examined in detail in the next section), since recycling of paper materials in 2009 and again in 2010 was higher than it ever has been in OCRRA’s 20 years as an agency.

Finally, according to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, on a per capita basis, residents in the OCRRA service area already recycle more materials than any other large community in New York State, including New York City, Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo. OCRRA implemented this campaign to reach even higher levels of recycling excellence.

Results / Evaluation OCRRA’s new public education campaign is a demonstration of creativity and simplicity. Because of its simple message and creative approach to tie recycling to the local environment, like the “Recycling Kids Contest”, this campaign has taken OCRRA’s recycling public education in a new direction. It makes innovative use of combining recycling-related data (from the 2005 Waste Quantification and Characterization Study) with local community data (from the 2008 public opinion research). OCRRA intends to continue this unique public education campaign for the long term. As shown in the following section, it is not only innovative, but effective as well, and could serve a model for other public education programs nationwide. The main goal of this campaign is to increase recycling, particularly of paper and cardboard. Data from 2009 demonstrates just that – paper recycling1 increased by 14%, about 44 million pounds, from 2008! In fact, more fiber materials were recycled in 2009 than in any previous year in OCRRA’s 20 years as an agency (see table below for the last 9 years). 2010 finished even stronger, with the community recycling almost 2,000 tons more paper than 2009!

Total Fiber Recycling in Onondaga 

County, in tons

‐

50,000 

100,000 

150,000 

200,000 

This is impressive for a number of reasons. First, a common assumption is that as the economy slows, people tend to buy less discretionary items. This should result in less material in the trash AND the recycling bin. In 2009, our community’s trash tonnage decreased by 8% from 2008 demonstrating that the economy had an affect on Onondaga County – residents and businesses simply generated less waste. Trash also

decreased 1% from 2009 to 2010. Despite the drop in waste materials, paper and other fibers separated for recycling increased by 14% from 2008 to 2009. In 2010, the total paper recycling rose 1% from 2009. 1 “Paper and cardboard” materials consisted of corrugated cardboard, Kraft bags, newspapers, magazines, office and mixed paper, and books.

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

10

What does this all mean? Trash decreased in the last two years; but paper and cardboard recycling still increased by 14% from both businesses and households. The “Save the World a Little Each Day” campaign was released in early 2009. It has focused on educating the public about recycling paper and in particular, WHY recycling paper is important. While the economy may have lessened residents’ overall buying power, they still managed to improve their recycling – this new campaign played a powerful role in achieving this recycling improvement. In fact, a mid-2009 email poll given by OCRRA indicated that the public found the new TV commercials effective and believed that they would cause people to recycle more. 80% of the 500 respondents believed that the message from the TV commercials was either “extremely effective” or “effective” in convincing them to recycle more. More then 70% believed that the message would be retained by the public. A secondary goal of this campaign was to increase use of OCRRA’s website as an informative tool for residents. Knowledgeable residents tend to recycle more. Website analysis shows that usage did in fact increase after the campaign began. When March 2008 through February 2009 was compared to website statistics from March 2009 (when the campaign launched) through February 2010, website visits rose by almost 4,000 hits. And, website visits from March 2010 through February 2011 rose another 5,000 hits compared to the previous year. Therefore, the number of visits to the OCRRA website has steadily increased since the launch of the new campaign. Throughout 2009 and 2010, residents frequently saw images of people recycling paper, were reminded that doing a little makes a difference, were asked to recycle to ensure a bright future for their children, and were prompted to visit OCRRA’s website to learn more. These were on television, in popular newspapers, and on high traffic local websites. Not only were these ads highly visible, they were created based on actual survey data – OCRRA and Pinckney Hugo Group paid attention to what is important to the public and used that to educate them about recycling. It is no coincidence that recycling of paper materials increased in 2009 and again in 2010; the key difference from 2008 to 2009 is this campaign. It has truly been effective with measurable environmental benefits of significantly reduced waste otherwise bound for disposal. OCRRA’s “Save the World a Little Each Day” campaign could certainly serve as a successful model for a statewide public education campaign, or for campaigns implemented by local solid waste planning units. The message and basic premise of the “Save the World a Little Each Day” campaign are easily transferrable. The background information that led to its creation and a basic description of it are easily accessible on the OCRRA website. Survey and waste analysis data are also available online and can be readily used by other agencies that are looking to increase recycling in their communities. While each community is unique, there are often similarities that can be assumed for comparable populations. The initial concept and development was the largest cost portion of the campaign; therefore, by making the research and concept readily available, other communities can skip or significantly minimize this step, which can result in major cost savings for other recycling programs. While this campaign has been largely effective, its sustained success relies on creative and innovative ideas to keep it fresh in the public’s mind. OCRRA’s challenge is to continually update and improve the message reaching the community. Since the waste quantification study was performed in 2005, it is timely to revisit this information. The public’s buying and waste habits have likely changed with the changing economy; another snapshot into the community’s trash stream would be valuable information. That way, OCRRA could further fine-tune its message. In addition, subsequent community surveys to understand the campaign’s continued

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

11

effect on the public would be extremely useful in determining its sustained success. A large-scale waste study and statistically valid public surveys require ample investment; OCRRA hopes to push ahead with a new study and surveys in the next few years, if resources allow it. More frequent placements of the “Save the World a Little Each Day” message will likely sustain behavior change and increase recycling. According to community-based social marketing research2, frequent “prompts” for repetitive behavior (i.e., recycling) are effective creating actual behavior change. OCRRA scaled back advertising placements in 2010 due to budget restraints; as resources recover, more placements in print, internet, and television media will be planned. OCRRA stands behind the importance of public education and will continue to devote resources towards it. While the dollar amount spent may vary from year to year, the “Save the World a Little Each Day” is self-sustaining, as its images and messages are now incorporated throughout OCRRA’s publications, website, brochures, and other promotional materials.

2 Fostering Sustainable Behavior. Community-Based Social Marketing. “Prompts”. http://www.cbsm.com/pages/guide/prompts

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

12

Supplemental Materials Public Education Campaign Launch - Press Release February 26, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OCRRA and Pinckney Hugo Group Launch Residential Recycling Campaign

Paper currently makes up nearly 30 percent of trash in Onondaga County

Syracuse, NY—OCRRA and Pinckney Hugo Group, a full-service marketing communications firm based in Syracuse, NY, announce the launch of OCRRA’s residential recycling campaign aimed at increasing the amount of paper that is recycled by households in Onondaga County. The campaign was developed in response to the “Onondaga County Waste Quantification and Characterization Study” and the “OCRRA Telephone Survey of Community’s Recycling Awareness.” The studies show that although more than 90 percent of residents know they should recycle newspapers, cardboard, magazines, pizza boxes, milk cartons and cereal boxes, paper comprises nearly 30 percent of the garbage in the county and approximately half of that paper is recyclable. OCRRA and Pinckney Hugo Group created the residential recycling campaign, titled “Save The World A Little Each Day,” to highlight that the seemingly small act of recycling paper items such as newspapers, junk mail, and magazines really adds up over time. The goal is to remind people why they should recycle and demonstrate the impact an individual can have by recycling every day, in order to encourage each resident to join in and do his or her part to increase recycling in Onondaga County. The campaign includes 5-second and 15-second television spots, a 30-second radio spot, and print and online banner advertisements. The ads include a motivational message that encourages people to “save the world a little each day.”

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

13

To view the campaign, visit www.OCRRA.org. About OCRRA: OCRRA is a not-for-profit public benefit corporation created by the New York State Legislature to manage the solid waste, or large amounts of trash, produced in Onondaga County. The organization is responsible for providing options for the safe disposal of garbage and the recycling of items that were once sent to a landfill. It is not an arm of County Government, nor does it receive tax support for its programs. The majority of OCRRA’s revenue is generated from fees users pay to deliver trash to our locations as well as the sale of energy created at the self-sufficient Waste-to-Energy Facility in Jamesville, NY. For more information, visit www.OCRRA.org. About Pinckney Hugo Group: Pinckney Hugo Group is a full-service marketing communications firm providing strategic solutions for clients in a broad range of industries through strategic planning, creative, research, advertising, graphic design, media, direct marketing, public relations, sales promotion, and interactive development. Based on its creative ideas, the agency has gained a national reputation for transforming clients’ businesses and brands. Inc. magazine included Pinckney Hugo Group on the Inc. 5,000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country in both 2007 and 2008. For more information, call 315-478-6700 or visit www.pinckneyhugo.com.

(###) OCRRA is an independent non-profit public benefit agency responsible for raising its own revenues. OCRRA develops, implements, and oversees sound environmental solutions for solid waste management through recycling and trash disposal. OCRRA’s policies and programs are products of a volunteer Board of Directors leading the community through award winning programs.

For more info contact: Kristen Lawton, OCRRA, 295.0733, klawton@ocrra.org

Colleen O’Mara, Pinckney Hugo Group, 478.6700, colleen@pinckneyhugo.com

OCRRA – Marketing Excellence Award Application  2011 

14

Various Advertisements from “Save the World a Little Each Day” campaign

Advertisement encouraging paper recycling; created in conjunction with the local zoo.

Business recycling advertisement