The American Grove Ed Macie, U.S. Forest Service, Southern Region Susan Granbery, U&CF Coordinator, Georgia Forestry Commission.

The American Grove

Ed Macie, U.S. Forest Service, Southern Region

Susan Granbery, U&CF Coordinator, Georgia Forestry Commission

Objectives

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Promote actions that lead to the sustainability of healthy urban

forests

Activate citizens to plant trees on their property or in their

communities to build stronger

relations among family members and neighbors

Build awareness about the social, economic and environmental

benefits of trees and healthy urban forests in relation

to negative impacts of urban sprawl

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The Grove

• The Grove (www.AmericanGrove.org) brings together tree and nature enthusiasts to educate and inspire them to plant trees and protect the urban tree canopy

• Online community members can upload pictures and descriptions of their tree plantings, discuss issues, view events in their area and see what others are doing

• Website provides tree match tool for guidance on choosing the right tree to commemorate a special event

• Although the site focuses on the Southern U.S., anyone can become a member

• Created by the Georgia Urban Forest Council, Georgia Forestry Commission, U.S. Forest Service

The Grove member states

The Grove Features

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• The Grove features:

– Social Networking on the Ning Platform

– “Ask An Arborist” Live Chat

– Twitter, Facebook

– Video Upload

– Photo Contest

– State Groves with Upcoming Events, Discussion Forums and Comment Walls

– Tree Selection and Planting Tips

– The Benefits of Trees

– On-line donation

– Logoed products

– Tree Match tool

– Search and Sort

Google Analytics

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Community Analytics

• 876 Members

• 513 Pictures Uploaded

• 395 Twitter Followers @Plant Your Legacy

Between Oct. 15 and Nov. 2, 2010

• 3,508 Visitors

• 9,660 Page views

• 2.77 Avg. # of pages viewed

• 1:47 Avg. time spent

• Web locations

• 2,122 from Facebook

• 364 Google

• 499 Direct to site

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Growing, Influential LOHAS Market

• Demographics:

– Evenly divided between male and female.

– Generally in the 25 - 65 age range

– Education and income levels vary

– Share focus on healthy, green living (e.g., recycling, yoga, organic foods, local produce)

– Hobbies include outdoor activities (e.g., hiking, biking, running, gardening, volunteer work)

Lifestyles OfHealth And

Sustainability(LOHAS)

LOHAS market segment focused on the environment, sustainable living,

health and fitness, personal development

LOHAS

• Georgia’s marketing research project said in order to motivate people to take action and plant trees, we needed a target audience that was interested in going green, actively engaged with their family and friends and turning to online, social networks and communities like The Grove, Facebook and others.

• The LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) market was founded in 2000 for consumer products and services, not B2B transactions. The LOHAS is estimated to be a $209 billion U.S. market segment for goods and services focused on health, the environment, social justice, personal development and sustainable living

• One in every four U.S. adults is LOHAS. Approximately 19% percent of the adults in the U.S., or 41 million people, are currently considered LOHAS Consumers. This is based on surveys of the U.S. adult population estimated at 215 million; they are the future of today’s businesses and the future of progressive social, environmental and economic change in this country. But their power as a consumer market remains virtually untapped.

• www.LOHAS.com

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LOHAS

Who is in the LOHAS* segment?

• Press for greater sensitivity to issues and innovation from corporations

• Support advocacy programs and socially responsible businesses

• Dedicated to personal and planetary growth

• Buy green and socially responsible products

• Make conscientious purchasing and investing decisions based on social and cultural values

• Cultural Creatives make up 30 percent of managers at companies within the LOHAS market; often feel isolated and without allies

• Strong Will with Policy Makers

• Influential with Families & Friends

• Early Adopters

* Studies from the National Marketing Institute and 2008 LOHAS Consumer Trends Database

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The LOHAS Market Sectors

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• Alternative Energy – renewable energy credits, green price for forestry biomass and state carbon sequestration programs ($380 million U.S. market)

• Alternative Transportation – hybrid vehicles, biodiesel fuel, ride-share programs for state employees and consumers ($6.12 billion U.S. market)

• Eco Tourism – eco-tourism travel, eco-adventure travel ($24.17 billion U.S. market)

• Green Building – home certification, Energy Star appliances, sustainable flooring, renewable energy systems, wood alternatives which are great legacy/forestry tie-ins/tax credit ticklers ($50 billion U.S. market)

• Natural Lifestyles – indoor & outdoor furnishings, organic cleaning supplies, compact fluorescent lights, social change philanthropy, apparel ($10.6 billion U.S. market)

• Personal Health – natural, organic products, nutritional products, integrative health care, dietary supplements, mind-body-spirit products ($118 billion U.S. market)

Promoting The Grove

• You Tube – Create a video of tree plantings to promote The Grove

• Green and LOHAS blogger outreach – Target green and LOHAS bloggers to carry the message about The Grove and to encourage registration

• Facebook social ads – An inexpensive way to target potential site visitors; social ads drive traffic directly to the site; Facebook users who identify themselves around LOHAS topics:

– 70,000 – Trees

– 45,000 – Recycle

– 600,000 – Green

– 44,000 – The Environment

– 200,000 – Health

– 20,000 – Social Justice

• Search engine marketing (SEM) – SEM is the practice of buying key words and key phrases in Google; these are paid listings located at the top and right side of the page

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Facebook

• Total impression - 56,074,648 people

• Estimated reach included 3,619,960 people. In other words, 3.6 million people meet the following criteria:

– they live in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas or Virginia;

– are age 25 and older;

– and like biking, camping, cycling, environmental issues, fishing, fitness, gardening, green, hiking, hunting, mountain biking, outdoors, recycling, running, social justice, trees, vegetarian or volunteer.

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Expansion Features

• Distinctive URLs for each State

• The sites feature:

– Content specific to each partner’s messaging

– Link to a tree match tool focusing on state specific trees

– Link to partner’s PayPal donation site

– Link to partner’s Café Press account, featuring partner’s branded promotional gear or The Grove branded promotional gear

– Link to The American Grove online community

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Sponsoring Overall Community

Sample tower ad

Sample tile ads

A National Plan

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• Forming a National Committee (GBOD)

• Roll out, Oversight (content and advertiser decisions)

• Timeline

• Four 13 week phases, 10 states per phase)

• Content

• Process for development of State information pages

• Use is content driven, planned continuous build through 2011

• Roles and Responsibilities

• Clearly defined throughout roll out

• Some rolls will transition to GBOD

• Promotions

– Utilizing existing on line channels

– Empowering State Ownership

– Creating unique experiences

– Outreach to members and national media

• Media

– MSL focus on national publications, broadcast, and online media

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