Earthkeepers campaign 2008 until now

Due: April 19, 2011

Project Prepared By:

Sarah Arrazola

Rachel Raddatz

Christy Sio

Michelle Tomao

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………3

Research……………………………………………………………………………….5

Objectives……………………………………………………………………………..13

Programming…………………………………………………………………………17

Evaluation ……………………………………………………………………………..25

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….28

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………..30

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Executive Summary

Research

To advocate eco-friendly behavior and inspire real environmental changes among

people, the Timberland Company created the Earthkeepers campaign. According to

Timberland, an Earthkeeper is someone who wants to protect and maintain the environment.

Without Earthkeepers, many believe the planet will suffer and face serious long-term

consequences. With this notion, Timberland set out to make a good idea into a positive reality.

By focusing on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and improving products and

sustainability, the Earthkeepers campaign of 2008 is one that is still occurring today. Working

toward complete transparency between itself and consumers, the company focuses on four

main areas in terms of strategy: energy, product, workplaces and service. These four “pillars”

set the ground work for Timberland’s research, and they will be discussed further in our report.

("Timberland's four corporate")

Objectives

For the purposes of this case study, we focused on three objectives. As an awareness

objective, Timberland wanted to increase its corporate and brand reputation as an

environmental leader to latent publics. For acceptance, the company wanted to recruit one

million Earthkeepers to become part of an online network designed to inspire environmental

change among aware audiences. Timberland also wanted to communicate with active publics

to strengthen communities by improving green spaces and access to outdoors.

We revised the objectives and made them time committed and number specific. We

also stated which groups of targeted audiences should be placed into specific levels of

awareness.

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Programming

Timberland implemented the objectives through programming, specifically through its

key messages. To improve its reputation as an environmental leader, the company wanted to

draw a link between purchasing products and being an active and educated individual. It also

wanted to meet this objective by being transparent and honest through the Earthkeepers blog,

Facebook page and YouTube account. Through this type of programming, the acceptance

objective was met. By implementing logos, ethos and pathos, the campaign used multi-faceted

communication techniques to activate communities toward improving the environment. For all

of its objectives, the Earthkeepers campaign relied heavily on two-way communication through

online media tactics.

Evaluation

We found this campaign to be very effective in terms of its research, objectives and

programming. We felt suggestions to improve specific objectives, targeted audiences and

formative research would have enhanced the success of the campaign. Reaching out to

sponsored groups could have also enhanced the campaign in terms of programming.

Our team rewrote each original objective into revised versions while keeping the

targeted audiences in mind. We also placed targeted audiences into specific groups based on

levels of awareness.

Timberland could have improved its programming techniques by utilizing its sponsored

groups to further its campaign. These five groups could have reached more audiences than

Timberland alone, therefore improving its success in accomplishing its objectives.

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Research

Issue

As an American manufacturer and retailer of outdoors wear, Timberland Company

challenges and commits itself to being environmentally responsible, what it refers to as

Earthkeeping. It’s the way Timberland makes its products. It uses revolutionary breakthroughs

like Green Rubber compound to make 42 percent recycled rubber outsoles. Earthkeeping is

the way the company stands on issues that affect the environment, like climate change. On

June 9, 2008, Timberland announced its Earthkeepers campaign. (“Timberland community”)

The idea was to create a way to translate lots of passionate talk and ideas into positive,

practical action. Studies showed that consumers’ concerns for the environment are at large,

but they are confused about how to go about making a positive difference. About half of those

surveyed said they would do more for the environment if they had the tools and the knowledge

on how to do so. Timberland launched the Earthkeepers campaign, reinforcing the importance

of ‘living green, while making it easy and fun for people to make simple, practical changes and

share ideas about how to lighten their environmental footprints.’ ("Corporate social

responsibility," 2008)

Organization

Mission

“Timberland’s mission is to equip people to make a difference in their world. We do this

by creating outstanding products and by trying to make a difference in the communities where

we live and work.” ("Timberland: about us")

Size

As of Dec. 31, 2009, The Timberland Company operated six specialty stores, 59 factory

outlet stores and four footwear stores in the U.S. There were 44 company-owned specialty

stores and shops and 16 factory outlet stores in Europe. There were also 67 company-owned

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specialty stores and shops and 19 factory outlet stores in Asia. (Timberland company profile)

Location

Timberland has locations throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Deutschland,

Osterreich, Spain, France, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan.

History

In 1952, Nathan Swartz bought a half interest in the Abington Shoe Company in

Abington, Massachusetts. He bought the remaining half in 1955, when his sons joined the

company, manufacturing private label shoes for leading brand manufacturers for about 10

years. In 1965, the Swartz family introduced a revolutionary technology into the footwear

industry, producing waterproof boots and shoes. The Timberland brand name was developed

in 1973, but it wasn’t until 1976 that the company launched its first advertising campaign. The

Swartz family changed the name of the company to The Timberland Company in 1978, the

same year that it manufactured its first hand sewn casual shoe.

The 1980’s was a period of growth for The Timberland Company: it introduced its first

international market in Italy, began its first field-tests, opened its first store in Newport, Rhode

Island, became the first boot manufacturer to advertise on national TV and entered with the

men’s and women’s clothing and accessories markets. Timberland partnered with City Year,

Inc., the Boston-based youth “urban peace corps” and model for national youth service, to

support community service. Timberlands relationship with City Year has since grown into a

$10 support to expanding its service program to 13 cities around the United States. As one of

its first environmentally friendly efforts, Timberland introduced a lightweight hiking boot, with a

rubber lug sole designed to provide maximum traction without harming the trail.

Timberland’s growth continued into the 1990’s, by opening its first European store in

London. During this time, Timberland also introduced women’s apparel into its collection. In

1992, Timberland developed what would later be known as The Path of Service program, a

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progressive corporate policy that offers its employees 16 hours paid leave to delve into

community service. The Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES)

proposed a set of environmental ethics, which Timberland signed onto in 1993. These

documents guide corporate conduct and enable corporate investors to make informed

decisions on environmental issues. The following year, Timberland launched its Model People

print campaign, encouraging and honoring individuals who put on their boots and make a

difference. Keeping up with its corporate social responsibilities, Timberland increased its paid

employee volunteer time benefit to 40 hours.

The second campaign in Timberland’s history, its Beliefs print campaign, was very

similar to the philosophy of its first “pulling on your boots and making a difference” campaign.

For its 25th anniversary, Timberland held its first annual Serv-a-palooza on June 18 1998; this

was the largest company-wide day of community service. The company had made a previous

commitment to serve 40,000 hours in communities by the year 2000, and had surpassed it by

1998.

In its 2004 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the company focused on new levels

of transparency, including disclosure of the names and locations of contract factories

worldwide. Its growth continued into 2005 when Timberland’s product line in the UK introduced

The Timberland Boot Company collection. Keeping its routine of community service during

Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region of the U.S., the company established a short-term

service sabbatical for employees wanting to help with disaster relief efforts.

At the beginning of 2005, Timberland set new standards for its product transparency

and increased its efforts to minimize environmental impact. It did this by introducing new,

more eco-conscious packaging to its footwear products and a “nutritional label”, a product

information label that details aspects of the company’s environmental and community footprint.

The company was recognized in 2008 as the first footwear manufacturer to commercialize

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Green Rubber technology. Partnering with the Green Rubber Inc. led it to launch new

footwear collections featuring outsoles made using recycled rubber from discarded tires.

The Earthkeepers campaign launched globally in 2008 as a movement to recruit one

million people to become part of an online network designed to inspire real environmental

behavior change. By 2009 it shrunk the carbon footprint of all its U.S. stores by an additional

11 percent by switching 70 percent of its North American stores to LED lighting. ("Corporate

timeline")

Culture mission statement and values

The company is committed to reducing its environmental impact through the use of

more renewable energy, more recycled/reusable materials, less waste, fewer chemicals and

more trees. Timberland's commitment to corporate social responsibility is grounded in the

values that define our community: humanity, humility, integrity and excellence. The corporate

responsibility strategy is focused on four pillars:

Energy: “Timberland has a target to become carbon neutral by 2010. In addition to this

goal we are working on designing climate impacts out of our product and giving resources to

our suppliers to shrink their carbon footprint.” (“Reduce our carbon”)

Product: “Recyclable product is another way of saying designing product that has an

afterlife. This aspirational goal leverages our outdoor heritage and environmental credentials in

a competitive and green marketplace by providing durable products that meet our consumers’

needs and exceed their environmental expectations.” (“Design recyclable product”)

Workplaces: “When we manufacture in other people’s factories, we live by the same

beliefs we practice in our own. We know that we can make high-quality products in a way that

respects the human rights of the craftspeople who work on the factory line.” (“Fair and safe”)

Service: “At our core is a belief in the power of people to transform their communities

and make a difference in the world. To give our employees an opportunity to make their

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difference, we provide them with up to 40 paid community service hours per year through our

Path of Service employee volunteer program.” (“Community service greening”)

Reputation

Selected as one of 1998’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” by Fortune Magazine in 1999.

Recognized with the Community IMPACT! Corporate Leadership Award at the Kennedy

Center in Washington, DC in 2000.

For the fifth consecutive year, Timberland was placed on Fortune magazines “100 Best

Companies to Work For” list for the year 2001.

Ranked on Fortune magazine’s “Platinum 400-The Best Big Companies in America” list for

2001.

Asked to be one of 19 founding members of Businesses Strengthening America, a White

House initiative focused on national corporate service, in 2002.

Ranked No.5 in the apparel category on Fortune Magazine’s list of “Most Admired Companies”

in 2003.

Named to the list of “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” by Working Mother magazine

in 2004.

Named one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by Fortune magazine for the 10th

consecutive year.

U.S. Green Building Council awarded LED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

Gold certification for Timberland’s Peabody, MA retail store location and LED Silver

certification for its Salem, NH retail store location.

Ranked No.8 among Top 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces.

Fast Company magazine’s annual Most Innovative Companies issue honors Timberland as

one of the world’s top businesses.

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Ranked No.4 in the Most Innovative Company for Fashion by Fast Company in 2010.

Ranked No.6 in the Most Innovative Company for consumer products by Fast Company in

2010.

Ranked No.2 on Climate Counts’ list of companies making aggressive strides fighting climate

change.

Named one of Outside Magazine’s “Best Places to Work.”

All from (“Corporate timeline”)

Notable PR Practices

1992 Give Racism the Boot awareness campaign supporting diversity and standing up against

oppression internationally.

1994 Model People Print Campaign, honoring individuals who pull on their boots and make a

difference.

Beliefs Print Campaign, which reflected the company’s philosophy of “pulling on your boots

and making a difference.”

Why it Matters

As a company that is passionate about the outdoors, its responsibility to its stakeholders

demanded they address what they considered to be the most important environmental issue in

2008: global warming. Timberland wanted to become a solution by reducing its energy,

procuring renewable energy and investing in renewable energy development through the

purchase of carbon offsets.

The global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel hit a high in 2008 at 8.5 billion tons of carbon.

Over the 10 previous years before 2008, global CO2 emissions rose by an average of 2.5

percent a year, nearly four times as fast as in the 1990s. The accumulated carbon emissions

resulted in devastating temperature increases, melting ice sheets and rising sea levels. The

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United States was the world’s top greenhouse gas polluter after China in 2008. U.S. emissions

in 2007 were estimated to have reached 16.7 percent above those in 1990. (Heinzerling, 2010)

The year 2008 was one of the most devastating ever in terms of natural disasters. The

climate change was suggested as the reason for the boost of destructive power of disasters

like hurricanes and flooding. It called for stricter curbs on emissions to prevent further

uncontrollable weather scenarios. To put the effects of the disaster into perspective, more than

220,000 people died in events like cyclones, earthquakes and flooding, the most since 2004.

Of those interviewed, one said world leaders must put in place “effective and binding rules on

CO2 emissions” to curb climate change and ensure that “future generations do not have to live

with weather scenarios that are difficult to control”. ("Huge year for," 2008)

Similar Situations

In 2007, Timberland introduced its Green Index Rating which gives consumers clear

and easy-to-understand information about the impact their footwear choices have on the

environment. The product-specific environmental information includes climate impact,

chemicals used and resource consumption.

Target Publics

Those Affected

The health of the planet, people living on it and the economy are all affected by the

campaign. Recycling paper and plastic enables the public to reuse its limited resources and

cut down on landfill accumulation. Carpooling helps reduce emissions and shopping locally

reduces fuel consumption and wasted shipping materials.

Target Publics

The Earthkeepers campaign targeted latent, aware and active publics. The company

was interested in using two-way communication with action-oriented messages to generate

participation.

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Earthkeeper: Someone who cares about the environment and is willing to do his or her

part every day to preserve it for future generation. ("Council of public")

Timberland’s decision to target all three publics was a good decision. By targeting the

latent public Timberland changed its reputation among all people, not just those who are aware

and active with the company. In a survey it found one-third of respondents felt guilty in past

years about not living a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. This group was knowledgeable

about helping the environment more but had not taken the measures to do so, falling into

Timberland’s aware publics category. Three-quarters of Americans, the world’s largest

polluters, planned to be more environmentally responsible in 2008. That means that roughly

three-quarters of Americans fell into Timberland’s active target public category. ("Many

americans aim," 2007)

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Objectives

Introduction

Through the Earthkeepers campaign, Timberland wanted to highlight the importance of

living green by making small changes and collaborating with others on how to be

environmentally friendly. Our team analyzed three formal objectives for the campaign and

recommended three revised objectives..

Objectives

Awareness Objective: Recognizing Timberland as an Earth-Friendly Brand

The campaign’s awareness objective was one that could have used some fine tuning.

Rather than breaking it into two individual awareness objectives, it was provided as one

objective:

To advance Timberland’s corporate and brand reputation as an environmental

leader. (“Council of public”)

The targeted audience for this objective is considered a “latent public”. (Smith, 2009)

The identified audience is considered latent because they share similar values with the

Timberland company, but they may not recognize Timberland specifically as an Earth-friendly

brand. Considerably, the objective may also target “nonpublics,” since Timberland wanted to

change its reputation among all people, not just those who are interested in the company or its

cause. Ultimately, the objective is to bring those who are unaware, the latent public, of

Timberland’s position on the environment to recognize them as a brand that is aware and

respectful of the environment.

Though the campaign was named Earthkeepers, it does not necessarily mean that

audiences will immediately recognize or associate Timberland as being Earth-friendly. This

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specific awareness objective, targeting the latent publics, was too broad in determining what it

was to accomplish. To form a clearer objective, the campaign could have focused on what it

wanted to achieve and constructed an awareness objective such as the following:

To increase awareness of Timberland as being an Earth-friendly brand by 45 percent of

North Americans by Aug. 2010.

In public relations, practitioners must remember to avoid the “curse of knowledge” while

creating a campaign. (Smith, 2009) What may be plain and obvious to one individual could be

a completely new concept to another. With this type of objective, Timberland would have been

able to move the latent public to being an aware public. Many people who are loyal to the

Timberland brand may not be thinking about the environment; it would have been a great

opportunity for Timberland to educate this audience.

Acceptance Objective: Inspire Changed Attitues through Online Networking

A second objective of the campaign was to recruit one million people to join an online

network in order to motivate each other toward real environmental change. Here, two

objectives have been combined:

To recruit one million Earthkeepers to become part of an online network

designed to inspire real environmental change. (“Council of public”)

The targeted audience of this acceptance objective is the “aware” public. The aware

public recognized Timberland as an Earth-friendly company, and the public is also educated

on environmental aspects. (Smith, 2009) The Earthkeepers campaign works to move those

who are aware of the situation at hand to taking the next step, the acceptance stage, and

becoming part of a network of Earthkeepers. Though inspiring, this acceptance objective has a

few flaws. First, it has too many ideas for an objective; not only does Timberland want to

recruit one million people to join the network, but it also wants them to change their behaviors

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toward the environment. To make a useful objective, it must have a clear and distinct goal

involving quantitative subjects within a given timeframe.

This objective either needs to be divided into two objectives or shortened to one. This

example would suffice:

To change people’s attitudes toward bettering the environment by 30 percent by Dec.

2009.

By dividing the formal acceptance objective into this suggested objective, the campaign

receives more clarity in what it is trying to achieve. This allows for more specific tactics to be

utilized rather than trying accomplishing a lot of things in a mediocre fashion.

Our team created an additional objective under the said category:

To increase customers’ confidence in Timberland’s ability to solve environmental

issues. We want to increase this number by 100,000 individuals by Sept. 2010.

This objective would target the aware publics and move them into the acceptance

category. By including current Timberland customers, the objective covers the customer

category of publics, including occasional, current, loyal, potential, former and regular

customers. (Smith, 2009) Through this objective, the company is attempting to change the

aware public’s beliefs toward the company.

Action Objective: Increasing Volunteerism and Number of Earthkeepers

Timberland’s action objective is as follows:

Strengthen communities by improving green spaces and access to outdoors. (“Council

of public”)

The targeted audience for this action objective was the “active” publics. This objective

represented a call to action by becoming involved in green projects, such as planting trees.

To give a more definitive timeframe for accomplishing the objective, we rewrote the

original objective into two possible suggestions:

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To strengthen communities by increasing the amount of volunteers by 25 percent by

May 2010.

To recruit one million people from around the globe to join the EarthKeepers’ online

network by Nov. 2009.

This established time gives a more realistic deadline for the objective, rather than simply

accomplishing it at any given time during the year. This objective is effective in that many

tactics can be put toward it. An objective would have two or three tactics implemented in order

to accomplish the objective. One instance is Timberland could strengthen communities and

increase volunteerism through community service groups, by word of mouth and other forms of

communication.

A second action-level objective the company should have implemented is one that

involves other active publics. A specific category of publics that the Earthkeepers campaign did

not address were the enablers. Enabling publics include community leaders, professionals,

businesses, government officials and opinion leaders. These leaders have the ability to

influence potential customers and other audiences that can help Timberland succeed in its

objectives. (Smith, 2009) This is an action objective targeted toward enablers:

To gather opinion leaders (government officials, business owners, etc.) to donate

$1 million collectively toward environmental groups by the end of 2009.

Though this objective does not directly involve Timberland and improving its sales, it

continues toward the goal of protecting the environment, a duty clearly implied when taking on

the role of Earthkeepers.

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Programming

Key Message

The key message Timberland conveyed to its public was in purchasing Timberland

keepers products, the consumers were helping the environment and becoming a “hero”, thus

their slogan, “Nature needs more heroes.” (“Timberland community”) The products Timberland

made were produced using recycled plastic (products) and renewable energy, while being

produced in a manner that used less chemicals and waste. (“Timberland community”)

Earthkeepers used engagement to bring consumers closer to the brand. Through the

purchase of an Earthkeepers product, the consumer was helping the environment, but also

becoming an Earthkeeper.

Strategies

Timberland used proactive methods in their newly created campaign. It wanted the

public to become aware of the cause, attain acceptance and have them take action.

The company aims to be transparent to its public to show trustworthiness and it is fully

committed to lowering its carbon footprint.(“Timberland community”) The company began

publishing annual reports, covering all of their environmental goals, accomplishments and

current statistics and being proactive through sponsored events in the community.

The Earthkeepers campaign used two-way communication to communicate with its

audience. The campaign was based almost completely off online media tactics. In one

instance, through the Earthkeepers Facebook page, “friends” could respond to post put up by

the campaign, comment on the wall, ask questions and exchange information with others who

used the Timberland Earthkeepers page. The company used very interactive forms of

communication in order for the audience to make a connection with the company and the

campaign. Through the YouTube uploads, users could also comment on the post and read

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others thoughts on the commercials posted by Earthkeepers. (“Youtube lost bottle,” fall ‘10

campaign)

Effective Communication

The Earthkeepers campaign effectively used ethos, pathos and logos tactics.

Timberland holds characteristics for each of these points, giving it an edge over other brands.

Timberland is a reputable brand, known not only for its high quality merchandise, but

also good corporate responsibility when it comes to the environment. (“Timberland

community”) They also provide accurate and clear information, allowing their consumers to

understand exactly what product they are purchasing as well as how their purchases have an

effect on the planet. Timberland used a “green scale” on each of the Earthkeeper products,

which rated how that product would impact the earth. These scales made the consumer aware

of how much their purchase could help change the planet. (“Timberland community”)

The brand continually assured it was sharing achievements and shortcomings with its

consumers. This transparency through annual reports, blogging and other means allowed

consumers to build a strong trust in the company.

For ethos, the spokesman Jeffrey Swartz, Timberland CEO, is often the designated

contributor to posting updates in regards to the company, making the information trustworthy

and accurate, as well as giving the company a recognizable “face.” Swartz fills the three C’s of

effective communication. He is credible because he knows the products, has input on how they

are made and has control over his audience. His involvement with other organizations and

businesses has earned him respect for his knowledge. Although charisma was not his strong

point, he is an easy going individual who uses sarcasm to keep situations light heartedly. He

presents himself physically as being low maintenance and relatable with others.

Logos was achieved by Timberland Earthkeepers using less waste, more renewable

energy, fewer chemicals and recycled or reusable items to make products ecologically-friendly.

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Making such a change in their production and products aligned the company with having good

corporate-social responsibility and created Earthkeepers campaign.

Pathos was reached by appealing to guilt. They made the consumer believe that it was

in their own hands to make a change in the environment. A consumer was making a choice on

how they were going to affect the environment every time they made a purchase. The

consumer who bought a shoe was making a larger negative impact on the earth in comparison

to the consumer who took the time and effort to buy a product that was beneficial to the

environment.

The company let its audience know that although it is an American company and have

planned on expanding environmental efforts across the world. This idea demonstrated to

Timberland customers that the company was also responsible in making this move happen. By

being involved in the initiative here in America, it was helping in making it grow and reach other

nations around the world.

Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

Verbal communication is used effectively throughout the Earthkeepers campaign. Their

slogan, “Nature Needs More Heroes,” sends a positive message although implying the need

for more people to reduce their carbon footprint. The slogan mentions nothing about negative

issues in the environment, yet is effective because it calls for its audience to step up and do

their part. The four words, “Nature Needs More Heroes,” are effective, strong and clear:

Timberland Earthkeepers is calling for its consumers to be heroes by being aware of their

environmental impact and taking action to lessen their carbon footprint. The language is

simple enough to be understood by a large audience, allowing it to make a farther reach.

Its Earthkeepers website was a good example of non-verbal communication in the

campaign, using very subtle touches to get the environmental feel of the campaign to the

viewer. The color green throughout, vegetation all over, music and the website’s choice of

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photography make the viewer understand the beauty of nature. (“Timberland community”)

Each piece has a description of what it is composed and explains what makes it better for the

environment. Their website contains videos, summaries and links to help the viewer better

understand their products, how they are made and how it is related to the impact on the

environment.

Media Tactics

Timberland Earthkeepers used a variety of different media tactics to reach its target

audience.

One of the more interactive and appealing methods was the interpersonal

communication tactic. In 2008, Timberland partnered up with www.changents.com, a network

site which allows social and environmental innovators to get connected with sponsors who

wish to help them. (“Timberland community”) This partnership helped Earthkeepers spread

awareness to the public about the problems the environment was having and ways in which

they could help. Through www.changents.com, Timberland Earthkeepers sponsored five

groups and individuals on projects that went to helping the earth. These sponsored groups

offered one-on-one interaction with the public audience who although may not have seen the

Timberland brand logo posted all over, were still receiving the same message Earthkeepers

was trying to put out. These sponsored groups and individuals were a very persuasive form of

communication, especially since they fulfilled the three C’s for effective communication. These

groups made more of an impact on the public than if the company would have sent someone

of its own office to use their name and logo to raise awareness of environmental problems.

Using unbiased sponsor groups, or third parties, made the issue of the environment more

believable and relatable to the public.

Annual reports began to be shown to the public in an effort to demonstrate Timberland

understands that as a corporate company, they had a responsibility to lessen their carbon

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footprint. This form of organizational media was a good tool for achieving transparency. The

annual reports demonstrated what Timberland was doing to keep up with its Earthkeepers

project and their promise to better the environment. Hard data provided by the reports are

persuasive in that it provided numbers that could not be manipulated. These reports were

straightforward and provided exactly what was going on with the company.

While group sponsorships and annual reports were both very important tactics, the

campaign mostly consisted of online media communication tactics. Timberland Earthkeepers’

Facebook page/virtual forest, the Earthkeepers blog and YouTube videos allowed for a wide

audience to see the campaign and share their thoughts.

The Earthkeepers virtual forest allowed the campaign to spread awareness and action

through Facebook by asking its users to send the link to five people in order to plant a tree in

the virtual forest. For each tree successfully planted in the Earthkeepers virtual forest, a real

one would be planted on Earth. This application on Facebook not only spread word of the

Earthkeepers campaign, but forced users to take action by actually spreading the word to

others.

The YouTube commercials also allowed commentary, but mostly portrayed what being

an Earthkeeper meant. In one commercial, we see a mid-aged male go to extreme lengths to

keep waste from littering the earth. The male consistently chases the waste down until he is

able to throw it into a recycling bin. These commercials portrayed what an Earthkeeper was

and what the lifestyle really consisted of: doing what it takes to better the environment.

(YouTube lost bottle fall ’10 campaign)

The Earthkeepers blog was a good way of giving more detailed information and updates

to those interested. This form of communication focuses more on active publics that is

interested in receiving Timberlands information. The blog discussed anything from changes

going on in the company all the way down to how Timberland Earthkeepers would be

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celebrating Earth Day. Since the blog always had a writer sign off their name, it gave the

reader a sense of reliability in knowing that the entry was done by a real person sitting in front

of the computer.

Effectiveness of Communication Tactics

The communication tactics used were effective in meeting the Earthkeepers campaign’s

objectives.

The awareness objective of the company, to advance Timberland’s corporate and brand

reputation as an environment leader, was reached using environmentally-friendly tactics.

These tactics included encouraging its employees to find alternatives to flying for corporate

meetings, installing LED light in stores across the nation as well as their offices and using

recyclable materials to produce their products. Most importantly Timberland began publishing

annual reports covering their contributions to helping the earth and the reduction, or change, in

its carbon footprint. These reports were available to the general public.

Timberland used online sources of media to accomplish acceptance amongst its

audience. The acceptance objective of recruiting one million Earthkeepers to become part of

an online network was reached in April 2009. The Facebook forest was very well liked and a

popular application. Although the one million Earthkeepers that joined cannot be considered a

completely accurate number of people who accepted Timberland as an environmentally

friendly company, it does demonstrate the audience’s awareness and tentative acceptance of

joining the efforts.

The company reached its action objective of strengthening communities and improving

green spaces and access to outdoors by using their company planned service events. In

addition, the company involved company employees to make an impact in the world by using

their “Path To Service” hours in the local community. Through sponsored events and

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employees’ initiatives to make changes, it was able to excite customers and local communities

to get involved in the movement as well.

Campaign Spokesman

Jeffrey Swartz, Timberland CEO, was also the representative for both the campaign and

the company. He successfully met all three of the effective communication characteristics.

Credibility

Swartz is the CEO of Timberland. (“Timberland community”) He is well known in the

business field and participates in a handful of different organizations. He makes himself

transparent through his blog updates and involvement in the community.

Control

Through Swartz’s position, he ultimately is able to make the major decisions. Swartz

has the ability to implement new tactics or alter old ones. His control is the ultimate in this

campaign, being that he is the head of the company.

Charisma

As seen in interviews and through his blog, Swartz is very candid. His choice of

wording is relatable and understandable to the general public. (“Timberland bootmakers blog”)

His sarcasm is comforting and enjoyable. Swartz is not uptight and rigid like many

businessmen are portrayed to be. The ease Swartz provides allows him to be a relatable yet

reliable source to take information from.

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Evaluation

Recommended Evaluative Techniques

Because the campaign is continuous, we can only evaluate up to this point in time.

Recommended revisions of the campaign include:

Analyze content

Include a focus group and conduct interviews

Create surveys to measure objectives

Awareness Objective

The targeted publics’ opinion of Timberland as an earth-friendly company.

We want to know what the targeted public feels about the company and how things can

be changed. Also including what the public wants to see changed and how much they know

about how Timberland has been performing.

Questions to Measure Objective Effectiveness

Have you heard about the Timberland Earthkeepers campaign?

What is your perception of Timberland’s community involvement and CSR?

What is one way Timberland produces eco-friendly products?

Evaluation

In evaluating the awareness objective, we suggested using after-only since the targeted

public is all North Americans. Before the company implemented the campaign, the employees

were the only ones aware of the environmentally-friendly objectives.

Acceptance Objective

Current attitudes of Earthkeepers toward the company and how Timberland is

perceived/received in the community.

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This content will be used to compare previous attitudes with present attitudes that may

affect future consumers.

Questions to Measure Objective Effectiveness

What is your attitude about Timberland’s Earthkeepers campaign?

Has Timberland changed your attitude about being environmentally friendly?

Has Timberland convinced you to become more concerned for the environment?

Evaluation

With acceptance objectives, inspiring real attitudinal change should be evaluated

before-after to see the change in those participating. This should be measured qualitatively

since it is not a numerical value but emotion.

Action Objective

Retain the number of past volunteers or members of the Earthkeepers online network

and recruit more consumers.

Using this objective to increase involvement in Earthkeeping activities would benefit

Timberland and the earth.

Questions to Measure Objective Effectiveness

How many trees have you planted?

How many more environmentally friendly Timberland products do you purchase per

year?

How many friends and family have you recruited to be an Earthkeeper?

Evaluation

The action objective should be evaluated quantitatively and should be controlled before-

after to see specific changes and provide a comparison.

Focus Groups and Interviews for All Objectives

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Our team proposes Timberland conducts focus groups and interviews to fine-tune the

campaign. Since it is continuous, the company can conduct them now for improved results in

the next few months to a year.

The proposal is to include no less than 100 people, since the company reaches so

many people both nationally and internationally. It can also conduct interviews to have a better

understanding of what the consumers saw as beneficial to the campaign and what they would

like to see in a future campaign.

Interviews should be conducted similarly to focus groups, but use two-way

communication instead of one-way. The focus groups will be recorded as answers from the

groups and interviews will be more interactive.

Both techniques would result qualitatively. We would inquire about importance of

change (who to target), how to change the publics’ perspective, what the consumer feels

would increase involvement and any other concerns they have that would help the campaign

and company as a whole.

Surveys to Measure Objectives

Contact all Facebook fans, YouTube subscribers and anyone involved for their

feedback on the campaign. The questions should include: how they found out about the

campaign, how their life has changed, how Timberland can reach more consumers and other

relevant questions on how to improve the campaign.

Evaluation of Message Strategy

Timberland used ethos and pathos when it would have been more effective to focus its

time and efforts on logos.

The most used and most beneficial message strategy was logos was the

environmentally-friendly logic utilized and showed the consumers the transparency of the

campaign and company as well. It helps to achieve the mission of equipping people to make a

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difference in their world through outstanding products and trying to make a difference in the

communities. (“Timberland: about us) The company created the Green Rating Index and also

allowed consumers to post their testimonies on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and its blog.

Stewardship

Timberland used the four R’s model for stewardship. (“Timberland community”)

Timberland achieved reporting through being open to interviews regarding their campaign and

publishing annual reports. Relationship nurturing was conducted by constantly listening to

followers’ comments and allowing them to be involved. Reciprocity was met by thanking

followers for their efforts every time a goal or objective was met with the help of the

community. This was often achieved through Facebook posts or posting on the company blog.

Responsibility was clear through its promise to match up to one million trees planted on the

Earthkeepers forest application. Through CSR and company transparency the campaign was

established. It raised awareness and allowed people to get involved by taking action.

(“Corporate social responsibility”)

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Conclusion

After researching the campaign, we found it to be effective, have produced

recommendations and review how Timberland performed.

Effectiveness of Campaign

The campaign was effective because, according to their objective, they wanted to reach

one million people by 2009 and they made 109,862,099 impressions on Facebook and had

more than 950,000 trees planted. More than 150,000 people have registered on the

Timberland website since the June 2008 campaign launch. (Timberland)

Evaluation Recommendations

Research

The company needed to provide an explanation for why the targeted publics should be

a part of the campaign by giving benefits and explaining the campaign further. Timberland’s

report, the Green Rating Index, was very informative but was a long document that should

have been summarized and given to the public in a shorter explanation to increase

effectiveness.

Timberland’s research was effective in the sense that the CSR reports and Green

Rating Index were a good source of information for internal and external publics, but only if

they were inclined to read a lot of in-depth, detailed material. On the other hand, the

company’s research conducted to decipher which publics to target was very minimal and

looked into the problem at large more than what an individual consumer needs.

Objectives

Each original objective should be revised according to timeliness and concrete

numbers. Our group has revised the objectives to make them time-committed and number-

driven.

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Our team stated which level of awareness consumers belong to (aware, latent,

apathetic, active and nonpublic) which the company should use to better engage its publics.

The objectives Timberland formed were not effective since they did not have a solid

deadline, but instead a general idea of what they would like to accomplish. It didn’t state a

deadline to reach or how many people it wanted to affect. This was detrimental because the

team could not evaluate whether or not the objectives were achieved.

Programming

Timberland based everything off of online media, but rarely referenced the five sponsors

they provide money to through www.changents.com. These five sponsors could have reached

different publics that Timberland was unable to reach. If the company continues to sponsor

these groups, it should make the relationships more transparent.

The programming conducted was effective in reaching the aware, active and latent

publics. The company could have been more effective by using the sponsored groups from

www.changents.com to reach more publics and further the campaign. Overall, programming

wasn’t effective and needed fine-tuning to make the campaign a larger success. Communities

were involved and changed, but more across the nation and possibly the world could have

been part of Timberland.

Building Long-Term Relationships

Timberland built long-term relationships with consumers since they continue to

purchase Timberland products, still plant trees and promote on social media websites.

Because of the relationship with target publics, the company introduced a more

ambitious campaign in 2010 called Yéle Vert in Haiti to plant five million trees in the next five

years. The Earthkeepers campaign successfully planted more than one million trees in less

than two years to help prevent erosion, green urban areas, protect wildlife habitats and

improve air quality.

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How to Continue the Campaign

The campaign does not have an end date and Timberland has produced another

campaign off the success of the Earthkeepers campaign. The company is international, from

its work with Haiti in the new campaign as well as work done with the Earthkeepers campaign.

From social media use, the company and its objectives can be viewed worldwide. A

suggestion is to remove privacy settings on the social media sites to allow anyone access to

the information without requirement of adding the applications or create accounts.

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