The animal kingdom is a complex yet amazing ecosystem. Learn why here!

From the desk of Miles Everson:

Hello, everyone!

One of the reasons I love Thursday is because I get to talk about interesting marketing strategies, a.k.a. “Guerrilla Marketing.”

For those of you who aren’t familiar with this yet, guerrilla marketing is simple to appreciate, easy to execute, and sometimes, inexpensive. I personally like this strategy because it reminds me that we can never run out of fun ways to get our target audience’s attention.

For today’s article, let’s talk about a guerrilla marketing tactic that aided in conservation efforts in December 2023.

Continue reading to know more about this campaign.

The animal kingdom is a complex yet amazing ecosystem. Learn why here!

Several animals are now part of the list of endangered species across the globe. These include:

• Polar bear
• Blue-throated macaw
• Sea otter
• Leatherback sea turtle
• Californian condor
• Giant panda
• Black rhinoceros

… and more.

So, in celebration of the World Wildlife Fund ’s ( WWF ) 50th anniversary in December 2023, the organization decided to do something different and meaningful.

What is that?

To raise awareness about the protection of endangered species and habitats, focusing on umbrella species.

However, given the vast range of environmental factors, WWF found it challenging to know where to begin.

So, what did the organization do?

It partnered with creative agency TBWA/Paris to conduct a one-of-a-kind campaign called…

The “Umbrella Species” campaign !

WWF tasked TBWA/Paris with making the issue at hand more tangible and easier to comprehend. The goal was simple:

To recruit new supporters and raise funds for endangered species and spaces .

… and to make sure the campaign would kickstart effectively, the first question to address was this:

For those of you who also do not know the term yet, an umbrella species is identified for making conservation-related decisions, usually because protecting that particular species indirectly protects many others in the ecosystem.

Examples of these are:

• Grizzly bear
• Spotted owl
• Jaguar
• Giant panda
• Red wolf
• Coho salmon

… and the list goes on.

In light of that, TBWA/Paris decided there was no better representation of this chain protection than nesting dolls .

After all, people may never know what an umbrella species is capable of protecting until they take a closer, deeper look—just like a nesting doll!

So, with the help of four illustrators, four families of umbrella dolls were created for WWF’s campaign, each with very individual styles.

Presenting:

The Thai Tiger Umbrella Species Family…

… the African Elephant Umbrella Species Family…

… the Dugong Umbrella Species Family…

… and the Lynx Umbrella Species Family.

These umbrella species invaded the cities in France, as well as gained attention through posters and social media.

What’s more?

On an eco-designed website, the dolls were featured in the virtual gallery of umbrella species, where it was made possible for the public to know everything about these animals.

That’s not all!

The campaign team also designed the website to enable the public to order these umbrella species nesting dolls.

Was the WWF’s “Umbrella Species” campaign effective?

The results exceeded the campaign team’s expectations!

Check these out:

• After two stock-outs, nearly 10,000 umbrella species nesting doll families were sold for the holiday season of 2023.
• WWF received over 1 million EUR in donations, a 10% increase compared to the same period in 2022.
• In one month, WWF’s website saw 76,000 visits, with the average user spending two and half minutes on the site.
• The campaign reached millions of people, spreading awareness of umbrella species and raising support for the environment.
• The “Umbrella Species” campaign won a Bronze Cube at the 2024 The One Club Awards .

Congratulations, WWF and TBWA/Paris!

Clearly, these results show that the campaign was truly effective in raising awareness about such an important issue.

*Applause*

Just like WWF, you can also add a touch of creativity to your awareness-raising initiatives. You don’t always have to stick to tradition!

Besides, we’re pretty sure your target audience won’t also appreciate you doing the same thing or the same campaign over and over again.

So, to prevent that from happening, be proactive now and start thinking of out-of-the-box ways to capture people’s attention and get them to act on your call-to-action.

As you do that, you’ll just be amazed at all the possibilities that could stem from your campaign.

Start putting your creative juices to work now!

Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.

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Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!

Do you want to know how this famous music artist leveled up her visibility and engagement with her fans?

See it in next week’s article!