Compost Days 2014 Executive Summary Backgroundwmnorthwest.com/2014summary/pdf/compostdays/... · utilizing multiple marketing channels including paid media, direct mail, retail-based

Compost Days 2014

Executive Summary

Background

In 2014, King County, Cedar Grove, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), Waste Management and Snohomish County

hosted Compost Days, an annual spring promotion designed to encourage residential food scrap recycling,

increase sales of compost, and thank residents for their dedication to curbside composting. The campaign ran

from March 15 through April 15, in Seattle, King County, and Snohomish County.

2015 Campaign Goals:

Communicate the value of using compost to motivate consumers to purchase.

Increase the utilization of curbside food scrap programs by existing organics customers.

Increase understanding of the “compost” loop.

Educate residents about what can and cannot be composted at curbside.

Campaign Strategy

To engage the public in curbside composting, C+C worked with the partners to create an integrated campaign

utilizing multiple marketing channels including paid media, direct mail, retail-based promotions, earned and

social media. During Compost Days, Cedar Grove offered deep discounts on bulk and bags compost. Residents

could purchase bag compost through 130 participating Compost Days retail partners and bulk compost at Cedar

Grove landscape yards. Compost Days retail partner Fred Meyer also offered discounts on kitchen compost

containers and compostable bags during the promotion.

In 2014, to further connect the public with the value of compost and increase understanding of the “compost”

loop, a cause-marketing component was added to Compost Days. Drawing upon the concept of a traditional

food drive, the Compost Days team launched the Big Garden Give. During Compost Days, for every bag of

compost purchased with a Compost Days coupon, Cedar Grove donated a yard of compost to a local garden, to

grow organic food for communities.

Partnership Values & Contributions Compost Days partners, King County, Seattle Public Utilities, Cedar Grove and Waste Management all leveraged

their internal resources to raise the profile of the campaign. Below is an outline of the assets each partner

provided:

King County

King County contributed $30,000 to the campaign budget and promoted the campaign with three posts

throughout the promotion period on the “Recycle More. It’s Easy to Do” Facebook page, reaching 4,000 fans.

King County:

Partner Contribution - $30,000

© 2015 WM Intellectual Property Holdings, L.L.C.

2

Promotion through Social Media & Website

Total Value: $30,000

Cedar Grove

Cedar Grove contributed $30,000 to the campaign budget and provided additional support including:

Cedar Grove negotiated with 130 retail partners, securing their participation in the campaign. Additionally,

Cedar Grove produced, printed and distributed “shelf talker” display signage and in-store banners to

participating retailers. Cedar Grove designed, printed and distributed the Compost Days “Buy 2, Get 3rd Free”

coupons to all 130 retail partners.

Cedar Grove designed and hosted the Compost Days website, including working with a designer to add an online

donation component for community gardens.

Representatives from Cedar Grove participated in media events and staffed the promotional events at Fred

Meyer.

During the campaign Cedar Grove worked with retailers to ensure they were amply stocked with compost

inventory for the promotion. The majority of compost bulk sales, were sold and distributed online or from a

Cedar Grove landscaping sites, which made up a large percentage of overall compost sales throughout the

campaign.

At the close of the campaign, Cedar Grove contributed $26,000 in compost donations through the Big Garden

Give and worked with community garden partners to facilitate donation deliveries and provided transportation

and compost at no charge.

King County Received:


In-Store Display & POP Signage - $3,000

Community Garden Compost Donations & Distribution - $26,000

Website design and hosting - $2,500

Promotion through Social Media, Earned Media & Website

Total Value to King County: $61,500

Seattle Public Utilities

Seattle Public Utilities contributed $22,500 to the campaign budget and promoted the campaign through their

Curb Waste & Conserve newsletter, reaching 300,000 Seattle households, a value of $7,500. They also published

two Compost Days posts on their At Your Service online blog and shared the campaign with 2,000 followers on

Twitter.


3



SPU Direct Mail Piece - $7,500

Promotion through Social Media & Website


Waste Management/Snohomish County UTC

Waste Management through WUTC RSA funds contributed $30,000 to the campaign budget and promoted

Compost Days on their Foodcycler website and sent four e-blast announcements during the course of the

campaign to their list of 3,000 dedicated Foodcyclers, (with an over 40 percent open rate on email, twice the

industry standard). Waste Management Public Education & Outreach Senior Manager, Candy Castellanos, co-

hosted the KIRO Radio Gardening with Ciscoe show at the Lynnwood Fred Meyer, promoting the goals of the

Compost Days campaign and educating residents about what can and cannot be composted.



Four Foodcycler E-Blasts

Promotion through Website


Retail Partners

As a direct result of the success of Compost Days, Cedar Grove and C+C were able to secure 130 retailers to

participate in the promotion. These retail partners were provided “shelf talker” displays as well as “Buy 2 Get 3rd

Free” coupons to provide to their customers.

Because retailers have different margins on their compost, the list price of each bag varied between retailers,

but all retailers honored the “Buy 2, Get 3rd Free” discount coupons for Cedar Grove compost.

Fred Meyer was the largest retailer and played an important role in supporting the campaign, promoting it in all

43 of their retail locations throughout the Puget Sound region, 15 of which are located in King County, seven in

Snohomish county and three in Seattle (with the rest outside of campaign territory).

Fred Meyer extended the campaign with discounts on compostable bags, kitchen containers and backyard

composters, in-store intercom announcements, bag stuffers and social media promotions for two weeks leading

up to promotional events. On weekends during the Compost Days promotion Fred Meyer hosted three events in

Lynnwood, Ballard, and Maple Valley where customers could find deep discounts on Cedar Grove compost and

receive education from Master Gardeners on how to use compost at home.


4

Compost Days kicked off at the Lynnwood Fred Meyer store where KIRO Radio gardening personality, Ciscoe

Morris, broadcast live from the store. Ciscoe encouraged the public to come to Fred Meyer to get deep

discounts on compost and get their gardening questions answered by Master Gardeners. Ciscoe also highlighted

the importance of composting.

In addition to in-store signage, retail partners shared the campaign on social media through boilerplate posts

provided by C+C and generated their own content as well.

Out of 131 retailers:

42 are located in King County

11 are bulk dealers, 5 in King County


In-Store Displays & Signage

Special Discounts and Pricing on Kitchen Compost Containers & Compostable Bags

Three Fred Meyer Promotional Events

Promotion through Social Media, Earned Media & Website


Community Garden Partners: Seattle Tilth & WSU Extension Office

Seattle Tilth and Washington State University Snohomish County Extension Office partnered on the campaign

and recruited 120 community garden partners that grow food for low income residents. This was a critical

relationship as they were able to ensure that the gardens receiving compost were legitimate and provided food

for local communities. They were also able to determine how much compost each garden needed and

coordinate the delivery of the donation.

Seattle Tilth and WSU encouraged their 120 community garden partners to promote Compost Days to help raise

compost donations. Each garden was provided a “Donate to the Big Garden Give” yard signs where they were

placed in high-traffic locations. Both community garden partners also shared Compost Days and the Big Garden

Give compost drive details through their networks.

Seattle Tilth’s included Compost Days in their newsletter reaching 17,000 subscribers and over 1,000

flyers were distributed at their Edible Plant Sale event. Seattle Tilth also posted regularly to their 10,728

fans on Facebook.

WSU Snohomish County Extension Office promoted Compost Days in their Sustainable Community

Stewards Newsletter, Beachwatchers Newsletter, WSU Extension Listserv, EcoNet Listserv and passed

out over 500 flyers and posted regularly to their 89 Facebook fans.

Seattle Tilth and WSU recruited Master Gardeners to provide composting tips and education at the Fred

Meyer promotional events.

Both partners participated in earned media events. Seattle Tilth helped launch the campaign by

installing a new garden at the Reunion House, a low-income senior housing community. WSU


5

participated in the final media event that featured a large compost donation made to a new garden built

by students at the Marysville Arts & Tech High School.

Finally, the partners worked with C+C and Cedar Grove to distribute compost donations to 120

community gardens located in Seattle, King and Snohomish Counties.


Access to 120 Community Gardens

Promotional signage and flyers sent to 120 garden partners

Master Gardeners Provided Quality Education at Promotional Events

Promotion through Flier Canvassing, Garden Signage, Social Media, Earned Media & Website

Compost Sales - During the campaign, compost sales were up by 4 percent from 2013:

Bag Sales – 29,604 Bag Sales, Up 4 percent from 2013

Bulk Sales – up 30 percent over 2013

The offer was a “Buy 2 Yards, Get 3rd Yard Free” (same as the coupon, just yards, instead of

bags). The bulk sale offer was announced in media stories, on the website, in the campaign

press release and through our garden partners.

King County and Snohomish County have larger parcels of land so bulk sales were more

popular in the counties. In Seattle, the land lots are smaller so bag sales are higher in

Seattle.

11 retailers offer bulk compost; however, over 90% of bulk sales were made at Cedar Grove

retail yards.

Coupon Redemptions

2014 Compost Days Coupons redeemed: 9,868 (Up 4%)

Compost Donations to Community Gardens

Snohomish Co. (WSU) 494 yards to 17 community gardens based on need (WSU kept list private)

King Co. (Seattle Tilth) 625 yards distributed based on need between Seattle Tilth Gardens:

150 Yards - Seattle Tilth Farm Works, Auburn

125 Yards - Just Garden Project, 101 gardens throughout King

County (32 outside of Seattle). The Just Gardens only receive 1-

2 yards per plot.

170 Yards - Pickering Garden, Issaquah

180 Yards - Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands, Seattle

TOTAL 1,119 yards (equal to 30,200 bags)


6

Earned Media – 3 Million Impressions

To kick off the campaign, reporters were invited to an event at the Reunion House, a low income senior

community where Seattle Tilth’s Just Garden Project installed a new garden using donated Cedar Grove

compost. The public was informed that during Compost Days they could find deep discounts on compost and

also help more than 120 community gardens receive free compost through the compost drive.

During the one-month campaign, the campaign earned 3 million media impressions with multiple print, TV,

community papers and blogs covering Compost Days, including:

KING-TV’s Morning Show reporter, Roberta Romero, broadcast live from the Reunion House to kickoff

Compost Days.

KING-TV, KOMO-TV and KCPQ-TV ran segments on the campaign.

Regional and local print outlets, including the Seattle Times and Everett Herald ran stories.

Over 20 community blogs and news sites ran stories on Compost Days.

Paid Media – 6.1 Million Impressions

The campaign media buy utilized high-impact and unique placements, including large, “can’t-be-missed” website

ads and post-it note ads on newspapers. A robust online buy had a high engagement level with a .23% click-

through rate (well above the national average of .05-.1%). Placements included print ads in the Seattle Times

and Everett Herald, live reads on KUOW (NPR) and on the popular KIRO-AM Gardening With Ciscoe Show, and

high-visibility online ads on King5.com, KomoNews.com, SeattleTimes.com and Facebook.

Direct Mail – 300,000 Impressions

Seattle Public Utilities included the campaign in their popular Curb Waste & Conserve Newsletter, which reaches

over 300,000 households and is a major driver of coupon redemptions.

Retail Events – 2,000+ Impressions

More than 2,000 residents attended the three Compost Days events at Fred Meyer locations in Lynnwood,

Ballard, and Maple Valley. At the events residents could purchase discounted kitchen containers and get

questions answered by Master Gardeners. Retailers extended the event with in-store signage, intercom

announcements, and bag stuffers. Ciscoe Morris with KIRO Radio also broadcast live at the Fred Meyer

Lynnwood event.

Community Partners – Over 120 Gardens, 30,000+ Impressions

Through innovative partnerships with Seattle Tilth and the Washington State University Extension, the campaign

partnered with over 120 gardens throughout Snohomish and King Counties. Each garden received compost

donations, and shared updates about the campaign via email, social media, and yard signs.

Compost Days Pledges – 107 Total Pledge


7

Online and paper pledges were collected throughout the campaign as a way for residents to participate in the

Big Garden Give compost drive. For every pledge taken, Cedar Grove donated a bag of compost to a community

garden.

63 Online pledges on CompostDays.com

44 Paper pledges at events

Total Campaign Reach: 9,432,000+ Impressions

Total Value to King County: $159 K

The total values of campaign contributions for the 2014 campaign include: $30,000 from King County, $59,000

from Cedar Grove, $30,000 from Seattle Public Utilities, $30,000 from Waste Management and Snohomish

County, $10,000 from 120 retail partner and added value from community garden partners reaching an

additional 30,000 residents.

Lessons Learned

Although the campaign was very successful in reaching the target audience, there were some takeaways to

inform future campaigns:

The Ballard Fred Meyer event was scheduled for one of the year’s biggest gardening weekends;

however, March was the wettest month in Seattle’s history with over three times the amount of rain

from the previous year. Due to the inclement weather, Cedar Grove sales on this weekend came in

lower than anticipated with fewer residents turning out for the event.

The Fred Meyer promotional events were beneficial as a call-to-action for earned media stories;

however, we didn’t find that they drew a lot of extra foot traffic to the stores. Shoppers at the Fred

Meyer stores were excited about the events and we did have people who came out to donate compost

to the Big Garden Give but the overall results didn’t make an event a mandatory component for future

campaigns.

Most retailers required the Compost Days coupon, adding a layer of complexity to the promotion.

Campaign Collateral:

Yard Sign Coupon


8

Online Ad Event Banner

Compost Days Website:


9

Reunion House Media Event Launch:

Earned Media:


10


http://cdn.bimvid.com/KING/3ea33b4308d7fc64f8b2c18866d467795ffb6192_fl9-360p.mp4

11

King County Recycle More. It’s Easy to Do. Facebook posts:


12

Seattle Public Utilities Newsletter, Blog, Twitter Captures:


13

Waste Management Foodcycling Website and E-Blast:


14

Retail Partner Maps:

By Retails Name By County

Bulk Dealers


15

Seattle Tilth Just Garden Project – Garden Location Map


16

Retail Partner Twitter, Blog:

Seattle Tilth:


17

WSU Snohomish County Extension:


18

Social Media:


19

Fred Meyer Truckload Events:

Community Garden Compost Drive coming to Ballard

03/20/2014

On Sat., March 29, Compost Days is kicking off the spring planting season with a

Cedar Grove truckload sale and the Big Garden Give compost drive at the Ballard

Fred Meyer. Ballard Fred Meyer at 915 N.W. 45th St. will host the event from 10 a.m.

to 4 p.m.

The campaign is a partnership by King County, Waste Management, Cedar Grove

and Seattle Public Utilities with multiple goals: thank residents for diverting 350,000

tons of food and yard scraps from landfills by composting at curbside, donate free

compost to more than 150 gardens that feed the hungry, and offer residents deep

discounts on compost and kitchen containers.

Participating in the Compost Days Big Garden Give compost drive is easy: the public

can go online to www.compostdays.com from March 15-April 15 and donate a bag or

take a pledge to compost. Cedar Grove will match each coupon used and each online

bag donation with one bag of compost to a local garden benefiting low-income

communities, ensuring that all 150 community gardens will be ready to grow this

spring!


20


21

Fred Meyer Signage

22x28 sign Bag Stuffer

Marysville Arts & Tech High School Campaign Culmination Media Event:


22


Documents

Compost Days 2014 Executive Summary Backgroundwmnorthwest.com/2014summary/pdf/compostdays/... · utilizing multiple marketing channels including paid media, direct mail, retail-based