IFAW: An Environmental Mission to Stop Whaling
Challenge: The International Fund for Animal Welfare tapped Peppercommotions, Peppercom’s event management division, to create an events and public awareness program to elevate the urgency of whale protection in preparation for the 2007 meeting of the International Whaling Commission. Going into the international meeting, nations such as Japan and Norway were fighting to re-open commercial whaling.
Strategy & Execution: Peppercommotions delivered a social media-relations program and a coast-to-coast "whale plane" tour for Patrick Ramage, head of IFAW's global whale campaign, and his 12-year-old-son, Henry. The father-son whale conservation team embarked on their journey in a Cessna 402, dubbed the "whale plane" because it was emblazoned with hand-painted humpback whales. The duo made stops in 10 cities from Boston to Vancouver, collecting "save the whales" artwork from 4th and 5th grade students and meeting with local government representatives and the media to spread the “save the whales” message. Peppercom chronicled their journey with daily blogs and video logs, and executed an aggressive social media relations campaign to help ensure that the “stop whaling” messages were included in other key blogs and message boards.
Result: Patrick and Henry's final destination was Anchorage, Alaska, where they delivered the artwork to delegates from more than 70 nations who attended the IWC meeting. Their blog and vlog received thousands of hits over the 10-day journey and the organization's MySpace friends list grew dramatically. The campaign continued to receive traction, and IFAW far exceeded its goal of raising public awareness for the cause.
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