News

AvaTAR SANDS -- Oscar-Winning Material!

Clare Orvis — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:48:57 +0000

Since the launch of their paid media efforts, MacWilliams Sanders Communication has been proud to work with Corporate Ethics International and other environmental advocacy coalitions to increase awareness about the environmental havoc wreaked by tar sands mining in Alberta, Canada.

Most recently, we were delighted to work with the Tar Sands coalition to produce a full-page ad in Variety linking the tar sands mining across Canada to the mining of Pandora's unobtanium in Director James Cameron's Oscar-winning movie, Avatar.

The ad was released in this year's Oscar's Special Issue; in addition to the broad circulation of the magazine, the Tar Sands ad also garnered over 10,000 impressions on variety.com.

For more information on the ad and the broader tar sands environmental campaign, please visit www.dirtyoilsands.org.

Victory in Vermont

Clare Orvis — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:30:59 +0000

The year is 2010. Vermont Yankee is a 40 year old, antiquated and outdated power plant. Reports surface of tritium leaks being discovered into the local Connecticut River valley. Vermont Yankee's license is up for renewal, but a state law requires the Vermont State Senate must approve relicensing the aging, leaking plant.

Enter VPIRG and other progressive businesses across the state, who launch a concerted effort to convince state senators to vote against relicensing Vermont Yankee. They in turn hired MSC to create a comprehensive messaging strategy as well as an integrated, targeted online campaign across key legislative districts in Vermont.

MSC helped deliver over 6 million impressions and sent nearly 5,000 visitors to the VPIRG website, where concerned citizens could learn how to contact their legislators and what they could do to protect the Green Mountain State. For more information on the campaign and VPIRG's work to block renewal of Vermont Yankee, please visit www.NotSafeNotTrustworthy.org.

KINDness in the Community

Clare Orvis — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:03:38 +0000

MSC has been integral in the process of helping Congressman Ron Kind (D-WI) launch a community service project to engage volunteers around the 3rd Congressional District in western Wisconsin. Since its birth in late 2009, Kind Communities projects have used online ads to engage volunteer help.

These community service projects have included the refurbishing of a women's refuge home in Eau Claire, feeding the hungry in La Crosse, augmenting the work of Habitat for Humanity in New Richmond, and helping veterans and the elderly. We are excited to continue working with the Kind Volunteers to engage the spirit of compassion and help communities help themselves across western Wisconsin.

To learn more about Kind Communities service projects, please visit www.ronkind.org/kindcommunities.cfm.

Saving the Bay Saves Jobs

Clare Orvis — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:45:17 +0000

MSC is currently working with the Maryland Budget Campaign and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to develop top line messaging and a complete online campaign to raise awareness about Maryland's potential budget cuts. Such cuts would eliminate funding for environmental programs. Losing these programs would cost the state important jobs in the environmental sector and would put the state's beautiful natural resources at risk.

To raise awareness among the state legislators in the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis as well as Marylanders across the state, MSC developed a messaging and a comprehensive online campaign across Facebook and a host of local online platforms to spread the word and save environmental funding. To learn more about the campaign and the work of CBF and the Budget Coalition, please visit www.SupportGoodMDJobs.com.

Messages in Minnesota

Clare Orvis — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:36:14 +0000

Of late, we've been delighted to work once more with Minnesota Environmental Partnership (MEP). Our latest project has included the development of messaging in six states on clean energy for organizations and candidates to use in the coming election season.

We are proud to have worked with MEP for almost a decade, especially as they are one of the most cutting edge environmental coalitions in the country. For more on the work of MEP and their work to protect and restore Minnesota's environment, please visit www.mepartnership.org.

Copenhagen and Canada's Climate Crime

Don Sanders — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:26:03 +0000

Using a highly-targeted, integrated online and mobile ad strategy -- and working closely with Google -- MSC launched a revolutionary campaign to reach delegation audiences at the United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark as well as decision makers in Ottawa, Washington DC, New York, Toronto, and other major North American cities.

The campaign aimed to educate global opinion leaders about the devastation to the world’s climate and Canada’s environment of oil sands mining in Alberta. The climate conference in Copenhagen provided a unique opportunity to target opinion leaders phones and laptops. In order to attract attention to such an important environmental issue at such a critical time, we created three different flights of banner and text ads.

MSC multi-layered targeting approach to delivered flash, banner, and text ads that generated unprecedented click throughs on both continents, driving online and mobile traffic to the dirtyoilsands.org website. The campaign’s click through rate was ten times the average performance of ads placed on the Google’s advertising network, demonstrating the effectiveness of the creative and targeting.

Insurance Puppets

Clare Orvis — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:45:59 +0000

UPDATED: MSC worked with Public Campaign this December to produce a new online ad campaign that aired in Washington, DC and in targeted states. The campaign exposed the connection between Senators who are trying to block efforts to achieve health care reform and the campaign money they have received from big insurance interests.

Ads featuring Senators McConnell, Lieberman, Grassley, and Burr were served millions of times to DC's decision makers and influentials computers, laptops and mobile phones. The ads performed well in DC and even better in Senators' home states, generating click through rates as high as five times the average ad performance across Google's advertising network.

For more information on the campaign and to learn more about the work of our friends at Public Campaign, please visit insurancepuppets.org.

"Minnesota Nice" Work

MacWilliams Sanders Comminication — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:52:00 +0000

MSC is excited to be working again with the Minnesota Environmental Partnership. We're hard at work analyzing public opinion research, messaging, and polling to help MEP focus on the right priorities in the coming year. MEP and its partners have made significant contributions to protecting Minnesotans health, natural resources, and quality of life in the past decade. With a busy legislative and electoral season around the corner, MEP will be positioned once again to make real progress.

Hooks, Lines, and Thinkers

MacWilliams Sanders Comminication — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:24:00 +0000

Some of the best stewards of the environment have always been hunters and anglers -- the men and women who love spending time fishing and hunting in the outdoors, and who want to protect the forests and waters where fish and game can be found. We are working with the Sierra Club's Sierra Sportsmen group to expand their outreach to outdoors enthusiasts, hunters, and anglers nationwide through a revolutionary online advertising campaign.

360 Million Pounds Per Year?

MacWilliams Sanders Comminication — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:35:00 +0000

The Chesapeake Bay is threatened by the millions of pounds of nitrogen pollution that run into its waters each year. This pollution threatens public health and is strangling the Chesapeake ecosystem. Through its innovative public and private partnership approach, the Chesapeake Fund is showing businesses, NGOs, government, and individuals how to reduce their nitrogen pollution. MSC has helped the Chesapeake Fund hone its strategic plan and message as it develops this critical new tool to help restore the Chesapeake Bay.