Sustainability Marketing Plan

Prepared by Cynthia Lieberman December 2009

Symphony Studios is an independent production studio with several acres on a sprawling lot in Valencia, California. The complex consists of:
Five sound stages Several office buildings Music recording stage Post production facilities Print Shop Lumber/production stage Transportation department Two four story parking garages Company store Commissary and formal eatery

PARENT COMPANY: Orchestra, Inc.

Symphony Studios is owned by a photo processing and retail business (think Kodak) named Orchestra, Inc. Orchestras film processing and manufacturing divisions are under government and investor regulation pressure to improve their sustainability program. The impact of these pressures has translated down to all of Orchestras operating divisions, including Symphony Studios.

Symphony is creating a sustainability implementation plan to develop a 100% green effect in their operations within the next 5-10 years.

IT ALL STARTS FROM THE TOP

 Set up meetings between the division head and the sustainability group in August, 2009.

Explain the goals and give them until November 1, 2009 to provide their plan to incorporate green initiatives in each of their divisions.
The first phase should include systems or plans that could be announced on Earth Day and/or implemented in conjunction with) in April, 2010: Overall Objectives Concepts and ideas Employee motivations Production and operation retrofitting needs Budgets (and potential long-term savings) Timeline

KEEP IT MOVING

 Meet again in November, 2009 with division heads to assess ideas, outcomes, budgets, timing, etc. Help fine-tune objectives, concepts and ideas. Identify attainable goals and prioritize project plans. Ensure the goals are in concert with the other divisions so that optimum efficiency and effectiveness will be achieved. Determine what initiatives in the plan can be incorporated in the companys Earth Day launch program. Get corporate approvals to proceed on plans and budget. Create a timeline of events and idea implementation

Develop films, television series or episodes, DVDs, Webisodes, and more with dedicated storylines that involve eco/environmental issues. Eventurally translate and distribute to other countries around the globe. Develop dialogue, scenes and storylines that mention energy-saving tips or other green initiatives. For instance: Have characters act out energy efficient practices in scenes, such as replacing regular light bulbs with energy efficient ones and if possible, refer to it while doing it, Make reference to taking the Prius or Hybrid car instead of their parents SUV. Have a character tell a child who is brushing her teeth in a scene to not keep the water running because it hurts the little fishies in the ocean. Sprinkle in energy efficient questions in trivia games shows like Jeopardy, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, even Family Feud. Note: Sponsor ties can be an added value here Create Green theme weeks (perhaps timed to Earth Day) for daily shows such as Ellen, The View, The Dr. Oz Show, Wheel of Fortune, etc. Note: Sponsor ties can be an added value here Use energy efficient practices in production PR plans (i.e. get stories in the press about how green a production is, just as the Oscars did a few years ago). Have characters use energy efficient cars in scenes

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 Rent instead of buy

Reuse instead of wreck

Recycle of instead of dump Use renewable woods and resources (i.e. bamboo, recycled products, etc.) Turn it off instead of leaving it on Avoid energy waste: Work with sustainability team Department to obtain an energy audit from the local utility company. Evaluate and determine ways to reduce energy output and costs.

Concepts for Evaluation 11

 Avoid energy waste: Work with sustainability team Department to obtain an energy audit from the local utility company. Evaluate and determine ways to reduce energy output and costs. Identify savings as a result of energy adjustments.

Change over to recycled paper products whenever possible.

Recycle any printing waste whenever possible.

Concepts for Evaluation 12

Compile trash and recyclables and transport to disposal site 3x a week instead of daily. Conserve number of routine trips. Use bio-diesel fuel whenever possible. Use energy-efficient transportation vehicles whenever possible. Dont leave vehicles idling unnecessarily.

Concepts for Evaluation

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Provide ample carpool parking and provide employee incentives to use them,
Provide special privileged parking for employees with energy-efficient Prius/Hybrid type cars. Encourage/provide van use or shuttles to long-distance production sites or employee events. Encourage walking or biking instead of driving to work every day, Use electric carts and bicycles on the lot,

Concepts for Evaluation 14

Symphony sells promotional items and Symphony products in their company store for employees and studio visitors.

Add a green lines of products to the companys inventory.

Whenever possible, only use green-friendly vendors. When creating specialty lines like T-shirts and premiums, posters, etc. always try to use recycled materials.

Display company-generated eco-friendly tips in the store

Provide poster displays of winners of company motivation incentive programs, as well as winners from the Greenest Employee of the Month promotions each month.

Concepts for Evaluation 15

Whenever possible, only use green-friendly vendors for disposable goods such as paper plates, forks, etc. Use organic or locally grown products whenever possible. Encourage using real cups and plates when eating-in (vs. instead of disposable take-out goods). Provide prominently located recycling bins for paper, plastic, glass, waste, etc. Display posters of winners of company motivation incentive programs, as well as winners from the Greenest Employee of the Month promotions each month.
Concepts for Evaluation 16

DIVISION PLANS/CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

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DEVELOP INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS WEBSITE Internal communications are critical when implementing green initiatives. The site should be fun, interactive and informative. Populate it with friendly blogs with tips and information on ecology, the environment, etc. Provide a section for employees to post great ideas and give feedback, suggestions and comments. Post guideline manuals for production divisions to follow when making movies and TV shows. Include fun games, applications and widgets that employees can engage in that will inform and motivate them to participate in company eco-goals. Post a new one every month. Tailor monthly updates to the season or the holiday. OTHER Communicate through newsletters, emails and banners on intranet sites; post everything on the website to support the communications.

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The first step is achieving this goal is to make sure the messaging comes from the top. Set up division head meetings to explain the goals of the sustainable program and give them a three-month deadline to provide a plan with ways they will implement their objectives. Provide them with guidelines on what is expected so they can clearly communicate the green goals to office staff and production members. Emphasize to department heads and key production staff that the goal is to minimize the companys carbon footprint, improve ecoefficiency, decrease unnecessary waste, etc. Set expectations, reconvene and evaluate before putting in motion. Department heads to assign dedicated green team leaders Green team leaders will be responsible for assembling teams that will focus on creating programs that will make a positive impact on the environment. Team leaders can assist with ideas and execution of interesting department challenges, as well as communicate to the department the green goals set by the company.

Employee Motivation 20

Regular events, communications and incentive programs should be created to empower employees to team-up and make a larger contribution to green issues and company goals. Rewards must be something that the employees find are valuable and will worth their time and effort. They need to feel that it will be rewarding enough to accomplish set goals [reason[ in order to receive the rewards. If they are happy with the results, they will feel good about themselves and their efforts [emotion] and therefore more loyalty to the program and better long-term results. Make the prizing scalable and be careful about offering big rewards in the beginning. You don't want employees to get use to big rewards then to have it lowered to a low amount of rewards later on. Make sure to get suggestions from employee's regarding the incentive programs.

Employee Motivation 21

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Reward employees with employee incentive programs. For example, carpoolers get a better parking spot and at the end of each month, they would receive a $5 card to use towards the commissary or the company store. Other worthwhile incentive rewards could include tickets to a premiere, eco-packages with goodies in it, story profile on web page, free breakfast for department, gift card to an organic store, etc. Create Competitions: Every month award an employee or department who comes up with the best eco idea that can be implemented in the company. Encourage division or department competitions in eco-office challenges. The winner gets an eco-friendly recyclable bag filled with organic goodies or a free department breakfast or cheese-andcracker party courtesy of the company. For a challenge with a really big payoff, offer one day off to telecommute from home. Idea examples: Have a competition to see how many employees you can get to add a green email signature to their outgoing notes; or a department challenge to see who can go for the longest stretch without printing out an email; from the walk of shame routeanyone leaving their office lights on overnight might have to pay for the deed by going door-todoor down the hall, collecting recycling from the rest of the crew. Carbon Footprint Incentives: Offer $2,000 towards any the purchase of any car that gets at least 40 miles per gallon. Offer special parking for carpoolers. Offer discounts on monthly bus or metro passes. Give company store discounts for those who bike to work.

Employee Motivation 23

Keep it simple Make it realistically attainable Concepts, rules and promotions should be easy to access and understand Offer rewards for accomplished goals Establish weekly, monthly and yearly goals Provide tangible rewards such as gift cards or movie tickets Hold regular company events that communicate goals Communicate through newsletters, emails, websites Listen to suggestions from employees
Employee Motivation 24

TIMELINE

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This is the month when all of the Go Green initiatives are first introduced in a company wide setting. Overall objectives and initiatives, special programs (i.e. car purchase discounts, etc.), motivational campaigns, production and operation retrofitting needs and timelineS should be presented during the event. Have displays of green office products, tips on going green in the office, a transportation station that offers mass transit discounts, carpooling information and a raffle to win a bicycle. Display a sculpture of all the empty water bottles that would be used if each employee drank two of them a day. Explain how much energy and waste would be saved if this were avoided.

Timeline 26

GET GREEN: Daily tips for the green life covering a vast array of topics, from eco-friendly workplaces to low footprint Halloween decorations. Filters tips to come up during appropriate seasons and holiday events so you get relevant information for whats happening right then.

GREEN CHARGING: Launch the app when you start charging your phone, and itll notify you with sound and vibration when your battery is fully charged so that youre sure to unplug your charger when finished.
Timeline
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APRIL 2010 GO GREEN APP CONT

GREEN CHARGING: Launch the app when you start charging your phone, and itll notify you with sound and vibration when your battery is fully charged so that youre sure to unplug your charger when finished.

Timeline

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Have a demonstration on planting vegetable gardens, creating in-house terrariums, and provide information on drought-resistant plants and gardens. Provide a compost display as well as organic gardening products. Explain benefits, etc.

Timeline

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GO GREEN IPHONE APPS OF THE MONTH MAY 2010

PROFESSIONAL GARDENING COURSES: Want to make your garden the envy of your neighbors? Need to learn more about Gardening to make your backyard beautiful? Want to grow your own organic produce? This comprehensive 6 lesson Gardening guide can help.
Timeline 30

(LIL) GREEN PATCH: looks a little bit like a game of strawberry shortcake but actually works to save the rainforest. Members get a, well, little green rectangle on their Facebook page that they can decorate with strawberryshortcake looking people, mushrooms and flowers, which actually goes to save the rainforest.

GORGEOUSLY GREEN: Shopping for sustainable cosmetics and personal care products is easier with this app, walking you through the hazards of choosing beauty products. Tells you where its most important to buy organic, and the toxic materials that are in various products. GREAT for Mothers Day!
Timeline
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Provide ways to conserve water during the summer. Display sprinkler timers, low-water pressure hoses and sprinklers, tips on reducing energy use (i.e. turn off the thermostat when not home, use fans instead of air conditioners, what peak times are bad for running appliances, etc.) and how much energy can be conserved by doing so. Demonstrate how much energy and waste has been saved since the Go Green project was implemented.

Timeline

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GO GREEN IPHONE APPS OF THE MONTH JUNE 2010

METER READ: Somewhat manual in usage (but then, no one said saving the planet would be easy), use MeterRead to log your electric meters reading. You can log your readings and use them to predict your electrical consumption, and thus, your upcoming bill. Try to be more efficient, and maybe the next time you check the meter, your readings will hit below the projected usage.
Timeline 33

JUNE 2010 - GO GREEN APP CONT

SUSTAINABLE FISH GUIDE: Sustainable Fish guide gathers the list of acceptable or endangered fishes. You can now buy a fish according to its sustainable fishery or not.
Timeline

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Throw a company barbeque where employees can purchase lunch at a discount. Use real dishes or recycled paper goods. Offer tips on best environmental grilling practices (go to http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/greenbarbeques/green-barbecue-tips.html for information and ideas on ways to do this). Display solar panels and other energy-saving devices and the benefits of having them.

Timeline

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LOCAVORE: A tool for people who want to buy local foods and goods. Shows you local retailers, farmers markets, restaurants that buy from local farmers and so on.

COUPON SHERPA: Leave paper behind and get your coupons on your phone. The barcodes show up on your screen, which you show at checkout. We wish the coupons were a little broader in terms of how green the products are. But paperless where possible is a good thing
Timeline
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Display ways to improve long-distance vacation travel. Display information on ways to cut down on your carbon imprint when driving or flying. Provide information on ways to volunteer for a local cause at a vacation destination. ncourage being as car free as possible when out of town, using mass transit, bicycles, walking. Post a quiz on the website about whether you are a green globe trotter (see http://planetgreen.discovery.com/gamesquizzes/green-globetrotter-quiz/ for an example)

Timeline

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BIKE YOUR DRIVE by REI: Using your phones GPS, this app calculates how much gas you saved by not driving, how many calories you burned, and carbon you saved. You can geotag photos you take along your ride, find out speeds, elevations and a lot more. In other words, your ride becomes even more interesting.

iTRANS: Search train and subway stations, find schedules, access maps, and find the nearest stations with this app. iTrans has apps for several major cities, including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and more.
Timeline 38

Provide information on ways to minimize office product use in the office. Display wide array of green office products available and encourage using them at work, at home, for school supplies.

Timeline

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iRECYCLE: Earth 911 helps us recycle more

effectively with this app. Access information on over 100,000 recycling centers nationwide where over 200 materials can be dropped off. Get directions to the nearest facilities, and call them directly from the search results.

GO GREEN OFFICE MATE: This produceinspired application features a lime green calculator for quick and easy computation on the go. The lil' note features a green memo pad perfect for to-do lists, notes to self, or whatever!
Timeline
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How to save energy in the winter. Display insulation demonstrations, suggestions on keeping thermostats regulated, and other energy saving tips. Display another status update on success of the program.

Timeline

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GREEN GAMES: An oxymoron in name and premise, this game nevertheless may prove to be a good time. Buy low, sell high is the goal, and it focuses on sustainable products like reusable shopping bags. Plays on green consumerism.

SAVE THE PLANET GAME: When objects appear on the screen, just tape the right trashcan to make the collection of items for recycling.

Timeline

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Use visual displays to emphasize how much global warming is impacting our planet and its future. Provide information on how and why it is happening and what employees can do to help slow it down.

Timeline

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GO GREEN IPHONE APPS OF THE MONTH NOVEMBER 2010

G WARMING CALCULATOR: Looking at your car, home and air travel information, calculates your carbon footprint and compares it to US citizens, but can also be used to compare to other countries.
Timeline 44

Provide information on how to have a greener Christmas. Offer a Plant a Tree employee contribution incentive program. Display different ways to contribute to a more ecofriendly holiday, such as ecological gift-wrapping, decorating, holiday party and gifting ideas.

Employee Motivation 45

iPHOREST: Every time you plant a virtual tree on your phone, a real one is planted. The effort is a partnership of iPhactory, EcoLife and The Conservation Fund. Plant your tree, watch it grow and flourish, and know that there are real trees out there doing the same thing every time you plant a new one on your phone.

A REAL TREE: When you buy this app, a real tree is planted in one of 12 countries fighting deforestation, including Brazil, Zambia, Haiti and others around the globe. The app developers are in partnership with the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP).
Timeline 46

DECEMBER 2010 - GO GREEN APP CONT

G WARMING CALCULATOR: HICARD: Ditch the carbon footprint of sending paper Christmas cards. The app lets you send e-cards with photos you take on your phone. Also has postcards to use while youre traveling.
Timeline 47

http://planetgreen.com http://www.onlinecourses.org/2009/11/18/100best-iphone-apps-for-students-going-green http://www.treehugger.com http://www.greenisuniversal.com

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