You've heard that a tree grows in Brooklyn. Well, "Print Grows Trees" — the campaign designed by Perdue Creative to help preserve America's forests — has branched out to New York City's fabled Times Square. And we couldn't be prouder.

Developed for the Education Fund of Printing & Graphics Association Mid-Atlantic (PGAMA), “Print Grows Trees” connects consumers to the private landowners who control almost 60% of America’s woodlands. Age, demographics and financial pressures are causing these landowners to sell or transfer land at an alarming rate, and an average of 4,000 acres of forest is being converted to development daily. “Print Grows Trees” dispels the misconception that by using less paper, trees are saved. Facts show that using paper actually gives landowners the financial incentive to keep America’s woodlands safe from development and managed in a sustainable manner to contribute important ecosystem benefits such as water management, wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration.

For facts about America’s forests and the paper and printing industry, along with a personal account from Jo Pierce, who owns 2,000 acres of private woodlands in Maine, visit printgrowstrees.org.

Saturday, Feb. 19, the Memphis chapter of the American Advertising Federation honored communication design firm Perdue Creative with one gold and five silver ADDY awards.

"Print Grows Trees", developed for the Printing & Graphics Association Mid-Atlantic in Washington, DC, received  the gold ADDY for illustration and four silver ADDYs in the logo, poster, transit ad and campaign categories.

The video component of the "Go paper. Grow trees." campaign, produced for International Paper, received the silver ADDY for industry self-promotion, interactive media category.

"Print Grows Trees" is a cause marketing campaign developed on behalf of the printing industry to challenge the widely-held belief that by using less paper, trees will be saved, and shows that print on paper actually helps to grow trees.

"Go paper. Grow trees." is a similar campaign developed to give consumers—from middle-school age and older—the facts on how using paper products makes a direct contribution to the health of trees and forests.

On the streets of downtown Memphis, we asked random people representing a broad spectrum of our city the same question..."How do you agape?" 

This is the video component to our brand awareness campaign for Agape Child & Family Services, a Christ-centered ministry dedicated to providing children and families with healthy homes.

Poverty, homelessness, poor education, teenage pregnancy, infant mortality — these are some of the daunting problems facing the city of Memphis, putting a whole community at risk. But what can be done to conquer such seemingly insurmountable tasks? Perhaps the answer is love. But not just any love. A form of love the ancient Greeks called agape, the love of God for mankind.

For more than 40 years, Agape Child & Family Services has quietly provided children and families with healthy homes in Memphis and the Mid-South through adoption, foster care, community restoration, homeless services, mentoring, maternity services and counseling, serving a total of 18,000 individuals in 2010. With a goal of increasing the number served annually to 50,000 by 2015, Agape sought help from Perdue Creative to launch its first-ever brand awareness campaign. 

"We've always been excited about the work we do at Agape," say David Jordan, Agape executive director, "and when we recently began to focus on our two key areas of adoption and community restoration, it was the perfect time to communicate our focus to the public, to let them know who Agape is and how they can get involved."

"How does Memphis say love?" is a multi-media campaign built on the organization's name, its proper pronunciation and its Classical Greek origins as a word for "the highest form of love." Digital billboards broadcast the brand to the wide audience of passersby along the I-240 loop, I-40 corridor and Germantown Parkway. Banner ads on the Commercial Appeal website and local users of Facebook direct online readers to the Agape website. And a direct marketing piece timed with the Christmas holiday season and year-end giving expounded on the Agape story while making a direct appeal for donations and volunteers. 

An online video,"How do you agape?", is planned for launch at the first of the year, followed by television spots on select cable channels and programs in mid-January.  

We applaud Agape for their desire to boldly expand their efforts and for realizing that accomplishing this goal means expanding their circle of influence. We are thrilled and blessed to work with them in showing Memphis and the Mid-South how to say, and show, love to children and families in need.

 

This week marks the launch of our awareness campaign for International Paper, entitled "Go Paper. Grow Trees.", which gives consumers the facts on how using paper products makes a direct contribution to the health of trees and forests.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), a majority of the 750 million acres of U.S. forests are privately owned. These private owners—mostly family tree farmers—will ultimately determine what happens to our forestlands, which we depend on for many social, ecological and economic benefits.

"Go Paper. Grow Trees." was created to connect readers to the challenges private landowners face in growing and maintaining healthy forests. Promoted in online banner ads, a print magazine ad and via ground-roots spreading of the word with an email signature graphic and social media such as YouTube and Facebook, the campaign is centered around an interactive website that provides numerous forestry facts and dispels many myths, while offering multimedia tools, including a "Go Paper. Grow Trees." video.

“It’s important to understand that tree farmers and other private landowners plant about 4 million trees every day, which is about three to four times more than they harvest,” said Teri Shanahan, IP’s vice president, Commercial Printing. “By planting trees and managing forests responsibly, landowners are given the financial incentive they need to maintain and protect the valuable forest resources that provide benefits for present and future generations.” Without the income from tree farming, landowners face economic pressure to pay property taxes and replace lost revenue. A common outcome is converting forestlands to other uses such as agricultural crops that have shorter growing and cash cycles than forest products. Another tempting prospect is to sell the land for development. In either case, the forest is removed forever and so are the benefits of cleaner water, better air, wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Healthy forests are life-support systems—and demand for paper products ensures landowners continue to farm trees.

“By providing a clearer understanding of who owns the forests and the challenges these landowners face, ‘Go Paper. Grow Trees.’ is intended to correct misinformation and provide a realistic perspective on the role that paper products play in keeping our forests healthy and growing,” added Shanahan. “Consumers continue to be environmentally conscious in the choices they make, so it’s important they base their decisions on facts. The facts are paper is a completely sustainable, renewable, recyclable and biodegradable resource—and using paper can actually lead to a healthier forest ecosystem and the demand for and growth of more trees.”

For more information on the awareness campaign, visit GoPaperGrowTrees.com.

Heartlight 2010, the annual fundraiser for Agape Child & Family Services, was held at AutoZone Park Oct. 23, with a cause marketing campaign that helped make the event a huge success. More than 500 attended the baseball-themed evening of Memphis musical acts, powerfully stirring video presentations and guest appearances from both Memphis Mayor A C Wharton and Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell. The event raised $327,500 in support of Agape.

Billed as the "Home Field Advantage", Heartlight 2010 was a celebration of Agape's work on behalf of children and families in need in the community, and enabled attendees to see first-hand how Agape served nearly 30,000 children and adults each year with adoption and foster care services, tutoring, counseling, community development, and its Families in Transition program, which places pregnant homeless women into transitional housing.

“It was an amazing night, and we are so proud of the good work Agape has accomplished in Memphis this last year,” said Marka Bennett, Agape board member and chair of Heartlight. “Our greatest wish is that the stories told at this year’s event will bring hope and inspire others to want to do great things in our community.”

Read more about Heartlight 2010 on the Agape website. And, view the campaign that helped set the stage for an amazing night.

"Print Grows Trees," a promotion we created for the Printing & Graphics Association Mid-Atlantic (PGAMA), has resonated with printers and print consumers around the world since launching March 22. Promoted through industry press releases and transit ads (below), the "Print Grows Trees" website has attracted over 9,000 page views, thousands of visitors from as far away as South Africa, and over 1,800 results on Google, not to mention Twitter tweets and Facebook posts.

The posters strategically placed throughout Washington, D.C. are also drawing interest with more than 60 campaign inquiries to date, and will reach 54% of the city's adult population an average of 4.3 times during the campaign's five-week duration.

"Print Grows Trees" challenges the widely-held belief that by using less paper, trees will be saved, and shows that print on paper actually helps to grow trees.

    

This week our team got to see two of our favorite types of work — and two of our greatest strengths — come together in one assignment for tissue manufacturing client Kruger Inc. An internal communications effort to stem losses due to workplace carelessness and indifference, the "War on Waste" blends our talent for creating a strategic and cohesive campaign with our passion for making the world a better place.

Calling the reduction of waste their "Number 1 business priority," Kruger plant management was experiencing accidents, damaged product, spoilage, inaccurate product volume and other areas of waste at a rate that, if ignored, would have exceeded $3 million by year end. Fortunately, most of the areas of waste were preventable. What was needed was an increased level of awareness and commitment on the part of every employee — an all-out war in which everyone bands together to defeat the enemy.

The first shot in the Kruger "War on Waste" was a series of WWII-themed posters mounted in protective frames and strategically placed throughout the 1.8 million square-foot manufacturing plant. The Dispatch, a biweekly employee newsletter, introduced the campaign, describing and picturing the enemy, laying out battle plans and featuring the heroic efforts of individual workers. Incentives are planned for waste-reducing efforts with a company-wide family picnic as a final celebration when overall goals are achieved.

And as it turns out, war is a fitting theme for the plant. During World War II, it was an important site for building the infamous B-25 bomber planes.