2013 Sustainability Case Competition

Marketing Plan for:

New York State

Sustainability Educators
Working Group

PAT T E R N S
PRESENTED BY:

excelsior

sustainability

THE TEAM
Conor Harrington is a
senior Integrated Marketing
Communications major at
Ithaca College. He is from
Dallas, Pennsylvania. He is a
member of the Senior Class
Cabinet and volunteers with
Food for Thought and Habitat
for Humanity. Last Spring, he
studied Peace and Conflict
Studies in Dublin, Ireland. He
loves to travel and hopes to
work in the media industry.

The Excelsior Sustainability environmentalists behind the plan!

Darcy Ray is a sophomore
Business Administration
Major with a concentration
in Marketing and a Minor
in Integrated Marketing
Communications. She is from
the small town of Keene, New
Hampshire. She is involved
within the business school with
the Deans Host organization,
American Marketing
Association, Business School
Tour Guides, and Peer
Advisors. She is proud that
our school has such a great
initiative toward sustainability.

Emily Peters is an Integrated

Marketing Communications
major from Westminster,
Maryland. She is a member of
the Varsity Womens Lacrosse
Team and contributes to Ithaca
Colleges Imprint Magazine.
Emily exhibits sustainability
practices on a daily basis by
making a conscious effort to
be aware of her surroundings
and resources. Sustainability
is a tool that not only creates a
better future for our planet, but
it enhances a proactive global
environment.

Introduction

Patterns occur on a daily basis. Our habits, our schedules, and our interactions all have an affect on, not only ourselves, but also the world around us.
Patterns can also occur in how we think. Specifically, in correlation with how others think we might find some shocking similarities. The key to making
a difference in the world is taking those similar thoughts, feelings, and attitudes that people have and channeling those results into actions. Sustainability
is a great example of attitudes becoming actions, especially when a comprehensive plan is enacted.
Ben Franklin once said, An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. Without education, there is little hope for progress; therefore, we need
to help students become sustainably literate in order to seek positive growth for the global community. For the purposes of our research, Excelsior
Sustainability defines sustainability literacy as, The clear understanding of how to use resources appropriately to reduce waste and improve the
economic and environmental well being of the world. Promoting sustainability literacy in higher education will help students become sustainable
advocates in their professional futures. Students need to be educated on their resources and their effects on the world. By creating this educational
foundation they will be able to take their knowledge and teach future generations the importance of sustainability literacy. Our present investments in
knowledge will have results that will exceed our expectations for the future. In order to create a plan for New York state colleges and universities, we
first had to analyze pre-existing attitudes.

RESEARCH

Primary

Survey

Our survey of 44 Ithaca College students on sustainability resulted in several attitude patterns. We asked students 5 questions:
1. What is sustainability?
2. What programs does your school offer to educate students about sustainability?
3. Would you take a class or join a club involving sustainability?
4. Why or why not is sustainability important to learn about?
5. What marketing strategies would you respond to in order to raise more awareness about sustainability?
We interpreted our results as having a very similar, proactive outlook. Our survey respondents felt that sustainability and
sustainability literacy are crucial topics, especially in higher education settings.

Gifford Pinchot Lecture

Another primary research effort included attending a presentation by Gifford Pinchot. Pinchot is a respected
author and businessman and the co-founder of the Bainbridge Graduate Institute. That institution has
programs specializing in sustainability and social responsibility. We were given the opportunity to listen to his
presentation and ask him specific questions about the case and sustainability. He believed we should present
very focused ideas, realizing that change will take time; there will need to be a way to evaluate the change
through short-term and long-term measures. Each part of this plan Gifford said needed to be very logical
and supported, he defined sustainability as able to continue and explained that something is sustainable
if it is not running into barriers. As Gifford said, you need to take into consideration the social impact of
what youre doing and the environmental impact on what youre doing in order for you to create progress
in sustainability. Gifford saw bad decisions being made and asked why people believe what they do; so he
decided to change what he saw so he created his graduate program. The mission of this marketing plan is to change the bad decisions,
which lack sustainability and get people to appreciate all it has to offer. In order for Gifford to see if his sustainable education model
would work he created a scale model of what sustainability education should be like. He realized that young people generally are
aware of the fact that our world is not headed in a good direction and took that concept to try to connect environmental issues with
social justice. He realized that he didnt want to find people who didnt care and get them to care, but to instead find students who
share that interest and give them the tools to succeed. We used this concept in our target audience because students are substantially
influenced from extreme changes from home environment to the school environment.

RESEARCH

Secondary

By the numbers

83 Private colleges/universities (80+)

24 CUNY schools/institutions
64 SUNY campuses

n order to assure that our campaign will be successful, we can compare our ideas to those that have already been implemented
in schools across the country. A few of the schools we looked at, include: Middlebury College, Cornell University, University of
Maryland, American University, and Arizona State University. These examples of higher education offer several sustainability majors,
student organizations, and other opportunities for alumni and local environmental advocates. For example, American University,
located in Washington, DC, offers a Sustainability Management graduate degree and Middlebury has a five-year MA program for
International Environmental Policy. Both of these major programs allow students to pursue not only a lifestyle, but also a career in
supporting the environment. Additionally, these schools have several student organizations; Middlebury has their own student-run,
on-campus thrift shop, Cornell University uses campus involvement with their Student Lights off Initiative, and University of
Maryland has three on-campus public health garden clubs and both Middlebury and UMD are home to Solar Decathlon teams that are
in a competition to engineer the most sustainable house on earth!

All five of these colleges give opportunities for alumni and other sustainability experts to share their knowledge and experiences, both
as guest speakers and in an online form. Arizona State University has guest speakers once a month, including names as big as Sunita
Narain. They also allow students and other local sustainability enthusiasts to write for their online blogs, which can be shared on
social media sites about their experiences with the environment. Another huge aspect of our secondary research is all of the programs
that Ithaca College has in place at our school. They have resources for student organizations, eco-reps, and support for all of the
sustainability across campus. Ithaca tries to teach every student about sustainability starting from orientation; they also have multiple
LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, buildings throughout campus that truly display the dedication the school
puts on a living and learning model. Not only does Ithaca teach sustainability, but they practice the values throughout the campus. The
opportunity to connect with students and the community using various media is exactly how our team feels is the best way to spread
the message to both of our campaign audiences. This is why the most important aspect of our campaign is to hold a sustainability
conference for all New York institutions. A conference will utilize students, faculty, staff, and other on-campus committees of multiple
schools. This will give them an opportunity to share ideas, experiences and possibly collaborate on future projects. Imagine every
school in New York with ideas big and small coming together to create, share and grow a more sustainable state.

SWOT
Strengths

Weaknesses

Well prepared for a future career that involves Corporate

Social Responsibility
Students are substantially influenced from extreme changes
from home environment transition to school environment
Easily targeted people
Sustainability is valued topic
Social media influence with minimal cost

Administration has multiple decisions to evaluate so it is difficult to

have sustainability included in the general goals of the college
Low funding
Target is varied between private/public schools
Difficult to gain interest
Target broad
Competitive market for attention

Opportunities

Threats

Creating a educational legacy by implementing programs

Creating socially responsible global citizens
This age is looking to gain knowledge
People are interested in sustainability
Target Population easily reached

College students are very passionate about other social causes

Administration has competing curriculum goals
Propaganda myths threaten sustainability credibility

AUDIENCE
Primary Target

The primary target audience for our campaign is students attending New York state colleges and universities. Many college students
are passionate and empowered young activists who will work tirelessly to incite change on their campuses. As Gifford Pinchot
explained, we should not be targeting students who are not interested in Sustainability,
but we should instead find students who are passionate about creating change and
give them the tools to succeed. Since the student voice is so well heard on campuses
across the state, this marketing campaign will primarily be directed towards students,
specifically student leaders who are looking to create environmental impact on
their areas. Therefore, the student voice on sustainability and higher education will
influence the secondary target market, which is New York state college and university
administrators.

Secondary Target

Since the administrators control institutional budgets and the curriculum, it is necessary
to include them as one of the target audiences. Hopefully administrators will be
influenced by the student voice and decide to actively integrate sustainability into
their respective curricula. In addition to the student influence, the campaigns web
presence and public service announcements will be directed to administrators, as well
as students. If the campaign acquired grant money to hold a conference, it would be the
perfect opportunity to have face-to-face interaction with NYS college and university
administrators.

CAMPAIGN
With this marketing campaign we plan to promote our message through multiple channels including a web site, social media accounts,
noted speakers, public service announcements, and a campus starter kit. These campaign strategies would be low to no cost for this
part of our strategy. If money from grants, corporate funding, or other sources became available, our main goal would be a statewide
conference on sustainability.

Web

Web presence would be the easiest way to target a large, but specific, audience. With our main target audience being between the ages of 18 and 24,
many of that population holds a high interest in social media and have a large online presence. Our message would be promoted heavily through
Facebook. Through this medium, a specific audience can be targeted through pages, events, promotions, or with funding, even advertisements could
be added to the social media aspect of the campaign.
Through Twitter, creating a handle and following groups or people could spread awareness throughout the college community. This promotion could
connect students with similar interests and promote sustainability through tweeting facts, sharing articles, and promoting sustainable events that are
happening around New York. Currently, there are no social media sites dedicated solely to environmental awareness, but that doesnt mean one could
not be created. This web presence could be a strong outlet to create awareness in areas even outside of New York and unify campuses participating
in the social movement. The main hub for NYSSEWG would be a custom website. By forming this web page, all schools that are participating could
have a resource to access information, ask questions, and connect with other schools trying to promote the same ideas.

Guest Speakers

Another part of our low-budget campaign would be guest speakers from the NYSSEWG organization who could explain the message, ideas, and
values that are important to them. They could partner with student organizations that are always trying to plan new and exciting events and become a
great opportunity for schools to educate their students. Through these speakers and events there could be an email newsletter sign-up so that students
could be sent more information. This could also connect campuses to our campaign website. Emails could provide more information, fun facts,
articles and more, so students would feel more engaged with the message of the campaign. Through our website, we could also have students sign up
to get these emails if they are interested in learning more.

Public Service Announcements

Public service announcements are also a way to target a mass college audience. If there is a communications program at the school or some form
of television or radio, a commercial creating awareness could get more people involved in the ideas of the message. Many college radio stations,
including Ithaca Colleges 91.7 WICB, will have PSAs free of cost so students are educated in their local issues and news. This would be a great way
to access a different area of the student population.

CAMPAIGN

Partnerships

Social organizations need to network with other non-profits and advocacy groups in order to share resources and ultimately succeed. The Association
for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education is an excellent organization that holds webinars, conferences and other professional
development opportunities. By partnering with AASHE, the New York State Sustainability Educators Working Group can benefit from their network
and resources to further the importance of sustainability literacy in NYS colleges and universities.

Campus Starter Kits

Another element of this campaign will be a Campus Starter Kit. The greatest resource the New York State Sustainability Educators Working Group
has is knowledge. Its a group of driven, intelligent educators who can lend all kinds of advice on implementing sustainability programming and
degrees at colleges and universities across the state. The NYSSEWG members can work together to develop Campus Starter Kits to be distributed
to environmentally minded student organizations. These kits will include instructions on how to start small, like with on-campus composting and
recycling programs. These kits can also include advice on starting a petition to create a sustainability degree or certificate program at a college or
university. The kit will also have event ideas, sustainability resources and facts about the importance of sustainability in the modern world. The kits
will be available for download as a PDF from the NYSSEWG website.

Conference

With very little funding, the earlier activities could be great tools to gain support in the campaign, but there should be a goal if there was access to
money. A great way for students to be able to be involved and interact with other students from New York schools involved in this would be a major
conference hosted for administrators and student leaders interested in promoting sustainability. This could assist in not only educating the interested
students but it could gain interest from other students who had not considered being involved with the other programs. Students would be able to go
to sessions, watch documentaries, listen to speakers, and network with professionals at this conference. By creating this great experience, interest
level could be increased.

S
OPPORTUNITIE
FOR FUNDING
We have found that the most successful funded projects are collaborative, creative, and
sustainable- bringing together groups and individuals from a variety of disciplines and
backgrounds, providing a new solution to a difficult problem, and having continuity
beyond the initial funding phase. Middlebury College, Environmental Council.

ur campaign philosophy is to make sustainability easily accessible to colleges that are looking to expand or begin their own sustainability
programs. In order to achieve this goal, we must make our program available with little to non-existent funding. By making an impact on the
students who care, student leaders, campus ambassadors, and various cause-enthusiasts, we can guarantee an overall influence on that particular
school and the message we are trying to promote. This would only be a starting point, raising awareness with no funding is an attainable goal;
however, once popularity among schools has increased we can begin to discover ways of funding future projects. Funding can be achieved through
several different sources, both internally on the college campuses and through numerous outside sources. Outside resources include sites such as
Care2.org and Globalgiving.org. These sites will allow us to use their online platform as a means to connect with other students, families, faculty,
and community members to raise awareness of our effort to promote sustainability literacy and secure donations. Internally, Ithaca College and other
New York State schools have Proposal and Grant writing courses, which we could utilize to help our campaign funding goals. If we find a grant, and
suggest it for our campaign, particularly when looking for money for our conference, we can use these educational courses and use NYSSEWG as a
client. This gets writing students involved, gives them real life experience, and hopefully results in more funding for New York schools.

CONCLUSION

fter this plan has been put into action, tests to measure interest, awareness, and overall knowledge of sustainability literacy
growing throughout the campuses would need to be executed. The growth, interest, and awareness would alter depending
on the size of the school, number of programs already offered, and funding. For our plan, a short-term goal would be to increase
awareness and interest of sustainability by 30% within two to five years. In order to really track the progress of the schools we
would want to focus on two different schools in order to evaluate the success and further initiate the plan throughout other schools.
Preferably, we would choose one school that has a small sustainability program or no sustainability program and put our plan to
action to see what parts are successful and what needs improvement. We would also chose a school with a more developed program
and see how to improve what the university already has in place by offering more organizations, activities, or other resources to build
interest. We would directly follow the progress of these two schools and how the sustainability is developing and later implement a
more developed plan from the success and alterations in the original plan in all colleges and universities across NY State. We could
host a survey to test sustainability literacy, interest, and awareness of the programs for before and during the implementation of the
programs. We would also record what resources and programs the school already has in place and the amount of interest within
each area. Growth could be measured through the number of organizations, students in the programs, and students interested in
sustainability. A long-term goal would be funding for education and the ability to integrate sustainability directly into the curriculum
through classes, programs, and various degrees. This would take much more funding than our plan is able to accommodate because
of the need for professors, interest in classes, facilities, and other resources. The interest of the students would need to motivate the
institutions to create funding within their budget for these educational opportunities.