Author: Simon Roth
Sydney March 31st, 2007 – It was 7:30pm when the lights went out and the city turned dark.
This very hour without lights from 7:30pm to 8:30pm marked the start of what can be described as one of the most powerful global campaigns, which – in the beginning – was not intended to become global at all.
The Earth Hour was initiated by WWF Australia (www.wwf.org) and conceived by advertising agency Leo Burnett (www.leoburnett.com.au) to take a stand against climate change. Already the following year, the Earth Hour had become a global event with more then 50 million people participating across 35 countries.
In its 5th year, over 5000 cities in 135 countries participated and reached an estimated 1.8 billion people worldwide. In addition to the enormous awareness and reduction in power consumption, Earth Hour generates a huge media coverage and other related activities such as the “black” Google page just to name one famous example.
Within 5 years, the Earth Hour (www.earthhour.org) has developed from a local PR event into a movement of unprecedented proportions, which would earn the title for a true international campaign more than anything else.
One question arises though: Will a commercial marketing campaign have the same potential to inspire and engage people around the world on a similar level? Please share your thoughts!
Official Earth Hour movie: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FovYv8vf5_E&w=530&h=298]
The Earth Hour definitely is a success story. Sometimes just the fact that the right message is being spread at the right time with the right media and reaches the right people makes a story a success story.
But I don’t think that a commercial marketing campaign could have a similar success, unless it treats an issue, a need or a feeling that is equally received and treated by the world’s entire population and/or affects the whole world in the same way.