French/West/Vaughan
CCA NC Save Our Fisheries Marketing Campaign
Campaign to save coastal fisheries hooks national and global coverage
In North Carolina, a campaign to stop overfishing took a multipronged approach. It’s a winner for Cause-Related Marketing Campaigns in Ragan’s PR Daily Awards.
North Carolina’s coastal fisheries are in trouble. Based on the year-over-year decline in coastal fish stocks, the state is allowing wasteful overharvesting for profit. In 2021, the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina sued the state to demand accountability. In 2022, working with French/West/Vaughn, CCA NC launched Save Our Fisheries, a campaign to raise public awareness and turn the tide in the debate.
FWV devised a public information campaign to inform the citizens of North Carolina about the ongoing decline of the state’s once-abundant coastal fisheries resources. Their task was to translate a complex issue into a clearly defined, public-facing narrative that would resonate with citizens, generate support, stimulate engagement and inspire action.
Save Our Fisheries was designed to energize and educate the public about the decline in coastal fish stocks. The first step was to create a campaign entity, which led to the campaign name. FWV led the development of the campaign web page to define the movement definition and give it credibility as part of an aggressive media relations initiative.
The campaign was executed in phases. Message development came first, followed by web page copywriting and design, video scripting and editing, logo development, print creative, media relations planning and media outreach. The media relations effort required developing rapport with multiple media outlets along the North Carolina coast that were with the commercial fishing community and even had personal connections with it. PR tactics involved recruiting a roster of experts for interviews, along with working watermen and fishing guides from coastal North Carolina.
The media outreach generated a steady stream of print, broadcast and online coverage. The tipping point came on Sept. 6, 2022, when the Raleigh, N.C. bureau of the Associated Press covered the decision by the NC Court of Appeals to reject the state’s request to dismiss the CCA NC lawsuit. FWV facilitated an AP interview with CCA NC executive director David Sneed, which generated nationwide coverage. Supplemental media visibility, giving CCA NC additional credibility, included coverage of an artificial reef project in the Pamlico River.
The campaign was formally unveiled on Sept. 28, 2022, with the Save Our Fisheries logo, web page and campaign video, along with window stickers, handouts, T-shirts and other campaign-branded collateral, all supported by earned media.
Earned media impressions for Save Our Fisheries surpassed the goal of 10 million, reaching a total of 416,026,526). Total placements across 14 months came to 140, exceeding the goal of 56.
Coverage spread from North Carolina across the U.S. to Houston, Kansas City and San Francisco through the AP and went global on websites like Undercurrent News. The story was covered in fishing blogs, community broadsheets, podcasts, lifestyle magazines and public radio.
Based on comments online and at meetings of the Marine Fisheries Commission, the general sentiment is overwhelmingly in favor of policy reform to end wasteful commercial overharvesting and restore the health and abundance of North Carolina’s coastal inshore fisheries.
Congratulations to the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina for its impactful work!