Media Analysis

·      Digital Media

Most Effective:
The Chesapeake Club website

The Chesapeake Club website is very broad and does not specifically explain anything that the club currently does. On their homepage, they have a short description of what the club is all about. It is nice that it is lighthearted and includes humor, but at the same time, it is easy to not take the website very seriously.  Since this is a very local, traditional media campaign, it is important that the website can stand out, and currently, it does not do that.

Least Effective:
YouTube.

The Chesapeake Bay Club has a YouTube account called chesbayprogram. On this account, they have 122 short videos. Since joining on June 11, 2008, they have 76 subscribers and 42,644 views, which is not saying a lot. Among these videos, some are advertisements, some are interviews of people that have been involved with the Chesapeake Club, and some are simply videos explaining different aspects of the Chesapeake Bay and why the supporters of this campaign believe the crabs should be protected. We believe it is the least effective, considering their low number of subscribers and views even though they have been apart of YouTube for almost five years.

http://www.youtube.com/user/chesbayprogram


Traditional Media
Most Effective:
Print Advertisements

While they are both successful with television advertising and print advertising, their print ads are the most effective overall. As highlighted on their website, the Chesapeake Club has many slogans and witty sentences that they have put on posters, in newspapers and magazines, and on the tables in various local restaurants. Some of the most successful ones include the following phrases: ?Is the grass really greener if all the blue crabs are gone?? and ?The lunch you save may be your own.? These print ads have been in newspapers such as the Washington Post and outdoors in Union Station, Metro Station, and Metro Cars. They immediately catch the eye of anyone glancing over at them. These ads help raise awareness and would bring a lot of emotion to what the club really stands for.


Least Effective:
Radio advertisements

As opposed to the print advertisements and television advertisements, radio advertisements do not do a lot for visually conveying emotion in the desired message. Also, since it is a local campaign, finding appropriate radio stations to put the advertisements on is more difficult.

http://www.chesapeakeclub.org/media.shtml

News/PR

·      News Release on Virginia.gov

This news release was posted onto the Virgina government website in March 2007. The release announces the campaign’s advertisements will begin to run in Richmond and Hampton Rodes, VA. The release gives an overall supportive tone to the campaign. It outlines what the Chesapeake Club’s goals are and gives several reasons why they support the cause. The Virginia government also is giving the campaign its support it providing funding for the advertisements and facilitating relationships with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Chesapeake Bay Program Implementation Grant fund.

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/pr_relz_detail.shtml?id=2011-11-05-15-11-28-99855

·      Article in March/April 2007 issue of Costal Services Magazine

Costal Services Magazine is a periodical publication produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The article is written from the standpoint of specialists interested in solving environmental problems, such as the pollution of the Chesapeake Bay.  The article praises the campaign’s success in Washington D.C. and highlights the plans of the Virginia government to bring the program into their state. The article acknowledges the innovative approach of the program’s use of humor, and also discusses how the tactics of commercial marketing have been applied to social marketing.

http://www.csc.noaa.gov/magazine/2007/02/article2.html

·      Local Newspaper Article “Humor Boosts Bay Ads on Pollution”

This article was published in the Daily Press, a local newspaper for Hampton Roads, VA. Much like the previous two articles it takes a positive stance on the Chesapeake Bay Club’s approach to preventing pollution. Because it is written for a local readership the article explains the cause and scientific evidence behind the dangers of pollution in the bay. The article also explains the aims of the campaign and why its humor appeal seems to be working. This article provides basic information for the public on how, why and when these ads will be running on their TV and radio stations in the future.

http://articles.dailypress.com/2007-03-06/news/0703060057_1_chesapeake-bay-program-crab-cake-bay-friendly

Evaluation

WVEC Online Article April 19^th 2012

·      Chesapeake bay blu crab population near 20-year high

·      Previous winter cold killed off nearly 1/3 of crabs

·      2012 Blue crab winter dredge survey determined there are 764 million in bay

·      Crab abundance is due to massive bay-wide baby boom, tripling amount of juvenile crabs since last year

·      Regulations in Virginia, shortened season, closed winter dredge fishery, no mention of the Chesapeake Bay Club or lowered fertilizer use

Should have sent out survey/questionnaire to residents of VA to check if they complied with advertisement reducing fertilizer use.

Pollution prevention tactics implemented by the city:

·      Street sweeping
Shoreline restoration projects on City properties
Removal of sediment through ditch cleaning, pipe cleaning, yard waste pickup, etc.
Focus on water quality capital projects
Look for opportunities to enhance or "retrofit" existing water quality structures
Tree planting
Nutrient Management or elimination of fertilizer for City properties
Continuing and enhancing our stormwater education program
Support and partner with local environmental groups

Overall: Chesapeake Club could have had a factor, but one of many

8 P's

1.     The 8 P’s

Product: A change in lawn care and/or landscaping design

Price: A less traditional lawn

Place: Radio, TV, and Outdoor Advertising in the Chesapeake Bay Region

Promotion: Mainly Advertising but some PR

Publics: Homeowners, Policy Makers

Partnership: The club itself is simply a series of partnerships. The club consists of partnerships between Chesapeake Bay Program and government agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, VA Department of Conservation and Recreation, and The Virginia Coastal Zone Program. The club also represents a partnership between local government and regional planning districts.

Policy: Attempts to mandate fertilizer

Purse Strings: See partnerships: that is where the money lies. The “club” is a “club” in name only.

Goals

The primary goal of the Chesapeake Club is to curb the use of fertilizers and other yard maintenance practices that can lead to the creation of excess algae and runoff water. This poses a threat to the overall health of the bay and it's estuaries as well as the tasty seafood native to the bay area.

The behavioral changes that the Chesapeake Club are addressing starts with proper lawn care. By discontinuing the use of fertilizer in the fall, residents of the bay area can help stop runoff water with chemicals in it from enter in the bay. The organization also encourages residents to plant trees and shrubbery that is local to the area. These native plants require less fertilizer because they are meant to thrive in the current conditions. Another added benefit of planting more trees and shrubs is shade. More shade means less runoff and less runoff means a healthier bay.

Next the Chesapeake Club encourages residents to maintain their septic system, to ensure nothing from the system is going into runoff, and eventually contaminating the bay. 

Finally the organization encourages the use of rain barrels to collect water from resident's gutter systems to further prevent excess runoff from entering the bay and estuaries.