WM Ad Campaign Stresses Environment

Waste Management Inc., Houston, has introduced a new television advertising campaign that focuses on environmental messages, including its role as a major recycler.

The 2006-07 campaign, devised by advertising agency FKM (Fogarty Klein Monroe), includes a substantial media buy within news and sports venues on major networks and cable television, according to the two companies.

Research led FKM and Waste Management to identify three messages from the company’s 2005 environmental performance to highlight during the campaign:

• Waste Management recycles enough paper to save more than 41 million trees.
• The company generates enough green energy to power more than a million homes.
• Waste Management landfills provide more than 17,000 acres of wildlife habitat, some of which is certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council, a nonprofit, non-lobbying 501(c)-3 group of corporations, conservation organizations and individuals dedicated to restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat.

“The goal of the Waste Management ad campaign is to link everyday collection to environmental protection in the minds of consumers,” says Waste Management Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing David Aardsma. “Most people don’t even know that Waste Management Recycle America is North America’s largest recycler, or that our renewable energy projects exist. We are excited to tell that story.”

According to FKM Senior Vice President and Creative Director Suzie “Z” Jennings, “It is proof of performance for Waste Management. Anyone can do an aspirational ad. But you don’t have to imagine a better world if you are already helping to make it happen. That is the beauty of these ads.”

In one 30-second spot, titled “Think Green-Trees,” cinematic shots of a lush hillside forest and its animal inhabitants are juxtaposed against the familiar green Waste Management truck driving on a road.

“I wanted to visually convey the impact of Waste Management’s efforts to recycle and renew environmental resources,” says cinematographer Eric Saarinen. “So I incorporated sweeping aerial views of untouched forests, an allusion to the 41 million trees saved; breathtaking bird’s-eye views to represent the company’s respect for and connection to nature; and warm, heroic shots of a Waste Management truck driver who is an actual employee.”

The Cascades in Washington provided the picturesque and pristine landscapes. The production team used techniques that included a helicopter for the aerial shots in the opening scenes and the Ultimate Arm (robo-arm) for shooting a flying bird, the moving truck driver and the bird’s point of view.

The FKM campaign will include additional components such as print advertising in national magazines, bill stuffers, on-hold messages, direct mail, employee communications, T-shirts and a street presence through signage on the Waste Management fleet.

“When originally tested, people in focus groups did not get the connection between the collection side of the business and the environmental aspect behind the scene,” says FKM CEO Tom Monroe. “People only see what happens at the curb. By explaining and connecting the truck itself to the environmental impact proper waste handling can make, people begin to understand that collection is all part of a much bigger process.”

Waste Management Inc. is one of the nation’s largest providers of collection, transfer, recycling and disposal services. The company also operates and owns waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities.