Trees and Community Connection Fight Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In July 2023, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced a Climate Legacy Initiative to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and help fund the City’s accelerated and equitable climate goals. To educate the public and promote the initiative, the City awarded Russell Herder (RH) a contract through the RFP process to develop campaigns for the Green Cost Share Residential and City Trees programs.
The Green Cost Share Residential program provides single-family home and property owners of 2-4-unit buildings with up to $14,000 in rebates for energy-efficient home projects in Green Zones and up to $5,000 in the rest of the city. Eligible projects include:
- Air Source Heat Pumps
- Air sealing and insulation
- Electric water heaters
- Triple pane windows
- Furnaces and boilers paired with an air-source heat pump
The program also offers a free energy review of your home from the Home Energy Squad.
Within the first two months of the campaign launch, the Green Cost Share program website page designed by Russell Herder welcomed almost 33% of 2024’s total visitors. The page also saw a 13% increase in Google click-through rate and a click-through rate for Meta more than three times the average CTR (click-through rate).
The annual Minneapolis City Trees program offers various tree species for purchase for $30. This low price gives residents and businesses access to trees that increase property values, provide shade and wildlife habitat, and fight the urban heat island effect. In the fall of 2024, the City Trees program sold 2,127 trees and planted 257 trees on commercial properties.
RH hosted focus groups and conducted interviews across various demographics to develop a deep understanding of each program’s audience. This exploration and research process for both programs led to strong and appealing materials in toolkits, resident and partner email, creative development (including icons and campaign identity), digital marketing, community publications, MPR ads, and social media postings.
The research was key to developing the campaign that included multiple outlets to reach various audiences to build a cohesive campaign. Using tactics from traditional media like radio spots to geo-targeted ads, RH has grown awareness for the programs, contributing to the mayor’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
