2000 Platinum Pr Honorable Mention
The Case
The American Plastics Council (APC) headed into 1999 on a mission to leverage the Web in promoting plastic's virtues to consumers, as well as niche markets such as teachers,
automotive manufacturers and conservation groups.
The trade association - whose members include heavy-hitters such as ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical and DuPont - already had a Web site (PlasticsResource) that highlighted plastic's
environmental benefits. But plastic had a bigger story to tell. Aside from its "green" value, the material boasts an array of lifestyle benefits that APC wanted to showcase. To
wit: plastic is the key ingredient in prosthetic legs for people with disabilities, in the bicycle helmets that keep kids safe, and in the packaging that seals food products and
prevents the spread of bacteria. The industry also provides well over 1.3 million jobs in the United States.
APC hired the DC-based interactive agency The Bivings Group (then Bivings Woodell) in October 1998 to help build a comprehensive Web portal that would educate consumers and
position the trade association as the premier authority on plastics and the plastic industry.
An Integrated Strategy
The Web project was only one part of a larger communications initiative. APC simultaneously planned an ad campaign (set to launch Jan. 10, 1999) with the theme, "Plastics Make
it Possible." Television and print spots would showcase the lifestyle benefits of the material and feature the association's new URL, Plastics.org, prominently. If the ad
campaign did its job and sparked more inquiries about plastic, the organization would see a significant increase in traffic to its Web site. Bivings Woodell had roughly three
months and a budget of $400,000 to build a Web destination that was not only rich in content, but also linked to APC's offline customer service center with order forms and comment
boxes.
Better Material
In redesigning APC's online communications program, The Bivings Group needed to address the interests of not only general consumers, but also specific niche markets such as
conservationists, educators, recycling plant managers and automotive manufacturers/suppliers. To this end, content from the original environmental site, PlasticsResource.com, was
refashioned as one of several channels housed on the portal site. New channels from the "APC family" included Plasticsinfo.org, which answers common questions about health
and safety issues, and Plastics-car.org, which highlights the role of plastics in automotive design. The portal page also began to offer links to sister sites representing
affiliate groups like the Vinyl Institute and the Alliance for the Polyurethanes Industry.
In April 2000, APC unveiled "Hands on Plastic" - a channel featuring lesson plans and science project ideas for teachers - at a convention of the National Science Teachers
Association. Mousepads and other goodies touting the URL helped anchor the site's benefits in teachers' minds.
While various pages on Plastics.org still reiterate the "Plastics Make it Possible" advertising message and share common design elements with the ad campaign, The Bivings Group
consciously crafted the site to read like an online publication - not a pitch - as a means of solidifying consumer trust. Articles, updated daily, are service-oriented in nature,
offering not only key industry messages, but also consumer tips (e.g., how to use recycled products in landscaping and gardening).
Better Results
APC and The Bivings Group have continued to upgrade the site's content and interface since its launch, based on user feedback. For example, when the initial design proved too
image-heavy and difficult to download, the Web team switched to a more streamlined, text-oriented format. Results have been positive. Traffic on the site has increased 500%
since the portal was introduced, and the program now attracts roughly 50,000 unique users per month (compared with the10,000 visitors per month who were visiting APC's original
site).
To bolster interest in the site, APC recently began promoting a companion newsletter via list serv to 6,000 interested subscribers.
The Web portal also has helped streamline APC's consumer service efforts by offering online ordering options, and reducing the delivery time for reference material. APC
publications that once took two to three weeks to reach consumers now arrive on doorsteps in three to four business days. And information requests received via email and Web site
feedback are answered within 48 hours.
The site received a nice plug from Time when the magazine featured Leo Baekeland, the inventor of the first completely synthetic plastic, as one of the 100 Most
Important People of the Century.
(Todd Zeigler, director of PR, Bivings Woodell, 202/467-8334, http://www.bivwood.com)
Thinking Ahead
APC waited until 1999 to launch its portal to the world. Fortunately, it had an important order of business taken care of before it began construction on the project. The
association bought rights to the URL Plastics.org back in 1993.
Chemistry at The Bivings Group
Founded: 1993
HQ: Washington, DC
Satellite offices: Tokyo, Brussels
Clients: BP Amoco, Digital Media Assocation, Georgia Pacific, Monsanto, NASA
Staff: 70+
Staff on account: 4
Staff's collective fluency: 25 languages, plus Javascript, C++, Visual Basic, Perl & Flash.
Revenues (1999): $2.9 million