Timberland Co., the Stratham, NH-based shoe giant, has had
multiple community service programs for years, including local
Earth Day events sponsored by its retail outlets and the Path of
Service program, which gives employees 40 hours of paid time
annually in exchange for volunteering.
Still, the shoe company wanted a sole community service program
that its 4,500 employees and business partners could rally around
for a more general esprit de corps. So in 1997, inspired by the
Lollapalooza Music Festival, Timberland created Serv-a-palooza,
which unites thousands of employees, vendors, community partners
and youth in a full day of community services throughout the
world.
"We had done [community services] individually, or in small
steps, but didn't have one day where we could bring all employees
and partners together," says Robin Giampa, senior manager/corporate
communications at Timberland. "Serv-a-palooza made sense to us
because it was a way to galvanize employees."
Launched as part of the company's 25th anniversary,
Serv-a-palooza has continued to build on its successes in the last
seven years. In 2003, the event generated 31,000 hours of community
service in 22 countries on four continents (Africa, Asia, Europe
and North America), the equivalent of more than 3.5 years of 24/7
community service in a single day. (The program also won PR NEWS'
CSR Award/2003 in the Community Affairs category.)
Projects included transforming a youth center in Philadelphia
through mural painting and landscaping; deepening a bird nesting
area and upgrading local community parks in Malaysia; renovating
libraries and classrooms in South Africa and restoring the grounds
of a senior citizen's home in the United Kingdom to improve safety
and enhance the environment. Indeed, many of the projects focused
on improving/refurbishing schools, hospitals and community centers,
many of them in Timberland's home state of New Hampshire.
Although Serv-a-palooza has garnered plenty of media exposure
through the years, "the project is less about media coverage and
more about grass roots efforts," says Ed Dixon, senior VP/consumer
marketing practice for Porter Novelli, who has been assisting
Timberland for the last year on the Serv-a-palooza campaign as well
as other PR efforts. Media coverage "could weaken the message if
the company is portrayed as doing community service just for the
sake of getting exposure."
Rather than a company picnic or some other such event dictated
from high above, Timberland closed its offices last October 2 so
employees et al. could participate in Serv-a- palooza. Many of the
projects are selected from the ground up; employees submit their
ideas nine months in advance and, regardless of their title, can
nominate themselves as "Project Managers."
Employees don't need that much arm-twisting to get involved. "If
we didn't have the horsepower behind the effort, it wouldn't be
effective," Giampa says, adding that every year since it started,
Serve-A-palooza has rated high on employee surveys.
Timberland's one main criteria for choosing the projects is
sustainability. "We want to make sure it's a real community need,"
Giampa adds. "And that we're picking spots that can be easily
maintained."
In keeping with Timberland's low-key approach to CSR, there is
no signage or "branding" efforts at any of the community service
events. Employees wear their Timberland boots while participating
in the events -- but that's about it.
No matter. Last year's Serv-a-palooza got wide exposure on both
the local and global levels. Most if not all of the local dailies
and public affairs programs in New Hampshire picked up the story,
as did the Boston Globe and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Several
trade publications, including DNR, Footwear News and Footwear+,
also ran stories on Serv-a- palooza some ink.
And in what is a senior PR manager's dream, a reporter from the
Financial Times accompanied Timberland president-CEO Jeffrey Swartz
to a Serv-a-palooza event in the United Kingdom. A full-page
feature on Swartz -- and his commitment to community service -- ran
a few days later.
Is Too Much Media Coverage A Bad Thing?
"Media coverage of Timberland's involvement is not the priority
- in fact, too much media visibility might negatively impact
Timberland's brand. However, we work to encourage key media to
participate in community service activities, with the goal of
convincing them that company involvement in community service
activities is a story worthy of telling."
- Ed Dixon, Porter Novelli
Contacts: Ed Dixon, 212.601.8281, [email protected];
Robin Giampa, 603.773.1174, [email protected]