As the nation’s leading tech and telecom provider, Verizon has the power to steer the $29 billion phone accessory industry in a more sustainable direction by selling fewer plastic cases and more eco-friendly ones. To help drive awareness of our “better for the planet” eco-friendly accessories, we reinvented the classic marketing promotion BOGO (Buy One. Get One.) by turning it into BOPO (Buy One. Plant One.), an initiative that plants one real tree for every Verizon eco-friendly accessory sold.
We also set a big goal: one million trees.
To demonstrate that we were dreaming big, we planted one million tree emojis on social media, with a simple call to action: BOPO.
Problem: Verizon isn’t the first place people go to when they want to buy accessories. They often don’t even know we sell them—much less eco-friendly ones. We knew we had to get people’s attention by doing things differently from the usual promo ads, on a day when people were thinking about the environment.
On Earth Day, to show people how each eco-friendly accessory they bought could become one of the million trees Verizon is planting in real life, we planted one million tree emojis across social media platforms.
With each platform presenting its own challenges, ranging from time limits to space constraints, we found ways to work with them in service of our idea. To maximize our strategy, we tailored our ads to align with how users engage on each of the selected platforms.
On Snapchat, 175 trees filled the screen in six seconds. By liking our Twitter ad, users received a bespoke tree with a response tweet from Verizon. And on Pinterest, we planted all one million trees in 15 minutes—the longest Pin possible—letting the sheer volume of trees on users’ screens make a visual impact as they were planted one by one. The campaign garnered 103 million impressions, and 163,000 (and counting) living, breathing, oxygen-making, water-conserving trees were planted.
BOPO garnered 103 million impressions, with more than 163,000 Verizon eco-friendly accessories sold (and trees planted) last year.
Stats aside, we succeeded in raising awareness of Verizon’s long-term commitment to sustainability, and how a small decision, like buying an eco-friendly phone case, could make a big difference.
Times a million.
