Over 32 days in August and September 2023, endurance swimmer and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) Patron of the Oceans, Lewis Pugh, swam the 315-mile length of the Hudson River from source to sea, not only as a physical challenge but to tell a powerful story to motivate change.
The objectives of the Hudson Swim 2023 campaign were to shine a spotlight on rivers and generate widespread awareness of these crucial ecosystems. We used the extraordinary story of the Hudson’s restoration as an example of what can be achieved through people organising around a common cause.
This journey was part of a multi-channel campaign that targeted prominent US and international print and broadcast media and spanned platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok, as well as the Foundation website.
To engage our desired audience and stress the urgent need to restore, protect, and respect rivers, our content strategy included a combination of video, text, and photo posts, as well as blogs and media op-eds. We also engaged with local and global voices, and used our platforms to amplify their river-conservation messages and connect them with one another across continents.
The timing of the swim aligned with the UN General Assembly and Climate Week NYC 2023, which ensured this message was shared widely. Extensive coverage, millions of social media impressions, and heightened public engagement, showed how strategic storytelling and community collaboration can inspire global support for rivers around the world.
Prior to the launch of the Hudson Swim, through our River Warriors initiative, the Foundation connected with people working to protect and restore rivers on every continent. During the campaign, we highlighted their work and also called on them to help share our message.
During the swim, we had on-the-ground professionals, including a videographer, photographer and social media manager, working in tandem with our headquarters social media team, comprising a website developer, a graphic designer, and a long-form writer. This collaborative effort allowed us to create diverse, visually rich content tailored to different platforms, and strengthen our on-site engagements.
This included captivating video footage of Lewis’s swim, pieces to camera by Lewis, and informative text posts accompanied by high-quality, engaging photos of the river and its people. It was disseminated across various social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and our website and touched on a range of themes, from threats to fresh drinking water from pollutants to the beauty of river ecosystems and local initiatives to conserve the river and its wildlife.
To boost engagement, we strategically tagged influential social media accounts, adapted to the different platforms’ styles, organised daily interviews and media engagements for Lewis, and actively promoted these events on our channels.
Our on-the-ground PR team not only played a pivotal role in amplifying our message but also secured high-profile media engagements, including TV, radio, and newspaper interviews. This resulted in coverage by high-impact international print and broadcast media outlets such as the New York Times, NBC and Fox News, significantly elevating the reach and impact of our campaign. Media heavyweights CBS and Al Jazeera, among others, also joined Lewis on the swim. This access granted them the opportunity to create in-depth news pieces about the swim and campaign.
We also organised in-person events along the river, bringing together passionate individuals, organisations and communities such as the Native American Ramapough Turtle Clan, river advocacy group Riverkeeper, and iconic journalist and river storyteller Jon Bowermaster. These collaborative efforts with local communities further extended our reach.
The end of the swim coincided with the UN General Assembly Week, Climate Week NYC 2023, and the UN Secretary General’s Climate Ambition Summit. Our timing of the swim was specifically targeted to ensure a prominent place for rivers in the run up to and during UN Climate Week.
Despite the success of our campaign, it was not without challenges, particularly in managing the intricate logistics of the swim. Run by a small team engaging with a vast community, we encountered a large number of daily requests coming in from media and locals and had to do our best to respond to each and every one. We also had the formidable task of planning swim routes affected by unpredictable weather and timing constraints. Each day brought its own set of challenges, from ensuring Lewis covered sufficient distance in his daily swims despite exhaustion and pain, while simultaneously prioritising the safety of our on-water team.
We secured:
These results indicate that we were successful in increasing the profile of river protection issues on the international news cycle, which was directly in line with our objective to generate awareness of rivers.
Throughout the #HudsonSwim2023, our message was amplified by people along the Hudson, who shared their love of their river. This demonstrated the power of strategic storytelling and targeted media engagement in driving environmental action.
Our social media content received:
In the aftermath of the campaign, there was an enhanced awareness of how environmental measures can help reverse the damage done by historic pollution. On August 19 2023, Governor of New York State Kathy Hochul signed a law that prevented over one million gallons of radioactive water from being dumped into the Hudson River.
In November 2023, New York State announced that it was taking legal action against PepsiCo, seeking damages for the volume of plastic pollution that the conglomerate had contributed to the Buffalo River.
From the above, it would appear that we encouraged policymakers to take action to protect their cities’ waterways, showing how The Hudson Swim was indeed a powerful story that motivated change.
