Park&Co

How we empowered residents, stakeholders to "Secure Arizona's Future" with an integrated campaign utilizing traditional and non-traditional efforts

Clients usually call on advertisers to help sell the sizzle. Resolution Copper Mining needed something else entirely. The engineering, economics and environmental stewardship behind their planned project was awe-inspiring, and the company had thousands of citizens throughout Arizona who could sell the mine's merits far better than any ad agency. What they did need were ways to make all those opinions heard by state representatives in Washington. Because unless a congressional bill could be passed providing safe access to the ore body via a generous exchange of conservation lands, one of the largest copper deposits in the world would forever remain 7,000 feet underground.

The numbers surrounding the mine are staggering, the most impressive one being $46 billion of economic activity generated over the mine’s nearly six-decade lifespan. But even huge numbers can fall flat without the stories of the people they impact, so we brought the two together with a mix of online, social media and traditional communications.

We started by building securearizonasfuture.com, a clearinghouse and forum for facts, updates and opinions on the project. Attracting nearly 2,000 pageviews a month, the site gives all interested parties the opportunity to comment on the project, ask questions, access other sources of information and become more involved.

Reading people's thoughts on a web page makes an impression, but seeing and hearing those people makes an infinitely greater one. To that end, we harnessed the power of YouTube and do-it-yourself videos to create a Secure Arizona's Future YouTube channel. Now, just about anyone who wants to can have a voice (and a mug) in the conversation.

While the massive economic figures generated by the mine were impressive, they weren’t very expressive. RCM needed to bring those big numbers down to size. Our print campaign showed the difference they could make at a human level. Billions of dollars and thousands of jobs are just statistics until a new bakery opens on the corner or your son finds gainful employment.

For now, the fate of the Resolution Copper Project at Superior lies in the hands of federal legislators. But thanks to these communications efforts, state representatives have never been better informed about who their efforts affect and how they feel about the issue. Because even with a project of this scale and importance, the numbers don't always speak for themselves. Sometimes they need a little help.

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