Volume 3, No. 8. April 25, 2003
Poll vaunting
To gauge children’s
feelings toward the environment, Proprietary Media, the firm promoting the American
Zoo and Aquarium Association’s image campaign with the Aza mascot (THE
LOOP, March 8, 2002), had hoped one million children would log onto Aza’s
web site and take the “Poll for the Planet” posted there. Two years
on, only 60,000 have taken the poll, but that’s a significant jump from
the 10,000 who had responded by this time last year.
It also was enough to discern some important trends in the responses: namely,
that children care deeply about the environment, that children want to help
save the environment, and that children feel most adults care little about the
environment and are doing too little to save it. With enough responses now to
provide statistical merit, the data was compiled into the AZA White Paper which
former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley will present to political, business and foundation
leaders.
“This is not a scientific poll, and we never claimed it was,” said
Janet Weiss, senior vice president and managing director for Proprietary Media,
Inc. “It’s just a great way to gauge what young people are thinking.”
Sixty percent of young people are thinking that not enough was being done to
prevent pollution, and 49 percent felt that not enough was being done to clean
up the environment, according to the poll. More importantly, children are ready
to jump in to the cleanup campaign themselves. “The biggest surprise, and
the greatest news, is that not only do kids think there is a problem and they
want to help, but they believe that they can help, which is wonderful,”
Weiss said. “That is something we absolutely now have to tap into.”
Publication of the 31-page white paper, released Tuesday to coincide with Earth
Day, brings to fruition the centerpiece of the Aza campaign, which also includes
the digital mascot appearing in comic strips and making personal appearances.
While promoting the existence and mission of the AZA, Aza was supposed to entice
children to take action, first by visiting its web site and then by voicing
their opinions or becoming involved. When Aza didn’t seem to be generating
much traffic to the web site, Proprietary Media turned to AZA member institutions
for help in promoting the campaign. The institutions obviously stepped up. Of
the 60,000 respondents to the poll, more than 45,000 completed the survey at
83 zoos and aquariums across North America, while just 12,374 completed the
on-line form.
The mere fact that the children took the survey at zoos or by voluntarily going
to the Aza web site skewed participation toward kids who are environmentally
minded in the first place. Nevertheless, Weiss said, the survey results show
“a message of hope, that these kids feel that they can make a difference.”
Now it is up to Bradley to take this message and use his eloquence to convince
government officials, corporate CEOs and foundation leaders to partner with
AZA in providing children a means to engage in conservation activities.
Bradley also has the comfort of knowing his own eloquence can be bolstered by
some equally poignant commentary from the children themselves. One girl commented
on the poll that her house lies near a “bad river” that “smells
like poop, and living a road away from it can’t be as bad as living in
it.”
To download the white paper, visit www.azasweb.com.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
©2003, Minton Enterprises
LLC
All rights reserved
