The FINANCIAL — World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the global conservation nonprofit known for its iconic panda logo, launched a national brand marketing campaign across the U.S. declaring 2021 as a crucial year to show your love for nature. The year-long campaign, “Love It or Lose It,” debuting the week of Valentine’s Day, calls on everyone to show their love for nature, upon which all of humanity depends. Anchored by a multi-channel public service announcement campaign, virtual events, and a newly released rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender” by singer-songwriter K.S. Rhoads, the campaign showcases the interconnected relationship we have with nature and what we could lose if we do not love it enough to conserve it.
“As we enter 2021, we want our message to focus on the strength and resilience found in love,” said Terry Macko, chief marketing officer of WWF in the U.S. “The problems facing our natural world can seem overwhelming, and the solutions are often complex, but just maybe, underneath it all, love is the answer. Love is the most precious resource we each possess, and without it, we cannot thrive. When we love something, protecting it is the baseline. We honor, cherish, and nurture what we love. By showing nature abiding love, we can help ensure its survival—which we need to sustain us all.”
According to WWF, Love It or Lose It is backed by WWF’s mission to protect wildlife and wild places around the world. The campaign showcases what we love in nature and everything it provides for us: bountiful oceans, intact forests, clean freshwater, abundant wildlife, plentiful food sources, and a stable climate.
Public service television advertisements lead the campaign. The regal kingfisher bird headlines the first 60-second spot, taking viewers on a journey through nature’s chain of life. If one link of the chain is broken, everything is at risk WWF notes.
A second spot (30-, 60-, and 90-second versions) highlighting our planet’s beauty and fragility is paired with K.S. Rhoads’s “Love Me Tender.” The singer says the campaign message strikes a chord with him: “It’s important to me that I help leave a sustainable future for my daughter,” said K.S. Rhoads. “I wholeheartedly support this campaign because of what it represents for her and for all of humanity.” Rhoads timed the release of the song with the launch of the campaign. It is available on all music streaming platforms, and he is donating the proceeds to WWF.
Additional elements of the campaign:
A list of nine magnificent places on our planet that could be irreparably harmed unless we do more to love and protect them. From the Amazon to the Arctic to the Eastern Himalayas, saving these places are at the core of WWF’s conservation work.
Race for Love, the campaign’s first real-time virtual event, takes place on February 14, Valentine’s Day. Participants can choose nature as their valentine and sign up to run a 5K, 10K, or half marathon with people from across the country via the Charge Running app.
A large-scale social media activation across Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, calling on supporters to reconnect with, and share their love of, nature. Throughout the year, social media efforts will reenergize our love of nature and provide key moments that will inspire conversations around nature’s importance using the hashtag #WhyILoveNature.
Public service radio advertisements as well as print, online, and outdoor ads on thousands of billboards and bus shelters across the U.S. round out the campaign.
The Love It or Lose It campaign components are available in both English and Spanish.
“We hope this campaign resonates with all Americans and inspires them to share their love for the nature on this planet we all call home,” said Macko. “By declaring 2021 the year to show your love, we hope to encourage more learning, more conversations, more self-reflection, more action, and above all, greater love for all of our neighbors around the world, love for future generations, and love for nature.”
