Ryobi's environmentally friendly cultivator
Ryobi has jointly
with Imre & Associates, LLC
Silver Anvil Award for 1999.
Overview
By mid-1996, Ryobi was facing a major challenge. While the company was spending millions of dollars to develop environmentally friendly engines for garden equipment to prepare for the California Air Resources Board's (CAB) strict emission limits in 1999, other garden equipment manufacturers began to lobby intensively to relax these limits. Faced with near-unanimous industry opposition, the California Board began to waver, jeopardising Ryobi's investment in the new engine technology.
The nation's leading petrol cultivator manufacturer has just introduced the world's first environmentally friendly four-wheeled cultivator. The new engine produced 70% less smog-forming emissions than its competitors' engines and easily fit within the original restrictions scheduled for 1999. With the fate of the restrictions now up in the air, Ryobi's board of directors made a strategic decision to protect its investment by organising a PR campaign to encourage the CEB to implement its original emission limits in 1999.
A decision on the restrictions was to be made at the CGC board meeting in Sacramento on 27 March 1998. By taking swift and decisive action to protect its interests in the California garden equipment market, Ryobi publicly stepped away from the industry's position in the "David vs. Goliath" battle over emissions limits for garden equipment. As a result of a PR campaign based on research into the many facets of the issue, Ryobi succeeded in convincing the CAFC to adopt strict environmental limits that were virtually identical to the 1999 standard. This success, in turn, helped persuade the US Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its position, which was inclined to accept the California standard.
Research.
Ryobi employees have carried out extensive work to analyse the proposed restrictions, which included the following studies:
defining the individual positions of the members of the CSRD Board;
analysing the proposals of the CSRD staff and identifying the positions of all competitors and trade associations;
Conducting telephone interviews with members of the CEB, interested environmental groups and associations supporting clean technologies;
analysis of court records under the Freedom of Information Act;
conducting media analysis over the past five years.
The Portable Machinery Manufacturers Association, which represents the majority of the industry, was the most vocal in its opposition to the restrictions. Ryobi closely followed this group. The company also researched other professional associations, such as groups of landscape architects, loggers, service companies and environmental groups, to identify potential allies. In addition, the CEB's website was monitored, as well as legislative activity in the state of California, to identify any changes to emissions limits.
After a thorough analysis of all the research Ryobi had done, it became clear that it was alone in its support for the CEB's tough emissions limits, with the exception of the Pollution Control Association and other poorly funded environmental organisations. The CEB staff turned to Ryobi for help, knowing that without its active support and professional arguments, stricter environmental laws would never see the light of day. Time was running out.
Planning
Based on the research findings, Ryobi's management approved the PR initiative, allocating a budget of USD 150,000 to achieve two main goals.
To persuade the CEB to approve the initial emission limits at the 27 March 1998 board meeting.
Support the Environmental Protection Agency's intention to critically review its proposals to limit emissions from small handheld equipment on a national scale.
To fulfil these objectives, the company's PR team developed a strategy and outlined the campaign in a report to the company's president. The Baltimore-based PR agency Imre & Associates, LLC was tasked with strategic planning, media relations and event coordination, while the San Francisco-based environmental law firm McCutchen Doyle was to conduct legal research and develop a government relations action plan. The planning began with the identification of key stakeholders to clarify tactical priorities and define the team's responsibilities. The primary audience consisted of members of the CSRD Board and its staff and the Environmental Protection Agency. Secondary audiences included employees of California service companies, environmental organisations, competitors/manufacturers, mechanical equipment manufacturers' associations, related professional associations and influential trade and policy journalists.
The team came to the conclusion that all ideas should be compatible with each other, address different areas of human activity, and use different means of communication. The system for disseminating ideas should be legally and ethically correct. The main emphasis was placed on extensive research and written evidence of environmental safety, as well as face-to-face meetings with the target audience. To enable Ryobi to take its rightful place in the minds of the target audience and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the company's technology (which competitors had called impractical and insufficiently reliable), it was also necessary to prepare targeted press articles and special promotions. All communication was based on the slogan "Ryobi four-wheeled cultivator: the future is bright".
Implementation
In order to achieve these goals, the multi-level information support was supported by ongoing research, and during 1997 and early 1998 the ideas were tested in practice.
Oral, written and visual materials were prepared for all meetings.
Team members held regular video conferences and weekly teleconferences with the target audience.
Personal meetings were held with individual members of the Management Board and the CSRD staff.
Written materials were provided to sympathetic stakeholders and sent to the staff and board members of the CSRD.
Private product demonstrations and visits to production facilities were arranged for influential individuals and organisations.
Public demonstrations of the product were organised throughout California and at major industry trade shows.
Through direct mail, letters were sent to California dealers advising them to contact Ryobi to find out about the latest changes in the legislation.
At the same time, a media relations campaign was launched in full force, with information packs complete with diagrams and graphs explaining the mechanism of environmental pollution. In the weeks leading up to the CEB meeting scheduled for 27 March 1998, specially prepared PR materials explaining the company's position were published in electronic and print media. Individual meetings with journalists were organised in editorial offices, at Ryobi plants and at trade fairs. Published information and analytical materials were shared with influential people in the CSR Committee and the Environmental Protection Agency to emphasise the importance of the ideas proposed. Shortly before the CEB meeting, in-depth articles on the issue appeared in Popular Science and the Wall Street Journal. On the day of the CEB meeting, the Sacramento Bee published an editorial in support of strict emission limits, in which Ryobi was called the only corporation fighting a fair fight against virtually the entire industry.
Throughout 1997 and 1998, Ryobi continued to promote its product intensively, despite the pressure Press conferences and product demonstrations under the slogan "Ryobi Four-Wheeled Tiller: The Future is Bright" were held at major industry trade shows in Louisville and Chicago Lunches with invited journalists were held to discuss issues in a more informal setting.
Evaluation
The programme objectives were achieved within the approved budget.
The CSRC adopted the restrictions, which were favourable to the company, at a board meeting on 27 March 1998. Ryobi is now in a position to capture a significant share of the California market as one of the few manufacturers whose products are not subject to the restrictions The CEB board cited articles published by influential publications to justify their support for Ryobi's position, and CEB management sent a letter of appreciation to the company, praising its role in the fight for clean air in California.
The Environmental Protection Agency has changed the timetable for the introduction of national emission standards for garden equipment and is seriously considering adopting restrictions similar to those in California.
Bottom line. At the time of the CEB meeting, only one other manufacturer's products met the stringent California standards. As of 5 March 1999, almost all garden equipment manufacturers had announced plans to develop engines that meet the new standards. Ryobi's PR campaign not only protected the company's investment, but also encouraged mechanical garden equipment manufacturers to produce environmentally friendly products on a national scale.
