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Client: In Harmony Sustainable Landscapes

Situation: An experienced landscape company needed to redefine itself in order to better access the growing market in sustainable design/build.

Strategy: Sage Enviro rebranded In Harmony, including name change, logo, collateral materials and web site.

Results: In Harmony increased its visibility and market share in sustainable landscape design/build, from the Ciscoe show to Street of Dreams. Customers are happy with the company's professional brand and with their healthy, low-maintenance landscapes.

"We have worked with Annette Frahm for many years. Her experience and expertise have allowed us to take our message and marketing to the next level. She cares about our company, and the well being of our business, but above all she cares about us and our people. She is a pleasure to work with and a valuable member of our team."

--Ladd Smith, co-owner, In Harmony Sustainable Landscapes

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Situation: Governments cannot change environmental behavior just by providing information to businesses and the public. They need a more effective way to develop objectives, understand their audiences, create strategies and evaluate their efforts.

Strategy: Annette Frahm has taught workshops locally and at state, regional and national conferences to educate state and local governments about social marketing and how to create more effective environmental programs. In addition, Sage consults on social marketing strategies. For the City of Olympia, Sage interviewed landscapers, surveyed homeowners and developed strategies to change their landscape practices and reducing nitrates in drinking water wells.

Results: A number of governments and nonprofits around the US and Canada have improved their research, planning and evaluation of public education and outreach.

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Project: Green Wave Project

Situation: The Energy Trust of Oregon and other NW energy agencies wanted to assess if and how they should couple energy efficiency with global warming in a regional social marketing campaign.

Strategy:Sage Enviro worked as part of a team to do secondary research on the pros and cons of joining energy efficiency to global warming, including a review of relevant social marketing efforts around the country and interviews with over 25 key informants.

Results: Interactive workshops with research sponsors discussed findings and social marketing strategies. The "roadmap" report included a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats), a social marketing primer and an analysis of exemplary social marketing efforts that could serve as models in the Northwest.

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Project: Green Gardening Program

Situation: The Green Gardening Program had been in existence for 10 years and needed a fresh approach to make it more effective, broaden its reach and achieve results.

Strategy: Sage Enviro is a key part of the team that redesigned this educational program. Sage created and facilitated workshops for nurseries, created new curriculum for horticulture students and developed criteria and promotional messages for a new nursery recognition program. The team developed five annual Green Gardening workshops for landscapers, attracting 300 landscapers each year. Planned agenda, recruited and guided speakers, wrote promotional materials and facilitated sessions and panels.

Results: The program has expanded its audiences. Workshops have been well received, and 26 nurseries have been recognized and promoted as Natural Yard Care Nurseries.

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Client: Thurston County

Situation: Retail hardware and home improvement stores sell a variety of hazardous garden products, such as pesticides. While some stores have increased their sales of environmentally friendly alternatives, bags of weed and feed, insecticides and other products are still piled high in the front aisles.

Strategy: Sage Enviro conducted a series of informal interviews with staff at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Fred Meyer, Ace Hardware, manufacturers and others to assess barriers to selling less-hazardous gardening products and opportunities to make changes. Sage analyzed interview results and provided a report.

Results: The project report discussed the retail market in garden chemicals, assessing decision making, product placement, product choices, vendor support, supply chain dynamics and customer barriers. It provided recommendations for a range of actions Thurston County could take to change the current situation.

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Project: Stop Before You Spray

Situation: Many people spray pesticides because they think all bugs are bad. But most insects in the garden are actually helpful.

Strategy: To help gardeners learn about the wide range of "good bugs" in the garden, Annette Frahm created Stop Before You Spray. This easy-to-use field guide features photos, descriptions and benefits of 27 common beneficial insects.

Results: Full-page articles in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Seattle Times featured the guide, and it has been widely distributed and used. It won a Savvy award from 3CMA, the national City-County Communications and Marketing Association. It is changing the way Northwest gardeners think about insects.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

"With the help of a new bug field guide from King County, gardeners can begin to appreciate just how much good is going on in their gardens. Predators and pollinators abound."

   --Marty Wingate

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Employer: King County Hazardous Waste Management Program

Project: Show Garden, 2003 Northwest Flower & Garden Show

Situation: How do you educate gardeners about natural methods without preaching to them? How about using actors and humor to entertain them?

Strategy: Annette Frahm created an innovative educational show garden for the 2003 at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show as a collaborative public-private project. She was primary author of the script; she also managed actors and media relations.

Results: The garden won a bronze medal, and drew praise from visitors and garden writers for its creativity, appealing design and groundbreaking use of live theater.

From King County Journal's story about the show:

"Of special note is 'Changing the Garden Perspective: Living in Harmony with Nature.' This garden, presented by Bothell's In Harmony Organic-Based Landscape Services together with King County Hazardous Waste Management Program, features actors discussing and demonstrating natural and chemical-dependent gardening. Guess which one produces a more spectacular, less labor-intensive garden."

   --Carole Beers

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Employer: King County Hazardous Waste Management Program

Project: Natural Lawn Care Program

Situation: In 1999 80 million pounds of pesticides were used in and around US homes and gardens. Local agencies wanted to change the lawn care behavior of male urban and suburban homeowners.

Strategy: Annette was a lead in creating, designing and managing the Natural Lawn Care Program, a six-year, multi-agency effort using radio and television advertising, relations, workshops, web sites and brochures, based in audience research.

Results: In post-campaign surveys, people who didn't use weed and feed increased from 47 to 61 percent and those who would prefer to hire a "green" landscaper increased from 9 to 44 percent. The project won a Silver Anvil award from the Public Relations Society of America.

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Employer: King County Hazardous Waste Management Program

Project: Pesticides Postcards

Situation: While the Natural Lawn Care Program focused on men, research has found that women were more concerned about the impacts of pesticides and children and the environment. What will motivate women to turn their concern into changes in gardening behavior?

Strategy: Research on people's beliefs, perceptions and behavior related to pesticides was used to create striking photo postcards with messages on how and why to reduce pesticide use in gardening.

Results: The joint project with King County and several suburban cities reached more than one million people over two years. A post-campaign survey found that 31 percent recalled receiving the cards, and 55 percent of those recalled a specific message. People who recalled the cards were 20 percent more likely to select a pest-resistant plant, 14 percent more likely to amend soil with compost and 10 percent more likely to use a natural fertilizer.