Making Climate Cool Again ReExciting the Movement
we kept performing
the other five thousand screaming fans
didn’t notice either
at first we continued to sing the lights
continued to flash
the music continued to play it was only
another
few seconds before we realized something
was very wrong
a chatter spread through the arena it
wasn’t excitement
it wasn’t anticipation it was something
else
we felt it too between the flailing arms
and stumbling legs we glimpsed the body
of a young girl on the floor we stopped
the show
she was having a seizure
we had never stopped a show before let
alone for something like this
but then something incredible happened
silence
fell across the room like a single
organism with us at the head we parted
the crowd to guide the paramedics to the
injured girl
5 000 people all had a single purpose
to ensure the well-being of one of their
own and it worked
it took a few songs to bring the energy
back up and after knowing she was okay
for the rest of the show the audience
jumped and sang along but there was
something else
all together we had lived through
something unique
something so much more than a concert
something that made us a community
it was on that night in salt lake city
that i started to think about the power
of that community
to be diehard ajr fans who at the drop
of a hat could mobilize for something
greater
even when the tour was over and i
returned to school as i worked on my
dissertation my mind continued to wander
toward this idea of community
and the thing that brought them together
having lived and breathed the music
industry for the last 15 years
has given me some insight into how
building a fan base works
especially one as tight-knit and
dedicated as ours
and yet as i wrote about climate
devastation across
asia and africa and the human rights
abuses occurring as a result
i started to make a connection between
the two
now when you hear the phrase climate
crisis
many people’s first inclination is fear
fear of the future fear of rising waters
fear of
wildfires fear of losing your homes your
cities your countries
the entire movement has been built on
fear
now this has worked to inspire some
people it’s helped to mobilize a youth
movement unlike
anything the world has ever seen but
this is not nearly enough for the
concrete change that we need
now when you hear the names beyonce
or bts or the beatles many people’s
first inclination
is excitement there’s an immediate
dopamine rush of course music is fun
it fills you up it’s everywhere but it
also builds a community in a very unique
way
think of it as a ladder there they’re
music fans that are on the first
rung when they hear a song in the
supermarket they may recognize it but
not necessarily know the artist
if they go home and listen to it again
on spotify or apple
they move up a rum they may listen to
three or four other tracks save them to
their library up another rung
they may follow a band on social media
buy a piece of merchandise go to a show
up up up it just keeps going
this ladder is built on one thing
excitement
the more excited someone gets the higher
up the ladder they’re willing to go
the music industry has crafted their
ladder in a
brilliant way to align with monetary
gain
over the last few years i’ve spent
countless hours thinking about how to
build this ladder of excitement in a
different space
i borrow techniques and strategies from
music from
incentives to creative partnerships to
community building in order to construct
a new ladder
today i share with you something that’s
already helping to reinvigorate the
climate movement
the ladder of engagement
now this is not necessarily a new
concept
every charity campaign and business has
tried to get people more engaged
forever but since we don’t have endless
time together i want to share a few of
the
pivotal rungs of this specific ladder
on the left side we have some of the
music strategies for bringing in new
fans and partners
and moving them up the ladder on the
right side we have some strategies for
bringing
people businesses charities and
governments
into the climate movement now these
climate strategies are not
one-to-one across the ladder music is
really successful at being bite-sized
shareable emotional but the strategies
on this ladder are deeper
more engaging and highly inspired by the
type of engagements we use in music
to get people excited
the first run on our ladder is
incentives
in the music industry we create all
different types of incentives for
participation
pre-order an album and you get a
discount or a bonus song
follow us on certain social media
platforms for exclusive content
join our text list to get access to
things before anyone else
all of these strategies are designed to
move fans
up the ladder and put them in groups
with other
more engaged like-minded people
if they do follow us on social media or
join the text list
we have easier access to them for future
campaigns or even rewards
let’s pause here and look at a simple
and easy incentive
in the climate space sustainable
partners
a non-profit organization that i founded
focuses on creating
incentives for engagement with our work
at the
simplest level much like following on
social media
in exchange for subscribing to our
podcast planet reimagined
we plant a tree now a tree
to most people feels huge it’s something
permanent visual and so clearly
connected with climate
that why wouldn’t i subscribe even if
i’m not listening to the podcast
now this may seem really simple one
subscription one
tree but we as an organization now have
access to these potential climate
activists
these people who are on the very first
rung but have the potential to move up
think about it this way we’re now inside
their phones with important messages
while educating them about the climate
movement discussing
food artificial intelligence sports
fashion
all related to climate these subscribers
are proud that they planted a tree
did something good for the world so
proud that they may share the podcast
with others
not just for the content but because of
how the incentive
made them feel much like with music
where many of the incentives focus on
making people feel good about themselves
this does the same thing they can wear
their planted tree like a badge of honor
but we get the better end of the deal we
move them up the ladder
okay so those incentives focused on
individual engagement
but let’s look at another run on the
ladder
creative partnerships in the music
industry we do creative partnerships
all the time from travis scott’s
partnership with mcdonald’s
to major car brands sponsoring tours to
us creating a hot sauce named after our
song bang
there is endless creativity to co-brand
co-market
and co-build something as long as it
makes sense
especially when touring is not an option
creative brand partnerships are a
huge revenue source for musicians and
a great way for partners to reach new
audiences
thinking back to who the partners are in
the climate movement
we came up with a concept that was
unique
creative and allowed every partner from
individuals to businesses to charities
to get something out of it
the campaign is called time for change
imagine you click to watch a video on
youtube
before the video plays there’s an ad of
course
after five seconds you have the option
to skip it but
if you don’t skip it and watch the full
20 seconds
you could provide a meal to a child in
need
pay off medical debt for the poorest
communities donate school supplies to
young girls in haiti
or even pull carbon out of the
atmosphere
that 20 seconds of your time meant
something good is happening for someone
or something in need to give you some
examples
we’ve run multiple campaigns using this
simple idea
and the results have been extraordinary
a campaign with ticketmaster in 2020
allowed us to plant a hundred thousand
trees in just
three weeks from people viewing these
advertisements
a campaign with the un development
program raised a hundred and fifty
thousand dollars in just 24 hours
now to relate it back to the music side
this campaign is the epitome
of individual incentives through
partnerships
making large-scale change the corporate
partners love it because they get to
participate in the climate movement in a
very public fashion
while still bringing a new potential
customers the climate movement benefits
from new partners and more awareness
and people love to feel part of
something larger than themselves
a community especially if it only takes
20 seconds and there’s no need to take
out their wallet
this type of creative partnership
between a brand
a charity and a person is just the tip
of the iceberg
of what we can achieve when we rely on
each other
now this next run community building
may not feel as exciting as planting
trees and watching video content
but as we take cues on our ladder from
the music industry
we can’t ignore the business side of
music
in the music industry it is very
difficult for a song to raise its hand
especially now when everyone can make
music in their bedrooms
it’s nearly impossible to grow a song or
an album to a point where you may get
invited to perform it on tv
it’s played on radio stations across the
world or
it begins to get recognized with press
and awards
all of these require building a
community that is above and beyond
individuals
above and beyond brand partners and
above and beyond any single
idea a radio station won’t necessarily
play a song
unless it shows promise with streams
sales and other drivers
even then they continuously do their
research and will only keep playing it
if fans continue to like it success at
radio can lead to tv bookings
television understands that radio plays
what the listeners want to hear
so they take their cues from other parts
of the industry
in the music industry the press likes to
write about successful things
and cool things they scour the internet
but the pinnacle of success
is again determined by these other
gatekeepers
let me give you an example our song week
has about a billion streams around the
world
[Music]
song is double platinum in the us that
sounds pretty great right
you may be surprised to hear that it
wasn’t played very much on the radio
we only performed it on one tv show and
it hardly got any press the success of
the song was fueled by one thing
our evangelizing fans now on the other
hand
our single bang began to convince some
of these gatekeepers
[Music]
the first hurdle was radio radio took a
chance on this song and it really
started to work
a few small stations grew to a few dozen
and before we knew it we were top five
on the radio charts with a number one
song on itunes
radio took a chance this chance
is what convinced the press to start
writing about us and tv shows to start
booking us
it only took one of the gatekeepers to
start building this community
and create some of this door opening
change for us
in the music industry now
of course we need some of this real
system-wide change for climate
millions are already marching and
continuously changing minds
much like our song week it’s a
grassroots movement
this is a great starting point now
on top of the incredible ground swell we
need enough of these gatekeepers to take
a chance
like they did with our song bang
businesses
are starting to make public pledges to
be carbon neutral
abiding by the paris climate accord some
countries are using the sustainable
development goals
to frame their strategies and guide
their achievements
but what we really need are these
gatekeepers
policymakers and politicians more
businesses large and small
plus that wave of individuals we need
just
enough of these influential members and
structures of our community
to do more than make a pledge to step
out
and take a chance in a way that will
convince others to do the same
you may call it peer pressure you may
call it protecting the bottom line
but just like the songs that you can’t
get out of your head
we need those champions to take the
first step
now this first step is doing more than
saying i believe that climate is a
problem
we are way past that we need them to
play this song on the radio
now returning to our ladder the more
excited people are the more they move
up the ladder this process is about
getting people
excited enough to form groups that
together end up changing the system
this we already knew it’s the same for
many campaigns
however the way in which we drive this
excitement is a
wide open playing field the music
industry is one example but it’s not the
only place we can borrow from to learn
about driving engagement
through excitement sports food
fashion are all great places to look for
inspiration
the community we built with our music is
incredibly important to me
but it’s also undoubtedly unique
our fans not only support the music but
continuously teach
me how to be a better movement builder a
better academic
and a better activist that night in salt
lake city
inspired an idea but we’re all just
getting started
as we embark on the most pivotal time
our species has seen on this planet
it’s our duty all of our duty to support
each other
and the planet by building and climbing
this ladder
together thank you