The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) enlisted the Lindberg Group to develop and implement an education and awareness campaign in eight states (Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, W. Virginia and Wisconsin) to inform residents about the emerald ash borer (EAB) beetle and how to contain its movement. EAB has been responsible for the destruction of millions of ash trees in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Preventing its spread, which often occurs when people move firewood, woodchips and branches containing the insect’s larvae, is a priority for USDA.

The goal of this outreach was to educate the general public in these states not to move firewood and other wood products. The idea was to inform campers, hunters and others who use firewood during the summer months that they might inadvertently promote the spread of EAB if they move firewood from an infected region into an un-infected region. To accomplish this, outreach to the public near heavily infected regions was crucial.

The Lindberg Group developed billboards and mobile billboards with EAB-related messaging. We then secured outdoor advertising on major interstates in the eight target states, as well as in locations near major forests and camping sites. Finally, the Lindberg Group deployed mobile billboards to heavily attended events, such as 4th of July celebrations and major sporting events, including the Indy 500. Using benchmarking research, we were able to determine that awareness of the campaign’s “don’t move firewood” message jumped nearly 20 percent with key audiences over the course of the campaign’s three-month duration.