Brands Take A Walk In The Park

Consumers will connect with environmentally conscious brands this summer at State Parks across the nation through the 20% For Parks program and visitor guides. More than six million visitor guides were published and shipped on June 1, 2009, making it one of the largest outdoor, recreational publications. Content from published authors, professional cartographers, journalists and wellness experts create a high-quality print informational piece called the State Park Visitor Welcome Kit, that consumers keep long after they've left the park. Sponsors pay for the production and shipping of the State Park Welcome Kits and parks receive a 20 percent cut of net proceeds, plus the guides.

Government Solutions Group (GSG), the agency behind the program, has multi-year contracts to create Park Visitor Welcome Kits with 11 of the largest state park systems in the country, representing 46 percent of total state park visitation and over 1,200 parks in California, New York, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, Colorado, Texas, Michigan, Maryland and Virginia. The Park Visitor Welcome Kit is printed annually and personally handed to visitors by park rangers at the gate. Ninety eight percent of visitors keep the guide and use it to plan future trips. The kits are produced at no cost to the states, taxpayers, or park visitors.

"State parks are essentially America's back yard and that represents a vast audience to reach," explained Shari Boyer, CEO of GSG. "Because of the economy, park visitation is on the rise and consumers are showing an increased interest in recreational activities within driving distance. The upside for the parks is additional revenue to help protect natural resources during a time when budgets are being cut across the board."

In addition to the visitor guides, GSG is helping brands develop corporate environmental sponsorship opportunities ranging from reforestation and solar projects to carbon sequestration or education programs. Overall, 20% For Parks raised more than $4MM in the last five years. "Odwalla is expanding its participation in 20% For Parks in 2009," said Chris Brandt, Odwalla vice president of marketing. "It reinforces the environmental responsibility of our company in a really fun, unique way that our consumers enjoy. With GSG, we developed the online Odwalla Plant-a-Tree program in 2008, and because it did so well, we're nearly doubling our efforts this year." Odwalla supported its consumer tree-planting program through sampling at running, surfing and volleyball events at state parks. The Coca-Cola Bottling Company sponsored the Reforest California campaign, a reforestation project that raised over $600,000 and 1 million trees for wildfire-scarred parklands in Southern California. Other brands participating in this year’s program include: Cascadian Farms, Dasani, Geico, Juicy Juice, Sports Authority, Stater Bros. and Subaru.

Visit 20% For Parks for additional information on your organization or State Park can be involved with this program:  http://www.parkvisitor.com/20forparks/index.html