Challenge

Pushed by environmental and public health groups, the Obama Administration and the EPA developed and proposed new stricter ozone rules. These rules would have been devastating to the economy – levying an estimated $1.7 trillion hit.  The new rules were labeled by some as the “most expensive regulation in U.S. history.”

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The Orange Solution

With their backs against the wall, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) turned to the Orange Agency to help develop a full-scale campaign, beginning with message development, to fight back and inform the public and opinion-leader elites of this obscure environmental regulation that could cost the country billions.

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Through our opinion research we found key audiences were concerned about the economic impact of the new ozone rules – but we needed a creative hook to engage them.  We devised a series of ads that mocked the restrictiveness of the proposed regulation – most notably that several national parks’ air quality would not be in compliance with the new ozone levels prescribed in the regulations.

Our paid media campaign was primarily focused inside-the-Beltway, as a result, our resources were focused on DC opinion-leaders and decision-makers. 

 

Through a combination of broadcast, cable and digital media we blanketed the DC area – to the point that President Obama remarked to NAM’s President and CEO, Jay Timmons, about the content of the ads. 

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Results

At the conclusion of our campaign, the Obama Administration and the EPA walked back their own rule – handing “a win to industry groups on a fiercely debated rule… leaving green groups feeling betrayed.” (Politico, 10/01/15).