For Earth Day, the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute focused efforts on raising awareness about the small number of Sumatran tigers in the world. Only about 400 of these tigers exist on the planet and to spread the word about this extremely endangered species, the Smithsonian partnered with the band 'Portugal. The Man.'
The band created 'The Endangered Song' and produced only 400 hard copies of the song and then sent the precious albums to carefully-chosen influencers, including conservationists, bloggers, journalists, activists and actors. Initially, there were no digital copies of the song in existence, but the idea was that the songs could be "saved" by sharing them with others online. If you want to hear the song, you can search for #SumatranTiger or #EndangeredSong to look it up.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Endangered Species Awareness
- Creating unique and impactful campaigns to raise awareness about endangered species can be a disruptive innovation opportunity for conservation and creative industries.
- Limited Edition Marketing
- Using limited editions of products or content to create exclusivity and drive demand can be a disruptive innovation opportunity for the music and entertainment industries.
- Online Social Movements
- Harnessing the power of online communities to promote social issues can be a disruptive innovation opportunity for non-profit and advocacy organizations.
Where This Applies
- Conservation
- Conservation organizations can innovate by partnering with artists or musicians to create awareness campaigns and unique fundraising strategies.
- Music
- Music artists can innovate by producing limited-edition content or physical products and creating social media movements to increase demand and engagement.
- Non-profit
- Non-profit organizations can innovate by leveraging online communities and social media to raise awareness on global issues and promote fundraising campaigns.
