Canada: Unilever volunteers lend their marketing expertise

Protecting wildlife

The East Kootenay Environmental Society (EKES) is dedicated to protecting the wild spaces of south eastern British Columbia. These include the Columbia River Wetland, one of the longest pristine wetlands in North America, and the Southern Rockies Conservation Area, home to a large population of grizzly bears.

Unilever has been working in partnership with EKES for several years through the Living Lakes project. EKES has a successful record but is not well known outside the local area. This makes it difficult to raise money to support its conservation work, which has international significance.

New identity

In February 2003, six Unilever volunteers spent a brand-strategy weekend with EKES where they helped to identify EKES's key values and achievements and develop a strategy to communicate them clearly to a targeted audience. Additionally, Unilever helped lead EKES through a process to identify a new name and logo for the organization. The group's new identity was launched at the 2004 Living Lakes conference in British Columbia. The Unilever volunteers continue to work with EKES to put the new marketing and branding strategy into action.

Partnership

The partnership between Unilever and EKES shows that companies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can develop partnerships based on more than financial support and where both organisations benefit from sharing expertise and experiences.