San Francisco Animal Care & Control: The 311 for Baby Birds

Tonight was an unusually warm night as of late for San Francisco--60 degrees. Those of you who live here might call it downright balmy. My husband and I decided to go for a little jaunt around the neighborhood after dinner. As we were walking we saw some friends who were walking their dog. I noticed that their dog was particularly interested in a corner of the building, and not looking for a good place to pee. It was sniffing a little baby bird. The bird was not moving much and it was making soft tweeting noises (beyond 140 characters). It seemed as if it had either fallen out of its nest or was pushed. We looked up but neither saw a nest nor any adult birds nearby. 

As we became engrossed in conversation, we couldn't help but be drawn back to the little birdie, contemplating its fate, and feeling like we were helpless to help it. On a whim, I decided to call San Francisco's 311, the number for all city services. Not really thinking that I would get hold of a live person, I pushed 1 for English and then heard, "Hello, can I help you?" A bit incredulous, but curious, I preceded to tell the city worker about the bird, its condition and location. The city staffer informed me that it is now fledgling season and that the little birds are learning to fly and are often pushed out of the nest, but that the parents will come back to feed and care for it. As we spoke, my friends and I noticed there was yet another baby bird nearby. I told the woman on the phone that there were now two birds, but that the one was lying on its side and barely moving. It looked not long for this world. We didn't think the parents would be coming back.

She told me to call Animal Control directly and gave me the number. Thinking we might be getting the typical bureaucratic run around, and although quite skeptical, I called anyway. Not surprising, I got a voicemail and thought well good try, but no one is going to call back. My friends and I continued to chat, every once and while looking at the birds and wincing. A few minutes later, the phone rang and it was SF Animal Care & Control asking for me. I could not believe that they called back. 

I explained the condition of the birds, hearing again that it was fledgling season and it was not uncommon. However, once he heard that the one bird was barely moving, he asked for our location and said he was on the way! 

We continuing chatting, showing each other the latest mobile apps, running into another friend, and somewhat intentionally hanging out to see if Animal Care & Control would actually appear. In less than 15 minutes a white truck pulls up and out comes Officer O'Brien  wearing a uniform with a shield, looking like an official law enforcement officer. We couldn't believe it. He was as excited to see us as we were to see him. 

In the most gentle way, he picked up the birdies and said that they would be put in an incubator and then taken to the animal hospital! And, then thanked us for calling.

I have to say that I was happy that my tax dollars were being used for this purpose, but more so, Officer O'Brien said that they  prevent animal cruelty (yes that even happens in SF). Now, I know some of you might be thinking, who the f--k cares about some little bird when there are thousands of homeless people in SF. And, you know, I agree, but I am not sure that one has to give up animal protection in order to help care for people in need. Both are are borne of compassion and in an ideal world, we need both. I would love to hear your opinion on the matter.

Using Digital Experiences to Change Behaviors and Save the Planet. It Works!

How do you market something that is both invisible and ubiquitous at the same time? Something we really don’t think about until we don’t have it. Something we buy, but don’t quite understand how much we get. What is it? It’s energy--used in our homes and businesses. Although it manifests in the objects we depend upon every day such as lights, refrigerators, and all of the digital devices we love so much, we never see it, we don’t know that much about it, and we barely understand the environmental consequences of using it.

The intangibility of energy is a marketing challenge faced by utilities, governments, and businesses, but the real challenge is not marketing energy consumption – that happens through necessity; the real challenge lies in the marketing and education about how and why to use less of it.

How do you manage your energy use if you can’t measure it? Although we have electricity and gas meters, most of us don’t have a clue about how to interpret the numbers and dials. Instead, once a month we get our utility bill and unless there is a huge spike in cost from one month to the next we don’t give it much thought until the next bill.

Customer research has revealed that although we might be motivated to use less, we face significant obstacles that prevent us from doing so. What are some of these barriers?: 1. We can’t readily identify where energy is used in our homes unless it’s an active use—the radio blaring or the microwave zapping; 2. We need information about all the different ways we can save energy—did you know you can buy dimmable, three way and many other kinds of energy saving bulbs? 3. We are misinformed and need a myth buster—aren’t all new appliances more energy efficient? 4. We already do green things like taking reusable bags to the store--isn’t that enough?

Marketing energy savings and management is not new. Yet, companies and governments are realizing that traditional marketing approaches such as bill inserts, radio and TV ads are not motivating us to save more energy, and are ultimately not changing our behaviors.

How do we tackle these barriers to create more energy savings? This week at the Sustainable Brands ’11 Conference in Monterey, CA, Ascentium will be joining Efficiency 2.0, SilverSpring Network and Green Energy Agents to talk about using a combination of marketing techniques and innovative digital experiences, that when combined with behavior change theory, feedback and social networking result in a significant lift in energy savings in both homes and businesses.

The innovative digital experiences that we are creating at Ascentium are breaking down hurdles to inaction by making energy use visible and understandable. These innovative brands are using applications and tools to help consumers set goals, personalize recommendations, provide concise information on the range, cost and ease of taking action and explain the payoff both monetarily and in carbon reduction, reward engagement, use peer to peer energy use comparisons and community outreach.

The creation of tailored experiences to specific audience segments and delivering those experiences through trusted sources and innovative channels can help galvanize engagement and begin to educate consumers and ultimately change behaviors. Stay tuned for more on this topic as we summarize the highlights coming out of Sustainable Brand ‘11 in Monterey this week. The conference was inspiring and insightful. Major themes to increase brand sustainability and customer acceptance include using behavior change, technology and social networking. All things that Ascentium focused on in the clean energy space. View the presentation, to learn how we are working for a better planet.

Sustainable Brands