Case Study 1

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WHO: Green Life Smart Life

WHAT: Green Life Smart Life is a custom home building project that is demonstrating how homeowners can make smart decisions which benefit their families, their community and their world by making sustainable choices that reflect the needs of THE environment and THEIR environment. Being built on the beautiful RI coast, the home in its final celebration will demonstrate real life applications in green living and design in conjunction with custom electronics that embrace today's smart home technology. From ENERGY STAR to LEED-H® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and with a unique set of building constraints, such as managing Coastal Resources, a building budget of under $198 sq/ft, building codes in a 120 MPH wind zone, and maximizing ocean views, the project is a step-by-step demonstration home for builders, architects, designers, product manufacturers and technology companies to showcase their solutions as more and more of today's families look to adopt sustainable living.

WHY: Upon setting out to build a sustainable home, owners of Green Life Smart Life became frustrated at the lack of resources and centralized information available on green building techniques and materials. Out of that frustration came a desire to share what was learned - from sourcing and selecting building materials to integrating smart home technologies to achieve higher energy efficiency, each step of the project presented a chance to spread awareness. Additionally, the owners decided to present Green Life Smart Life to key manufacturers in the building and home industries as an opportunity to sponsor the home and raise their brand's visibility as green and sustainable.

HOW: Using a hybrid PR program and mixing traditional communications with a strong social media program launched Green Life Smart Life into the spotlight. At the core of the social media efforts was the blog, designed to provide up-to-date progress of the home itself as well as resources and news tips on living an eco-friendly lifestyle. Through use of additional Web 2.0 resources such as Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, LinkedIn and other green blogs and forums, Caster flooded the internet with tips, videos, links and photos to raise awareness for the project and show others how Green Life Smart Life could teach them to live green. Traditional PR outreach was also implemented to gain press and attention not only for Green Life Smart Life but also for the sponsors and their product contributions in the home.

ROI: Working with the homeowners, sponsors and green living experts, Caster's strategic social media outreach helped the Green Life Smart Life blog receive surpass 60,000 hits in its first year, receive ranking as a top green blog on AllTop, and win the national Davey award for best blog. Focusing on new and informative content as well as photos and video, the Green Life Smart Life Blog has grown to become a respected and frequently sourced outlet for those seeking to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Through Caster's outreach, Green Life Smart Life has also partnered with over dozen companies and assisted in helping them spread their sustainable message, including top names like Kohler, Lutron, Whirlpool and Pella Windows. With a mix of social media and traditional PR, their print and online presence has attained millions of impressions, online, print and television features. More importantly, Green Life Smart Life built a dedicated community that responds, interacts and cares about making sustainable chices.