Positioning The Port of Virginia as a Sustainable Leader in Global Trade
Challenge
The Port of Virginia needed to communicate the great strides it made in its approach to sustainability
Audience
Community, business partners, and colleagues
Solution
Gain and nurture the support of audiences by providing ongoing and clear, engaging, and helpful evidence of a comprehensive approach to sustainability that directly contributes to the mission.
The 2021 digital Sustainability Report included 15 videos and 4 chapters, a 4 month roll-out, social media campaign, and a new company-wide event called Sustainability Week
What I did
Art Direction
Videography
Photography
Copyediting
Promotion
Event Organization
One of The Port of Virginia's core values is sustainability and it is expressed in many ways. From helping to create a healthier environment to creating a culture that supports safer, more productive, and happy colleagues, to sound, fiscally responsible short and long-term business decisions, to building strong partnerships throughout the community, the port has a comprehensive approach to sustainability.
This report told the many stories of how
The Port of Virginia is sustainable in the areas they defined as people, community and finance, and the environment.
This laid an important foundation for the news that would come 1 year later announcing the port’s plan for zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Expanding the Brand's Designs
I created a new design language that expanded upon the port's brand standards and created a new aesthetic that would be used for all things sustainability. Starting with mood boards that spoke to intersecting ideas, coming together to create something new, I listed out the wide variety of people, places, textures, and graphics that could be woven together to tell each chapter's story as the starting point for collecting the possible ingredients for the composition.
Over the course of six months, I partnered with and directed web design company Good + Ready Co. on the build of the four chapters of the Sustainability Report:
1. Introduction
2. People
3. Community & Finance
4. Environment
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I directed the creation of a digital report that organized a heavy amount of copy, while balancing graphics, videos, pull quotes, and writing.
Brief, informative, and illustrative videos helped explain the wide variety of topics throughout this report.
I directed the creation of 15 videos from storyboarding, interviewing, shooting, and editing along with Mel Workman of White Caps Films.
Engaging in Conversation
One of the promotion tactics was a sustainable swag bag giveaway contest on social media that asked various questions and those submissions were shared on Instagram stories. It gained the highest engagement of any campaign in the port’s history and created a conversation between the public and the port around sustainability and the report.
Growing a Culture Around Sustainability
I pitched the idea of a colleague experience called Sustainability Week which celebrated Earth Day and the publication of the final chapter of the report.
After recruiting a core team of 10 colleagues who worked together to develop the events that brought the report’s ideas to life. Events included terminal cleanups, a Red Cross Blood donation, on terminal oyster Reef plantings, CPR training, and an e-cycling drive.
This project helped grow the culture of sustainability within The Port of Virginia’s colleagues, and helped position the port externally as a leader in sustainability during a time of growing pressure for ports to lower their carbon footprint and create a greener supply chain.