Citrus Greening disease is devastating America’s citrus trees. The main culprits are people who unwittingly move diseased citrus plants across state lines. The desired action is simple enough – stop moving citrus plants. The challenge was to make it important enough to online buyers and sellers engaged in interstate transactions.

Insight
People who buy citrus plants care deeply about America’s citrus, but are completely unaware of the serious consequences of their online purchases. We needed to capture their attention in an instant with an urgent appeal to do the right thing.

Approach
Elevate the issue to crisis level. Speak with an official and urgent tone. Disrupt online buyers and sellers through dynamic search and display ads that point to a microsite that tells the full story and provides additional resources to further educate the public.

Results
Response was immediate, with more than 20,000 visitors to the microsite within the first 30 days of the campaign. Better yet, consumers have already provided valuable tips that identified illegal citrus plant shipments for the USDA to investigate.