Campaign to be Unveiled at the CTPA Annual Meeting, January 21.

Over the years, CTPA has tried by various means to address the issue of unlicensed tree work.  Out of the many past efforts, most have led to mixed and limited success.

Now, CTPA is now trying a bold new approach.  At the end of 2015, the Association contracted with CEL, a marketing, public relations and design firm out of Minneapolis, in an effort to raise broad public visibility regarding the value of the arborist license to tree owners.

The marketing approach/campaign CEL is developing for CTPA will be unveiled at the CTPA Annual Meeting, during the morning Business Session.  All CTPA members are encourage to attend.

With respect to tree programs, CEL is a widely known and highly successful marketing firm.  CEL is probably best known for their “Trees Pay Us Back” campaign.  This campaign, done for the purpose of promoting greater recognition of the value of trees, makes use of large ‘price tags’ hung on trees that list the actual dollar values of the benefits of trees.

In the initial release of this campaign, these price tags were hung on trees, on Arbor Day, all around the Minnesota State Capitol. The result was legislators impressed with the importance of trees through an appreciation of the real dollar value of the benefits they provide.

Any marketing campaign is a multi-stage process and CTPA is only at the initial stage of campaign development with CEL. The CTPA campaign will be something unique to CTPA, reflective of the interests and concerns of CTPA’s members.  For this campaign to succeed, we will need input and involvement from CTPA members and, very likely, the additional financial support of Connecticut’s tree care companies.

To learn more, attend the Business Session beginning at 8:30 am on January 21.  It is the first thing on the agenda at the CTPA meeting.  Representatives of CEL will also be in attendance to meet with attendees and to hear your feedback and ideas regarding this campaign.