First, “Be a Better Planet” leveraged Yahoo!’s then-integrated branding campaign, “Be a Better _____” as a theme springboard. Second, Yahoo! knew the online program also needed an offline visual to create buzz through news outlets. The result was two offline events, one at kick-off and another at program’s end. Last, to extend consumer activism into local communities, city governments had to help spread the word. Two examples were Yahoo!’s work with NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg to initiate the program and co-hosting an event with the mayor’s office of Hastings, Neb., (pop. 25,000) during the finale.

This program provided people with tangible ways to make a difference, whether hailing a hybrid, spinning in a CFL or calculating carbon footprint. Qualitatively, America’s Greenest City Challenge activated communities who came together in the name of the environment. Quantitatively, 77,000 CFL bulbs were distributed, equivalent to removing 13,000 cars from the road for a year. Over 58,000 people registered, consumed 1.8 million page impressions -- both exceeding expectations by 20 percent - and spent an average of four minutes on the microsite. Today Show, CNN and New York Times covered the campaign, which reached 111 million people.