How LRS Turned One Sustainability Report Into a Full Campaign
Environmental Services · Rosemont, IL
← Back to Ember ProofLRS had already published a sustainability report, but it had not built a coordinated campaign around it.
For the 2024 report, Kindelen Media identified the stories most likely to matter to customers, employees, industry media, and company leadership, then built the launch around those stories across press, social media, email, and internal communications.
The difference showed up quickly.
Social views increased 1,033% year over year. Press coverage increased 400%. Report downloads increased 2,910%.
Proof in the Numbers.
The 2024 report gave LRS a lot to work with, but not every page needed to drive the campaign.
The clearest lead was the company’s 2024 diversion result: more than 330,000 tons of recyclable material diverted. From there, the campaign pulled in two other proof points that showed another side of the business: a 67% reduction in lost-time injuries and the Exchange facility’s recognition as the 2024 Recycling Facility of the Year from the National Waste & Recycling Association.
Kindelen Media used those facts as the backbone of the launch.
That gave the campaign enough variety to keep the content moving without turning the report into a list of accomplishments.
Four Steps. One Story, Told Everywhere.
Three facts became the starting point for the campaign: more than 330,000 tons of recyclable material diverted in 2024, a 67% reduction in lost-time injuries, and the National Waste & Recycling Association naming the Exchange facility the 2024 Recycling Facility of the Year.
Those stories became the foundation for social content, press outreach, emails, and employee communications.
Each channel spoke to a different audience, but the core story stayed consistent. That kept the campaign focused and gave people something meaningful to respond to.
What stood out to me about the 2024 Sustainability Report campaign was how strategically JZ turned a very technical report into an engaging story for our audiences. JZ owned the campaign from start to finish, identified the metrics and messages that mattered most, and created content that brought the report to life.
Kindelen Media timed its press outreach to the report’s release.
Five stories ran across Waste360, Waste Today, Recycling Today, Scrap Monster, and Ground News. They landed within roughly 48 hours.
At the same time, LRS talked about the report across its own channels.
That gave the launch momentum. Someone could first encounter the story in the industry press, see it again on LinkedIn, and then watch an employee share it through their own network.
A customer might first see one key statistic in an email. Later that day, the same idea could surface again on LinkedIn. An employee might share it with their own network while industry coverage gave the report another point of entry.
Kindelen Media did not create a separate campaign for every channel. We kept returning to the strongest stories in the report and changed the format based on where people would see them.
That consistency helped the launch build recognition without making the content feel copied and pasted.
Kindelen Media built employee participation into the strategy from the start.
The internal rollout included a roadshow and content employees could use when discussing the report.
That helped generate 122 employee reposts and shares, with most of that activity happening on LinkedIn.
The campaign also reached further inside the organization than expected.
One thing that surprised me was hearing Board members compliment the campaign during a Board meeting. I hadn’t realized they were following the report content and campaign on LinkedIn and other channels, so it was a great indication that the work was reaching beyond the people directly involved in creating the report.
The campaign generated 79,322 social views against a goal of 7,000.
LinkedIn alone produced more than 34,000 views and an 8.59% engagement rate.
People downloaded the report 301 times, a 2,910% year-over-year increase.
Press coverage reached five stories, exceeding the goal of one.
The campaign also performed well internally. 84.8% of employees rated it effective, and more than 90% said the report was clear, accessible, and easy to navigate.
The process also worked for the team managing the report.
The campaign put me at ease. I never had to remind JZ of anything. It was all planned and prepared ahead of schedule. This marketing effort allowed for thousands more impressions on our annual sustainability report, bringing value to our reporting efforts.
LRS published the previous report and stopped there.
For the 2024 report, Kindelen Media built a launch around the material.
We turned the diversion results into social content, pitched the report to industry media, gave employees material to share with their own networks, and tailored customer emails to the parts of the report most relevant to each audience.
That gave LRS more than a finished report on its website.
It gave the company a launch process it could use again the next time it had something important to say.