SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

Pt. 1

Megan Acosta
PRAD 291
Situational Analysis: Advertising Campaigns and Promotion

A basic internet search- “Ecosia campaigns”, “Ecosia advertising”- rendered useless in

trying to research what Ecosia has done in previous years to spread the word around for their

search engine. It seems that the search engine, originating from Germany, has not done any sort

of campaign to draw attention to possible users. Word of mouth and concern for the

environment, instead, is their biggest promotion: “an awareness increases around the impact of

climate change…Ecosia says it’s attracting more users as a result” (AdAge). Just from 2018 to

2019 alone, Ecosia saw an 82% jump in searches on their engine. (AdAge) People are becoming

more attentive to the happenings in climate change and want to know how to help. The people

that are taking the most interest in climate change are the millennial generation and generation z.

According the Pew Research Center, “Gen Zers’ views about climate change are virtually

identical to those of Millennials… about half in all three generations say the earth is getting

warmer due to human activity”. From generation z and millennials, 54% and 56%, respectively,

believe that the climate change is cause by human activity. This is important because, in just the

Unites States, in 2017, Generation Z was made up of around 90.55 million individuals, while

millennials were made up of 72.06 million. Combined, that is around 162.61 million individuals

(Statista). If we cut that in half (roughly) that is 82 million individuals that believe in climate

change and its importance. Climate change has had the spotlight, as Greta Thunberg has risen to

become the biggest spokesperson for it, while leading the global climate strike this past

September. Greta’s awareness created a spike in google searches, with the phrase “climate

change” reaching a popularity of 100 on Google (Appendix A) and a 4,150% rise in search

frequency for the name “Greta Thunberg” (Appendix B). With the climate strikes in full force,

companies like Eleventh Generation, Patagonia, and Ben and Jerry’s joined the strikes. In “an

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obvious show of solidarity, brands engaging…hope to solidify their values and identity in the

minds of consumers, a tactic that will only grow in relevance in the face of climate change”

(AdWeek). With all of this in mind, Ecosia has a great target group in that of Generation Z and

Millennials and it needs to reach them and let them know that just by using the engine like they

would with Google, they can help make a difference in the environment. Right now, Ecosia

stands on the edge of becoming a leading search engine if only, they were able to create a

promotional campaign that can reach the two generations who are the biggest climate change

activists.

SWOT Analysis:

One of the strengths that Ecosia has its easy word-of- mouth reach. As seen in previous,

years word-of-mouth has been its most useful tool in getting people to add Ecosia as their main

search engine. It is easy to talk to others about it and it is not difficult to add the search engine to

your browser- it works as an extension (Ecosia). Because of this the more people know about it

the faster it will be able to spread as a recognized searched engine. Along with this, Ecosia’s

biggest strength is the values that it stands for: planting trees for a better environment and, thus

help with climate change. With climate change at its height and Greta Thunberg as its leading

force, being environmentally conscious is in the minds of the largest generations. Millenials and

Generation X also happen to be the top climate change activists. Ecosia needs to use these

values and let these groups know of all the work that their search engine does.

Ones of Ecosia’s weaknesses is the low reach towards potential users. Despite having

word-of mouth, there is only so much that can do to reach all the groups that would be interested

in using the search engine. The lack of promotional campaigns in the past or present does not

help the company grow and instead is hindering their growth. Having “advertising and

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promotional efforts help businesses establish themselves in the market as viable brands.

Unknown companies can become known quantities through their marketing efforts and can

create an image of their liking in the process” (Chron) and that is something that Ecosia largely

lacks.

The good thing about Ecosia is that it has a lot of opportunities to become a well know

company. As mentioned, Ecosia’s values of being eco-friendly and eco-conscious allow it to find

a home in that trend and, thus, can use those values to grow. As many companies try to build on

these values by becoming part of things like the climate change strike from last year, Ecosia

doesn’t have to try as hard to establish it’s sincerity when it comes to being eco-conscious,

because the whole foundation of the company is that. Ecosia needs to continue riding the wave

and show consumers that they have been on that trend from the very beginning.

Ecosia’s biggest threats are the big search engines like Google and Bing. These search

engines have brand recognition that Ecosia does not have. As of October of 2019, Google reigns

the search engines with it having a 87.96% market share, globally and Bing having a 5.27%

market share. (Statista). Ecosia is not even part of the list of search engines researched for these

numbers.

Primary Research Direction:

Knowing that Google and Bing dominate the search engine world, I would like to ask

internet users, what it is that draws them to these search engines. How do these search engines

reach high brand awareness and how can Ecosia use that to build theirs? Also, finding out if

Ecosia’s donations to reforestation are enough to convince people to drop Google or Bing and

add it as their main search engine; is climate consciousness enough to turn loyal Google users

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into Ecosia users? Figuring this out, will help determine what kind of promotional campaigns

Ecosia will need in order to grow and become a household name in online world.

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 References
Barwick, Ryan. “Brands Are Closing Their Doors in Support of the Global Climate Strike.”
Adweek, Adweek, 17 Sept. 2019, www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/brands-are-closing-
their-doors-in-support-of-the-global-climate-strike/.

Clement, J. “Search Engine Market Share Worldwide 2019.” Statista, 3 Dec. 2019,
www.statista.com/statistics/216573/worldwide-market-share-of-search-engines/.

Duffin, Erin. “U.S. Population by Generation, 2017.” Statista, 9 Aug. 2019,

www.statista.com/statistics/797321/us-population-by-generation/.

“The Little Search Engine That Could ... Save the Planet?” Ad Age, 19 Nov. 2019,
adage.com/article/news/little-search-engine-could-save-planet/2217101.

Morello, Robert. “The Effects of Advertising and Promotion.” Small Business - Chron.com,
Chron.com, 26 Oct. 2016, smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-advertising-promotion-
59158.html.

Parker, Kim, et al. “Generation Z Looks a Lot Like Millennials on Key Social and Political
Issues.” Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project, 31 Dec. 2019,
www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/01/17/generation-z-looks-a-lot-like-millennials-on-key-
social-and-political-issues/.

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 Appendix

Appendix A:

Data source: Google Trends (https://www.google.com/trends)."

Appendix B:

Data source: Google Trends (https://www.google.com/trends)."

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