First things first: when you’re turning around an emergency mailing in 48 hours keep your creative team well fuelled. When I worked on one for Greenpeace last month, I learnt that coffee, biscuits, crisps and lots of chocolate are integral to getting your emergency appeal out of the door on time! Only once snacks have been provided and blood sugar has been restored, can you proceed.

We were advised by Greenpeace that this emergency mailing would coincide with the launch of a global integrated campaign that they had been working on for several years. This campaign, we now know, was the damning exposure of toy manufacturer Mattel, and the packaging used for their most famous brand, Barbie. Every year 946 million Barbies are sold, and with each one another piece of Indonesian rainforest is destroyed by APP, Mattel’s ruthless and unethical supplier of pulp and paper.

For obvious reasons, we weren’t allowed to know who Greenpeace planned to target until the day of the appeal – but there were many things we could prepare for in advance. We knew that our focus was the destruction of the Indonesian rainforest, and that the threat of extinction to the Sumatran tigers would be a key element. That knowledge allowed us to produce our outer envelopes with a simple ‘URGENT’ stamp, and get them pre-printed with the BRE’s. We also art-worked two creative routes, to choose from on the day. These were simple templates, but saved a lot of precious time in the small window we had. We opted for a two page A4 letter, with a separate response device which doubled up as a simple, mono informative lift. Greenpeace has a fantastic image library, so making the pack visually engaging was easy.

With data, we wanted to ensure the mailing file had been completed and lodged with the printer the day before we started working. This meant choosing and agreeing our variables, before the copy had even been written. Our approach was to keep it simple, referencing the type of donor the supporter was and including a three-ask strategy.

The appeal was rushed out in 48 hours, and its authenticity shows. We didn’t want the mailing to be over-designed or overly complicated as that would conflict with the nature of an emergency appeal. The message was urgent: a forest campaigner telling the reader about the environmental criminals destroying the planet, and the need for action now. Conveying the passion of the Greenpeace mission statement was imperative, so getting the copy spot-on was our goal. After some speedy writing and re-writing, precise feedback and lots of running around, we got there.

Well done team GP!

For more information on the Greenpeace campaign to stop Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) and its suppliers trashing Indonesian rainforest visit: www.greenpeace.org.uk/barbie