Every summer, millions of viewers tune into Discovery Channel's iconic #SharkWeek, celebrating one of nature's most jawsome predators. As the official nonprofit partner of Discovery Channel's #SharkWeek, Oceana had a unique opportunity to transform a massive but fleeting surge of public attention into long-term conservation action.
I led the development of a cross-channel engagement strategy and lifecycle marketing funnel that translated broad pop-culture interest into deep political advocacy, using the momentum of #SharkWeek to mobilize supporters behind critical federal legislation.
My Role: Integrated campaign strategy & copywriting, lifecycle journey architecture (Engaging Networks), cross-channel content design (email, SMS, video), and advocacy messaging strategy.
The Challenge
How do you capture short-term pop-culture excitement and prevent the inevitable post-event audience attrition typical of seasonal campaigns?
High-profile media moments offer a flood of attention, but that audience curiosity is usually passive and short-lived. Additionally the underlying issue, the global shark fin trade, involved complex policy loopholes that were difficult to explain in a standard 60-second window. While shark finning was illegal in U.S. waters, imports from countries with weak environmental protections were still perfectly legal and causing immense harm among shark populations.
To build a sustainable advocacy movement, we had to solve two major problems: we needed to reframe sharks from feared predators to an essential species worth protecting and we had to build an automated lifecycle engine that prevented post-campaign attrition by keeping newly acquired users engaged over the next six months.
The Approach
I structured a multi-stage acquisition and retention journey designed to turn immediate, entertainment-fueled excitement into lasting civic action.
Through Oceana's official partnership with Discovery Channel, I developed high-impact, cross-channel creative assets. Working in tandem with the partnerships team, I wrote and exected content that incorporated the voices of celebrity ambassadors such as Nina Dobrev and January Jones, as well as consumer brands like TOMS, Nautica, and mobile games like Hungry Shark.
I was also the lead copywriter for targeted email and social media campaigns that translated complex federal legislation into clear, urgent calls to action, driving supporters to the #FinBanNow advocacy campaign. I designed the conditional logic behind the campaign's action page in Engaging Networks, allowing supporters to enter their address and automatically receive personalized messages to their Senators and Representatives based on each lawmaker's position on the bill, allowing thousands of supporters to pressure Congress to pass the long-stalled Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act.
Rather than allowing newly acquired supporters to drop off after Shark Week ended, I built a custom, six-month automated nurture journey within Engaging Networks. This lifecycle strategy incrementally guided new advocates from purely shark-themed content into Oceana's broader, high-priority marine conservation initiatives such as plastic pollution legislation, sustainable fisheries management, and protecting whales from commercial ship strikes.
The Results
By treating a high-visibility media event as a long-term acquisition engine rather than a single-week moment, the campaign successfully improved Oceana's audience retention metrics. Over three consecutive years, the strategy deployed 50+ digital, SMS, and video projects, transforming the partnership into a long-term advocacy funnel that generated an average of around 25,000+ new-to-list conversions annually. This architecture successfully educated supporters, generated massive congressional outreach, and continued engaging new audiences well beyond Shark Week itself.
This massive, multi-year mobilization effort, spearheaded by Oceana and its dedicated coalition partners, directly contributed to public awareness and national legislative pressure. In late 2022, the United States officially passed the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act into federal law, successfully closing the loophole and banning the trade of shark fins nationwide.
"Remember, while you’re tuning in to Discovery this week, there is no Shark Week without sharks. We need a #FinBanNow."
.jpg)
.jpg)