Chicago is a hub for the arts. It attracts both aspiring and established creatives. It is a place where one can find genuine community-building at any corner. Creative Capitol loves Chicago because this city strengthens the relationship between the people and our environment. This is achieved through several environmental events and organizations. One organization that captures this motivation is the One Earth Collective.
One Earth Collective’s annual event, One Earth Film Festival, is the Midwest’s premiere environmental film festival. It brings communities together across the city and world. The One Earth Film Festival hosts about 25 film screenings across various locations (breweries, houses of worship, museums, etc.) in Chicago over the span of one week. They feature award-winning films like: Common Ground, Bad River, The Sacrifice Zone, and many more. An initiative as vital as this no doubt needs an efficient and motivated creative team behind the scenes.
A 360° Marketing Strategy for Impact
Creative Capitol planned and executed a full 360° campaign that included securing a major Google Ads Grant to run performance-driven ad campaigns, launching email and social media campaigns, and producing innovative promo videos and content for festival screenings.
The creative team worked effortlessly to secure a $120,000 ‘Google Ads for Nonprofits’ grant, and then launched a data-driven Google Search campaign. These ads generated over 34,000 impressions and 3,000 clicks, directly driving engagement and event attendance. The results spoke for themselves—a 50% increase in average attendance across 25 events in just one week. This showcased that strategic marketing has the ability to mobilize communities around environmental storytelling.
Creative Capitol made sure to show up and show out beyond online marketing. The creative team captured b-roll film & photography of each event, designed and printed festival t-shirts, and hosted t.v style interviews with attendees and audiences.
Building Capacity for the Future
The milestones are outstanding as Creative Capitol delivered a fully integrated marketing campaign, including social media, email, print and digital design, media partnerships, and live event coverage—all from one coordinated team. Moreover Creative Capitol built long-term marketing capacity for the One Earth team—streamlining workflows, upgrading outreach infrastructure, and setting the stage for future growth well beyond the campaign window. One of the tools Creative Capitol implemented during the campaign was Later.com, a platform that offers free subscriptions to non-profits to manage all social media platforms on one account, making social media outreach a much easier process.
Influencer Marketing Platform | Later
More Than Marketing—A Movement
This campaign wasn’t just about filling seats—it was about strengthening a cultural force in the Midwest’s environmental movement. Through compelling storytelling and intentional outreach, we helped position the One Earth Film Festival as more than a series of events and film screenings—it’s a catalyst for change.
The collaboration between One Earth and Creative Capitol affirmed the power of strategic storytelling to drive environmental action. As a mission-aligned agency deeply embedded in climate justice work, Creative Capitol is proud to amplify a festival that brings urgent conversations to the screen—and to the community.
If your organization has a mission worth amplifying, let’s tell your story in a way that inspires action.
