Athletes are among the most powerful influencers on the planet and have used their massive platforms to help lead cultural shifts on issues from civil rights to equal pay for women and more. Unfortunately, very few have gotten involved in the climate fight.

In late 2019, Lew Blaustein, the long-time editor of GreenSportsBlog, decided he would change that by developing EcoAthletes, a nonprofit that will educate athletes to speak confidently about climate change.

A leader in the Sports Greening Movement, Blaustein was able to put together an All-Star advisory board that includes a major league baseball pitcher, a world-renowned climate scientist and a Sports Illustrated senior reporter. 

Next on his list was finding a firm to design and develop the EcoAthletes logo, brand and website with best-in-class strategic and technical savvy. Blaustein was largely self-funding the startup so his pockets were not deep. 

“I knew that what I was looking for — a world class web design-and-development firm with strong branding and marketing chops — would be hard to find,” Blaustein shared. “And my early search showed this to be the case. Either the strategy or design quality was lacking, or the price was stratospheric, or the vendors were not communicative or all of the above. Then, I found Inzpire Agency.”

The Inzpire Agency Solution: Building a Brand to Change the World

Blaustein wants EcoAthletes to change the world. 

Inzpire Agency principals Jackie Renan and Samantha “Sam” Wood were able to imbue that ethos into the brand, logo and website design.

“They immediately understood our mission and brand personality,” recalled Blaustein. “So, I wasn’t surprised when the team quickly produced a sharp, on-strategy logo which people tell me they love.” 

The website also clearly communicates the nonprofit’s mission. 

“The look and feel of the site says to the visitor that athletes are going to spark a climate comeback’,” said the EcoAthletes founder. “They can read about and hear from the growing number of EcoAthletes Supporters. And it is easy for them to sign up for our newsletter and make tax-deductible donations.” 

Inzpire took Blaustein through the site’s back end so he and the EcoAthletes’ team could edit copy, add photos, and much more. 

And when there were some early glitches, the Inzpire team worked doggedly to find the source of the problems and to quickly solve them.

“Inzpire’s stellar tech support was, pardon the pun, inspiring,” Blaustein noted. “They let me know what the problems were, what steps needed to be taken, and then resolved the issues with a minimum of stress.”

Another way Inzpire kept Blaustein’s stress levels low was its willingness to work within EcoAthletes’ rather modest budget:  “I really appreciate Inzpire’s willingness to take on a startup like EcoAthletes. And they are a pleasure to work with, which is a big deal. I look forward to the growth of our working relationship as we grow.” 

Results

In its first month of existence, EcoAthletes:

• Announced the signing of six EcoAthletes Supporters
• Was featured in a myriad of media stories and podcasts, all of which appear on the site’s news page
• Successfully launched its newsletter