Slovenian State Forests (SiDG)
A successful communication strategy and community building
Five years of effective storytelling on social media
- Client
- Slovenian State Forests (SiDG)
- Year
- 2019–2024
Slovenians have a unique relationship with nature, especially with forests, which cover two thirds of the country. This precious natural resource is managed by Slovenian State Forests (SiDG), a company committed to the careful and responsible stewardship of forests.
01The challenge
Despite its responsible management, the company faced a negative public perception. People had misconceptions about its work, and the discontent was clearly visible in negative comments on social media.
- Clear-cutting the forests.
- Being yet another “bark beetle” on the state budget.
- Operating purely at the whim of current politics.
- They never cut more than can grow back.
- They remove diseased trees and plant new ones.
- They maintain forest trails for hikers.
- They supply high-quality timber to the Slovenian economy.
02Solution and strategy
In September 2019, SiDG decided to take matters into its own hands and start telling its story on its own channels. The goal was to show the public the real picture, transparently and honestly.
They designed a comprehensive digital strategy built on four pillars.
-
01
Regular presence
At least one post a day and one longer video story a week.
-
02
Authentic content from the field
Content is created directly in the forest, unfiltered and authentic.
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03
Storytelling
Stories of people, forests, partners and events. Personal stories resonated most.
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04
Multichannel approach
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
03Results
The approach proved exceptionally successful, exceeding expectations and completely turning public opinion around. SiDG built the first Slovenian online community bringing together forest lovers, forestry and professionals.
Shift in sentiment
- Negative comments and accusations.
- Congratulations, praise and words of encouragement.
In numbers
- 4.5 million
- video views
- 1 million+
- users reached by the Facebook page every year, 80% of them organically
- 350,000
- reach of the most successful Facebook post, with 4,000 interactions and 234,000 video views
- 25,000+
- likes, comments and shares in the last two years
- 3rd place
- among Facebook pages of companies managing state forests in Europe
- 13
- media outlets picked up the viral footage of an encounter with a mother bear and her cub
Followers, the main KPI
- Facebook 31,400
- Instagram 3,100
- TikTokin just six months 2,739
The number of followers was the main measure of success.
04Conclusion
With a well-thought-out multichannel communication strategy, SiDG reached its entire target audience – from young people on TikTok to adults on Facebook and Instagram and the professional public. Through transparent and visually appealing communication, it showed how to enter the forest the right way and proved that Slovenians can rightly be proud of their “green jewel”.
05Where this project sits in our matrix
We work across all of these layers, and any combination is possible.
- Who we work for
- Executive leadershipCorporate communicationsHRMarketingPublic sector
- Project scope
- Small brand story (e.g. a single video)Always-on communicationBig brand story (a full campaign)Leadership transformation
- Levels of work
- Strategy and creative developmentImplementationProduction
- What we improve
- ProcessesRelationshipsContent
- Approach
- StrategicDigital and AI-poweredCreativeAdvisory
- Duration
- Short-term (up to 3 months)Mid-term (3–12 months)Long-term (a year or more)
- What we create
- DocumentsPresentationsVisual identitiesDesignWebsitesSocial mediaCopywritingPhotographyVideo storiesAnimationsPodcastsEventsWorkshops