Cirque du Soleil Marketing Executive Brings Expertise to Nature Conservancy

The glittery surrealism of a Cirque du Soleil show may seem an entirely different universe from The Nature Conservancy’s science-based conservation efforts, but to Mario D’Amico they are not so far apart.

After 15 years as Cirque du Soleil’s chief marketing officer, Mr. D’Amico left to assume the same post at the environmental group, and he says he sees strong similarities between the two organizations.

Cirque du Soleil, Mr. D’Amico notes, has a worldwide audience of people who are not simply “consumers of the product” but ardent and committed fans.

“My feeling is that people who are members of The Nature Conservancy are also fans, with a true passion for the mission and the work,” he says. “And the way you treat fans from a marketing standpoint is very different from the way you treat consumers.”

‘Expertise and Energy’

Thanks in part to Mr. D’Amico’s efforts, Cirque du Soleil is now an iconic brand. He became associated with the Montreal-based group when it was working mainly in the United States and Canada; today it presents live shows in 40 countries. Mr. D’Amico also helped the group more than double its annual revenue, from $400-million in 1999 to more than $1-billion in 2013.

The Nature Conservancy, with headquarters in Arlington, Va., also operates on a global scale, with offices in every state and 35 countries. Its leadership is hoping that Mr. D’Amico can achieve increases in awareness and support as spectacular as those in his previous position.

“Just as Cirque du Soleil was founded by a small group of people passionate about a new kind of art, The Nature Conservancy was formed by a small group of scientists passionate about protecting nature,” says Lois Quam, the charity’s chief operating officer.

Ms. Quam herself joined the conservancy, the world’s largest environmental organization, only last April, and she says that one of her first responsibilities was to “make the right hire” for a new marketing chief. The Nature Conservancy’s leadership and board were impressed, she says, with Mr. D’Amico’s “transformation of a small, relatively obscure group to an internationally renowned one with a strong base of supporters.”

“We need exactly this kind of remarkable expertise and energy in the conservation movement,” Ms. Quam says.

At his previous job, Mr. D’Amico had a marketing budget of $50-million a year. As he shifts to the nonprofit world he will likely need to learn how to do more with less.

The charity has more than 4,000 staff members, a $1-billion endowment, and an annual budget of $593-million—but almost half of its $48.7-million marketing budget is devoted to promoting membership. Mr. D’Amico says he is ready for the challenge, especially since one crucial piece is in place.

“The Nature Conservancy already has over a million members. At Cirque, at first there wasn’t much of a community, and so we had to start by building one,” he says.

Launch Pad

His new organization’s large and committed base of supporters gives Mr. D’Amico a strong launching pad for the initiatives he intends to implement.

The first order of business, he says, will be to grow the group’s brand awareness: “They have been working very quietly, but now it’s time to make some noise!”

One of the ways Mr. D’Amico intends to raise the group’s public profile is to see for himself “all the cool things they are doing” and then spread the word. For example, he says, he just learned that the organization employs 550 scientists as part of its environmental work. “That is an incredible number—more than many universities have,” he enthuses. “Just to be able to tell people, ‘We have 550 scientists!’ This is an organization with great stories to tell, and I look forward to sharing them far and wide.”

To that end, according to The Nature Conservancy’s Ms. Quam, the organization is “taking a fresh look at the resources” it can provide for Mr. D’Amico’s marketing efforts. “Given the arrival of this remarkable, high-impact marketing professional, we want to give him whatever tools he needs” to do his job, she says.

Mr. D’Amico, who began his new job this month, expects that establishing a global profile for The Nature Conservancy—elevating it to a rock-star status on par with that of his former organization—will happen slowly and deliberately, and be achieved with support from every level of the organization.

“When you watch a Cirque du Soleil show it looks very high-tech, but before you can put on the show you have to put up the tent,” he says. “Putting up the tent is really old school. You need everyone, all your people, to each grab a pole and one, two, three, push.”