ENERGY | SHELL
Global brand purpose and positioning, 360 digital campaigns, streaming content, music collaborations, activations, brand partnerships, product development, influencer marketing.
Targeting consumers, stakeholders, B2B and employees.
The Great Travel Hack: Online influencer series & 360 Brand Campaign
With a commitment to halve its net carbon emissions by 2050 and growing criticism in the era of climate change, Shell needed to prove that beyond conventional fuel, it was also investing in cleaner energies. Research had shown that while the millennial audience was climate conscious, they were less willing to sacrifice travel for the good of the planet.
To encourage adoption of alternative energy and prove that even today, cleaner travel is possible wherever you are, we created the world's first lower-emissions road trip. Two teams of influencers/celebrities travelled across the US and Europe in over 60 different modes of transport with only one goal: the journey with the lowest emissions wins.
Hosted by The Big Bang Theory's Kaley Cuoco and BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James, the full series lived on YouTube and streaming platforms such as Prime Video, and was further supported by an extensive paid and earned media ecosystem that utilised persona mapping, retargeting and creative that was continuously optimised throughout the campaign. Assets included teasers, trailers, native influencer content, behind-the-scenes, tech videos, social clips and polls, media partnerships, OOH, digital/mobile display and programmatic, and a bespoke website. The series has gained over 120 million views to date and exceeded media benchmarks for time spent with brand.
Best Day of My Life / On Top of the World: Music Videos and Tracks
To celebrate cleaner energy innovations in a way that would appeal and entertain Shell's target audience of Energy Engaged Millennials (representing energy influencers and future policy makers) six popular music artists from key markets were brought together to collaborate. In two separate music videos and tracks, energy ideas were featured alongside the likes of Jennifer Hudson, Steve Aoki and Pixie Lott who performed a cover of The Best Day of My Life and On Top of the World. The videos were rolled out via Tumblr, Buzzfeed, Snapchat and Twitter, with a live performance in Rio that was streamed on Periscope and Facebook, then later replayed in DOOH locations including Times Square. While an interactive video allowed users to select specific artists and energy ideas. Both videos were further promoted in paid media, the artists' owned channels and made available as commercial tracks in-store and via Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Tidal.
In its first 3 months, Best Day of My Life was viewed over 262 million times, and the video was named Advertising Age's Most Viral Video 5 weeks in a row. The video was shared 4.1 million times, and the most shared brand video on Facebook that year.
Make the Future: Brand Repositioning and Activations
Long seen as a big, traditional oil company, Shell's strides towards cleaner energy were not evident to its target audience. To demonstrate the company's support of innovation that would ultimately benefit communities worldwide, these ideas were put into action. In collaboration with Shell funded start-ups, we launched a series of activations starting with the world's first kinetic football pitch in a Rio favela that would allow children to play at night by powering the flood lights with their own footsteps. A concept that was later also implemented in a Nigerian high school. The launch of Gravity Light, a light powered by the gravity of rocks, eliminated the need for harmful kerosene lamps in Kenya. Another activation included the creation of a new blend of biofuel derived from used coffee grounds to power buses in London. All these initiatives ran under the Make the Future brand platform and were supported predominantly in digital, PR, media partnerships including Condé Nast, Wired, NYT, National Geographic and NBCUniversal, and by a host of global tech influencers.
Results: A combined 350 content pieces for the brand resulted in over 2 billion impressions with over 80% of our target more likely to view Shell as actively addressing future energy needs. The work also garnered a number of creative awards including 4 x Cannes Lions, 4 x Clios, 3 x Epicas and 2 x D&AD pencils.
Shell Eco-marathon: Interactive installation and TTL campaign
The Shell Eco-marathon is a programme aimed at STEM university students worldwide, who build and design fuel-efficient vehicles that then compete in one of various annual events globally. As part of Shell's Make the Future festival, raising awareness and driving attendance to the event has always been a challenge.
To showcase the tech behind the cars, we worked with students from three universities and a team that created CGI renders based on the CAD drawings of their vehicles to create an immersive, interactive installation. Based on Kinect motion sensors, users could take apart and examine each component. Accompanied by an audio narrative of the students describing the design process, each user experience was captured so it could be shared on social media. Animated and static versions of the work were adapted for social, digital and mobile display, and OOH. The installation and takeovers in Waterloo station and Westfield, unveiled by Rachel Riley, saw 98% of site visitors signing up to attend the event.
