Fujitsu's breakthrough solutions are aimed at addressing crucial societal issues, such as air quality, but their true value has become obscured by technical jargon and complexities. Making it challenging for clients and the public to understand and relate, thus diminishing its emotional impact.

To bridge this gap, Fujitsu needed to reframe the global air quality issue, while showcasing their prime innovation, the Digital Twin™ technology. Its magic lies in its ability to make the invisible, visible—transforming abstract environmental data into a tangible experience. To do this, we reimagined how to talk about it, weaving it into a story that would resonate on a human level.

The aim was also to foster understanding and media interest, to help spread the message far and wide that this is more than just another high-tech tool, but a pathway towards meaningful change, transforming how we tackle problems that matter to us all.

To raise awareness about Fujitsu’s Digital Twin™︎ Technology for clean air, we wanted to make pollution data more visible and emotional, by delivering it in an unexpected way.

In a unique collaboration that blends technology with culinary art, we created Carbon Cakes: a collection of cakes made with the same amount of pollution we breathe in every day.

Each Carbon Cake reflects levels of CO2 and PM2.5 that are gathered from environmental data via Fujitsu’s Digital Twin™︎ simulations, showcasing the balance between environmental, social, and economic factors. These black, dirty, misshapen cakes, filled with pollutants, helped people visualize the tangible amount of pollution that surrounds us, stimulating real conversations around CO2 and PM2.5 reduction - with the ultimate aim to drive debate around finding solutions for change.

Using Fujitsu’s multimodality Digital Twin™, we generated a simulation of the CO2 emissions from a densely populated city, which produces 460,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, or 4.6 tonnes per person.

We then conducted several Digital Rehearsals™ to find the optimal balance between environmental, social and economic factors as solutions: for example, making tolls on the motorway free; set lower tolls; set low tolls and reduce bus fares; make tolls free, but also with an EV adoption rate set at 30%, etc.

The cakes were then made based on the pollutant/environmental data obtained from each rehearsal.

The Carbon Cakes were first unveiled at a high-profile event in Tokyo, set against the backdrop of the city's Terrada E Hall, on March 19th. The event went beyond showcasing the unique desserts. We hosted a panel discussion to delve deeper into the problem, along with an open conversation about the solutions available to us, with experts in various fields Ian Shimizu, Kohei Saito, Gomi Hayakawa, Mai Shinuchi and Akiko Yamada.

During the event, attendees could experience the different varieties of contaminated cakes and understand the logic behind each recipe/solution by tapping into the different data sets: the darker the cake and the more distorted its shape, the higher the cake's contaminant value and the lower its environmental score.

Among the 'contaminated' cakes, there was also a 'pollution-free' option, the one attendees actually enjoyed, highlighting the campaign's ultimate goal of fostering a cleaner, more sustainable environment.

Carbon Cakes significantly elevated awareness around Fujitsu's technologies, brand perception, and environmental consciousness itself:

The event engaged 22 key attendees, achieving coverage across 80 media outlets worldwide, dramatically broadening awareness surrounding Fujitsu’s technology, and far surpassing traditional methods like white papers. It garnered an impressive JPY 24,813,000 in earned media value, and

221 million social media reach[1].

Additionally, Fujitsu reshaped its image, showcased by headlines like - "A project that is as educational as it is unconventional"[2] and “A deliciously stark reminder of our carbon footprint.[3]"

The campaign inspired attendees to rethink their environmental impact, with reflections like, "I was given the opportunity to think more deeply about aspects of environmental issues I had not considered before,[4]" demonstrating its effectiveness in inspiring behavior shifts toward sustainability.

[1] Fujitsu PR report, Apr 2024.

[2] MMR, Apr 2024.

[3] Campaign Asia, Apr 2024.

[4] Instagram, Mar 2024.