Lifebuoy was born more than a hundred years ago to help people prevent infections. Armed with a mission to "make cleanliness commonplace", Lifebuoy placed itself in the service of public health, actively championing hygiene. Today, Lifebuoy is the world's number one-selling hygiene soap brand.

Even though the world has changed dramatically with unimaginable developments in science, the reality is that there continue to be numerous health and hygiene issues that plague humanity.

Brief: Urgent intervention in an area that is fast becoming a critical threat to public health in India - plastic pollution in rivers and its linkage with dangerous bacteria. India’s most iconic and the world’s third-largest river - the Ganga, flows through well-populated regions in India, providing fresh water to millions. However, the river is also choked with plastic, making it a hotbed for illness-causing bacteria.

The objective: Help clean up the Ganga and provide germ protection.

TURNING PLASTIC POLLUTION THAT’S BAD INTO GERM PROTECTION THAT’S GOOD.

We created Gift of the Ganga, a unique world in Minecraft, that replicated the famous Haridwar bend of the river Ganges. The game-play was designed in 5 levels, with players needing to collect floating plastic waste from the virtual river.

As much plastic as players collected in-game, Lifebuoy would collect equivalent plastic waste ground, and upcycle it to create handwashing stations for under-served schools.

Transforming plastic waste, which is universally villainised, into a force for good hygiene. Also providing tangible, real-world impact for virtual gaming, online.

Gift of the Ganga was designed as a world-class gaming experience, with high accuracy for features of the real Ganga. Game levels were designed to reflect the impact of cleaning the river of plastic on the waters of the river and fauna as well, while seamlessly integrating the message of hygiene.

We had three challenges:

1. The River Ganga is most sacred to all Hindus. How do we get people to clean up without labelling it as unhygienic and polluted?

2. How do we get Gen Z - who are most passionate about causes - to participate but also help create real impact, beyond the armchair activism they are so well known for?

3. How could we educate people on long-term behaviour change - to not throw plastic waste into the river?

We turned to gamers. Scores of youths in both urban and rural areas spend hours behind the screen playing online games like PUBG, Minecraft and Fortnite. They were knee-deep in experiences that not only engage them but also offer social and emotional rewards.

Our strategy:

MAKE THE GANGA ACCESSIBLE TO GAMERS ALL OVER AND GAMIFY THE EXPERIENCE OF CLEANING UP PLASTIC POLLUTION.

Lifebuoy created a unique world in Minecraft, replicating the Haridwar bend of the river Ganges. The game was designed in 5 levels, and players were instructed to collect floating plastic waste from the virtual river.

As the levels progressed, players could earn cool tools like fishing rods, turtle shells and boats to help them in their tasks.

As the players proceeded to clean the virtual Ganga, they could also receive rewards – the water got visibly cleaner and new fauna was reborn in the virtual river, reinforcing the message of marine conservation.

This activity was kicked off on 21st April on the eve of World Earth Day.

The gameplay was designed on Minecraft (Java Edition) and was amplified on YouTube and Instagram, as well as offline publications carrying the news.

While the activity was India-based, we had players from 14 countries participating in the game to maximise impact.

Within 7 days of Gift of the Ganga going live, astounding results followed:

• Total game logins: 4,545

• Number of plastic bottles & bags collected in Minecraft: 1.07M (approx)

• Weight of online plastic collected in-game: 16.8 tonnes

• Weight of plastic elements for on-ground collection: 16.8 tonnes (16,823kg)

• Average time per player spent in-game: 32 mins 17 seconds

• Real impact; Number of schools: 150+

• Real impact; Number of people: 100,000+

• Number of countries players were from 14

• Media reach: 77+ million

• Impressions: 62.1 million (Youtube),

• Views: 5.7 million (YouTube)

• Watch time: 752,000 hours (almost 86 years)

• Positive brand mentions: Increased by a whopping 44 times

We aimed to make plastic pollution in India's rivers and its impact on human health a larger conversation through this campaign. More importantly, we provided online activism with a legitimate and equivalent on-ground impact!