We’re staring a climate emergency in the face. Only systemic change can deliver the cuts in global CO2 emissions we need. Steel production accounts for 7% of those emissions.

Leading European energy company Vattenfall’s goal is to remove fossil fuels from society. This means that, in addition to producing energy, Vattenfall is working on numerous of R&D projects with the aim of reducing the global use of fossil fuels. One of these projects is developing fossil-free hydrogen.

Currently, Vattenfall's fossil-free hydrogen replaces coal in HYBRIT's production of fossil-free steel, resulting in industrial emissions consisting only water. Simply by replacing coal with fossil-free hydrogen in the steel industry, global CO2-emissions could be reduced by 7%.

We got the task to communicate this to young adults with the goal of positioning Vattenfall as a leader in the transition to fossil-free energy by putting a PR-core in its center.

To get the industry to go fossil-free, an essential part of its strategy is collaboration beyond traditional industry borders because a fossil free future isn’t possible without transforming high-emitting sectors like the steel industry.

To demonstrate how Vattenfall is working for fossil freedom and thinking beyond conventions, we turned wastewater from the process of making fossil-free hydrogen into a face mist. A disruptive idea about systemic change in a bottle. We tapped into the world of beauty and collaborated with Cara Delevingne, climate advocate and actress, to tell the story. We created Industrial Emissions Face Mist.

The campaign is based on a spoof of classic beauty campaigns, playing with expressions familiar to the beauty industry and merging them with heavy industry.

The result was an integrated campaign that caught attention for industry leaders as well as succeeding to tell the importance of decarbonizing value chains.

The climate conversation often feels dull, and energy companies can be uninspiring. Our strategic choice was to stand out, to target a younger audience and tailor to today's online culture. We decided to tap into the world of beauty and innovate a product: Industrial Emissions Face Mist, utilizing emissions from fossil-free hydrogen (just clean water). This served as tangible proof of fossil-free hydrogen and acted as a communications engine. Embracing the world of beauty, we chose to collaborate with the well-known beauty-supermodel-and climate advocate Cara Delevingne.

The essence of our strategy - the clash between two worlds, beauty and energy - drove the activation plan, sparking discussions in various communities and publications. We planned the PR rollout around the product and the world of beauty. Our objective was to engage both existing and new groups, including "Beauty" and "Environmentally-dedicated" segments as well as celebrity fans, tech enthusiasts, and business leaders.

The timeline: 22/5 - 17/9 2023.

Our campaign was broadcasted from Sweden, Finland, Germany, and The Netherlands but achieved global reach. Featuring on TV, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and our website, it transcended our markets.

Through-out the whole campaign, we made specific content to local influencers to get to the core of each cultural behavior for each market, we released 5000 bottles of Industrial Emissions Face Mist which we’re all sold-out within seconds.

We got coverage in magazines like Fast Company, Harper's Bazaar, and Vogue included in-depth Vattenfall interviews discussing the initiative's uniqueness.

Our launch's bespoke landing page on Vattenfall’s website saw a +350% increase in visit duration, outperforming industry norms. And the campaign's execution engaged a global audience, generating a PR value of €6.25 million. And this is an energy company we’re talking about.

By inventing a completely new product and launching it with a world-famous celebrity, we succeeded in not only capturing the attention of new target groups, but our approach also delivered a complicated message in a simple, engaging way. A solution that, with the help of strategic channel choices, enabled an energy company's technology for a fossil-free future to land squarely in pop culture. The effort was a huge success in creating awareness around the innovation of fossil-free hydrogen technology in the steel industry, and it strengthened the general perception that Vattenfall is leading the development towards a fossil-free future. Our measurable interim goals were exceeded by a wide margin, far above the ambitiously set targets.

Brand association "Leads development," +41% (+11ppt)

Brand association "Takes broader responsibility," +36% (+13ppt)

KPI, Consideration +47% (+9ppt)

This corresponded to the highest figure for the year to date and a staggering increase.

PR-Value:€6.25 million