By using the power of music and specifically the sound of the ocean in a song, composed in collaboration between Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds and Swiss composers from Great Garbo, we created a simple and inventive way to support marine conservation projects. Just stream to save the ocean – with a minimal investment.

The song is an instrumental based on the sounds of the ocean.

Oceans are suffocating in plastic. Each year up to 12.7 million tons end up in water. This is roughly equivalent to one truckload per minute. This is not only tragic for all marine life, but also for us humans, as over 50% of the oxygen we breathe every day comes from the sea.

But for the Swiss, this problem is as far away as the next beach – Families think of the sea as a place for vacations and not an essential resource in dire need of help. How can we create a sense of urgency around the topic and inform people about the suffering of the ocean?

With the Video View campaign, we reached over 165k people – that is every fourth person with a child under 3 years old in Switzerland.

The ads enjoyed 587'431 impressions and a brand lift increase of 6.9 points. This is significant, according to Meta. Most strikingly, the Brand Lift is strongest among the 25-34 age group with +11.2 points. Compared to other non-profits, we performed very well and are well above the industry average of 4.1 points.

As soon as we launched, radios in Switzerland, Germany, as well as some of the largest daily newspapers in Switzerland reported on the campaign. Various influencers picked up the idea and shared it on their channels. In a short time, the song was streamed over 510'000 times and we created renewed attention to an important problem of today: our future!

The client, an NGO, was able to fund 30k to create the song and the corresponding assets: the movie, digital ads. This includes media. The agency, the composers and everyone involved in the creative assets worked pro bono.

We went into the job knowing that the budget would be limited and wanted to find an idea that would be self-running, so that it would not need additional media spending after the launch. With the song «dream the ocean clean» on Spotify, we managed to give the client a product that will provide a certain amount of funds for the foreseeable future.