This project is relevant for the Creative B2B category because we built on Vattenfall’s long term brand goal of “fossil free living within one generation” with a B2B campaign tailored to inspire industries to decarbonize their value chains.

Its aim wasn’t to just drive brand-growth but tackling one of the biggest challenges of time: how do get the steel industry, with its huge influence, to go fossil-free?

We did this by creating an ambitious new product based on Vattenfall’s development of fossil-free hydrogen and showcased systemic change in a bottle to inspire industries to follow.

Swedish energy company Vattenfall has a clear goal in everything they do: to enable fossil free living within one generation. This means that, in addition to producing energy, they work on numerous R&D projects with the aim of reducing the global use of fossil fuels. One of these projects is the development of fossil-free hydrogen.

What we’ve learned through research is that industrial processes aren’t an easy thing for people to grasp, and further on research showed that people don’t care about systemic change on our core markets. But one thing that people do understand and actually care about is skincare, and in recent years skincare has become increasingly popular and especially the importance of clean ingrediencies. Therefore, we decided to intersect skincare and industrial emissions to communicate how clean emissions from fossil-free hydrogen are by using wastewater from the HYBRIT factory.

Through the campaign, we have made fossil-free hydrogen known to a broad group that would not normally be interested in decarbonizing industrial processes. And put the important message into the core of pop-culture to influence politicians and industries to be part of the global transition to fossil freedom.

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.

Vattenfall’s fossil-free hydrogen replaces coal in the steel production, resulting in industrial emissions only consisting of water. By replacing coal with fossil-free hydrogen in the process of producing fossil-free steel global CO2-emissions could be reduced by 7%.

When Vattenfall asked us to inspire the steel industry to change and showcase fossil-free hydrogen, we proposed more than a campaign, we proposed a product. We recommended producing a face mist made from industrial emissions.

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.

Vattenfall has committed to an ambitious goal of “fossil free living within one generation”. An essential part of achieving this goal is collaborating beyond traditional industry borders, to decarbonize value chains in high-emitting sectors.

From customer and market research, we know the world doesn’t need advertising talking about climate change. What we need is real change.

But inspiring business leaders within a powerful industry like the steel sector is not an easy task, that’s why part of our strategy is to showcase action, that there is a solution in place. We need to make an impact that reaches far beyond our category.

It was clear that our work needed to be based on three things: innovative collaboration, tangible action, and smart leverage.

This inspired our strategy to develop a whole new product developed by fossil-free hydrogen, partnering with Cara Delevingne to maximize impact and tap into a new category: beauty.

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 partnered with famous climate activist Cara Delevingne, and released 5,000 bottles of Industrial Emissions Face Mist which we’re all sold-out within seconds.

We got coverage in 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. The campaign's execution engaged a global audience, generating a PR value of €6.25 million.

In post-tests, the campaign outperformed previous benchmarks for Vattenfall’s brand image in its two brand differentiators metrics: “Leads the development towards a sustainable future” (+41%) and “Takes broader responsibility” (+36%).

But the real impact is the ongoing change this campaign is inspiring across industries. By leading the development towards a sustainable future, partnering with businesses outside of their own category is key to drive systemic change. HYBRIT is a joint venture between energy-company Vattenfall, SSAB and LKAB, where Vattenfalls fossil-free hydrogen is a key part to develop fossil-free steel. Together with its partners Vattenfall can change how all steel is being made in the future.

The strategy of internal activation turned employees into engaged ambassadors and made sure the project was spread to industry leaders. For instance, Anthony Blinken, US secretary of state, was handed a bottle when visiting HYRBIT factory, driven by the engagement from the PRA.

Vattenfall’s brand purpose is “to power climate smarter living”, and in 2018 it publicly committed to an ambitious goal of “fossil free living within one generation”. An essential part of its strategy is collaboration beyond traditional industry boarders because a fossil free future isn’t possible without transforming high-emitting sectors like the steel industry.

Vattenfall backed its claim up with real action, not just words, for example by aligning its emission reduction targets with the 1.5°C Paris goal. And from customer research, we know that people want to see action not more greenwashing advertising from brands.

So it was clear that our work needed to have innovative solution and tangible action at its heart. Vattenfall’s fossil free hydrogen is part of driving systemic change, we created a disruptive idea about systemic change in a bottle.