Studies prove that plants respond to verbal stimuli just like humans. If we could prove that words have such a negative impact on plants, we could make students realize that the impact is much stronger on fellow students. So we set up an experiment at a local school with two IKEA plants. Our experiment visually showed kids what words can do to a living thing. We directly spoke to the right audience through something school kids are familiar with- an experiment. We involved the children every step of the way by interviewing them to hear their stories, getting them more involved with the cause. And since school is a place they learn in every day, we saw it as the perfect place to set up the experiment. As the plants changed, so did the mindsets of the students’.

We took two identical IKEA plants and placed them in soundproof glass boxes. The boxes had one speaker each, with holes on the top for kids to be able to listen to the audio. We recorded negative words and positive words. We then said played the negative words to one plant, and positive words to the other for a span of 30 days at the school venue. This experiment was set up in the school’s common area for kids to conveniently pass by it every day to see the change.

- 1.2 billion media impressions worldwide in only 5 days

- $42 million earned media in only 5 days

- Bullying cases dropped by 49% within the GEMS School Network

- The most successful campaign since the brand’s arrival in the UAE