How do we create an activation that is sustainable while telling the stories of our sustainability innovations? And how do we use it to engage a global audience of potential talent? As a sponsor of Global Citizen Live 2022, and with an in-person audience of 60K, we knew we wanted to breathe new life into how we share the stories of our successes. Knowing that we were wanting to grab the attention of potential talent and clients alike by telling the stories of our work in and around sustainability innovations, while competing with other Global Citizen sponsors for the spotlight, we also knew that we wanted to deliver an activation that would gather excitement ahead of the event and live on well past it. And with our activation being around our work around sustainability, we knew that would also have to be top of mind in whatever we put forth.

We turned corporate swag into sustainable concert merch. We hit all the right notes by marrying the two with our sustainably made “band Ts”. Part recruiting tool, part storytelling, with a focus on talent and our commitment to sustainability, we drew inspiration from the classic band Ts of the past. We turned our projects into band names and album covers, and case studies into tour dates, giving people a way to engage with our work and spread the message in a new, creative way that doesn’t feel “corporate”.

But having beautifully designed shirts at Global Citizen Live wouldn’t have the global reach or longevity that we wanted to reach potential talent. With a branded QR code on the shirt backs and power of social media (including a “takeover” of our branded channels) we directed people to our Careers website where they could learn more about getting involved in our work.

Our target audience was the Global Citizen concert attendees in Central Park, a crowd of well over 60K in person. Our past experience partnering with and sponsoring the Global Citizen Live event, allowed us to have a strong understanding of the audience: younger people, music fans, people who are socially conscience. Exactly the people we want to speak to when talking about, and recruiting for, our sustainability efforts.

To grab their attention, we knew we needed to stand out in the crowd, and we also wanted to do something that would have longevity beyond a one-day concert. That is where the idea of branded QR codes on the back of the t-shirts came in, as anytime someone wears one of our shirts and someone scans the code, it will direct them to our Careers site. Meanwhile, the social media “takeover” was directing traffic to the site ahead of the event.

From the time we were tasked with creating an activation, to the concert date itself, we had 8 weeks.

This was 8 weeks to create 18 t-shirt designs, design and construct two booths, and have t-shirts printed featuring 10 of our sustainability innovation stories. This timeline also included the creation of the social media “takeover” strategy, a photo shoot featuring our employees for both the social media posts and the revamping of our Careers website, and the development of two videos.

By beginning the social media “takeover” ahead of the event, we gathered excitement both for the people who would later be attending the concert, as well as those worldwide who would be live streaming it.

Day of, we had two branded, fully recyclable booths in two different locations within Central Park, including one in the VIP area, with the shirts on display, reminiscent of merch booths at concerts.

We found our activation to be highly successful on many fronts.

Across social media channels, concert attendees, and a global telecast, our client stories of sustainability innovation reached 170.5M people—including perspective talent—worldwide, resulting in an estimated online media value of over $475M (on a $3M investment). That is nearly 200M people learning more about the work we’re doing and available opportunities, while gaining deeper knowledge and understanding of our client work around sustainability innovations.

By the numbers, this is how we reached potential talent and a broader global audience: 

450% increase in traffic to our Careers website with 88% of these being engaged visits 

20 broadcast partners over 39 territories. 

23.3M Twitter impressions, surpassing our benchmark by 58%. 

1.06M impressions across our branded social media channels 

80K concert attendees between New York City and Ghana