We are bombarded daily by images of despair and hopelessness - Covid, rainforests on fire and communities being wiped away by flash floods. Amidst this context we were briefed for a campaign and design solution to communicate Sheba’s commitment to sustainable fishing.

Fish are only sustainable if their environment is too, so Sheba developed a reef restoration technique called the “Reef Star” system - hexagonal structures capable of restoring reefs at speed and scale, and embarked on the world’s largest reef restoration programme. Our role was to cut through the context of hopelessness, make famous Sheba’s action and prove to consumers sceptical of greenwashing that reefs could be restored. That there were man-made solutions to man-made problems.

A design solution was required which could be deployed globally across a suite of assets to run everywhere from the US to Australia, Europe, Russia and Asia

Below the water, Sheba’s marine biologists linked the coral covered Reef Stars to create 4 gigantic letters which, over 3 years, grew into a living, thriving coral reef. When viewed by the Google Maps satellite, it wrote HOPE large across the sea bed.

Inspired by those Reef Stars we created a unique campaign visual identity - a scientifically accurate growing font, with every character built from the same hexagonal structures and every coral, anemone and fish native to the restored reef.

This campaign told the story of Hope Reef and the connection between Sheba - a cat food brand, to sustainable fish and coral reefs. From a design perspective, a hint of gold ran through all forms of communication to retain Sheba’s brand recognition, glinting against the dark blue ocean backdrops.

It was simple and beautiful yet intricate enough to resonate with all audiences from coral restoration NGOs to schoolchildren.

This design identity ran through our connected ecosystem. Views of our “YouTube Channel that Grows Coral” raised funds for future reefs, while the alphabet introduced the reef’s residents over 26 days on our digital OOH and social channels.

Every species featured is native to the restored reef, with sunrays and bubbles adding detail. Hints of gold ran throughout all communication to retain Sheba’s brand recognition. Inspired by Sheba’s Reef Star System and with help from marine biologists, we created a scientifically accurate, bespoke digital growing font.

In digital form the font grows and transitions from day to night - species change and the coral phosphoresces. In static form, its weights from regular to bold mimic the reef’s growth over 3 years. All this brought Hope Reef to life in OOH, digital, social and print.

Like the Reef Star technology, the font was “open sourced” -given away to everyone through ShebaHopeGrows.com

Sheba set out to have a positive impact on the future of fish, to increase brand salience, and grow sales.

The reef is thriving, with 70% coral coverage, +300% fish abundance, +175% average fish size and +10% more species. Over 1 million people have explored Hope Reef on Google Maps and Sheba’s “Reef Star” System has been adopted by 5 more countries, with 40,000 sqm of reef regrown so far. With 20 million views, our YouTube ‘Channel That Grows Coral’ has raised enough funds for a new crowdfunded reef.

Global PR coverage resulted in 2.5billion earned impressions across major titles including BBC, Forbes and National Geographic and drove a 276% increase in positive social conversations about reef restoration. With this, brand awareness grew +17% and purchase intent by +14%.

Finally, with a campaign ROI of 308%, it’s proof you can build business value while making a meaningful difference.