One of the world’s most significant energy challenges is that by 2050, the global population will be 9 billion.

Shell wanted to show how it could help meet these future energy demands. Helping a local community in Brazil would position the company as a vital, innovative and inspiring contributor to solving the world’s energy challenge.

Our solution was the “Power of Sport” project, harnessing energy from an unexpected source: the passion and movement of people who play football.

We would demonstrate the power of energy innovation by creating the world’s first-ever player-powered pitch.

Our impact was felt around the world.

In the first 48 hours, there were 114 pieces of media coverage globally. We hit 320 placements in more than 20 countries in six weeks.

The 38 pieces of content we created for Shell’s owned media and Pelé’s channels reached more than 35.2m.

The Facebook post featuring an event video was the most successful of 2014 for Shell, with 47m impressions.

People now think differently about Shell, with significant increases in brand familiarity (+12.8 points), "working to provide a sustainable energy future" (+8.0) and "a leader in providing innovative energy solutions" (+8.1).

We identified a neglected community football pitch in Morro da Mineira, a Rio favela. Shell worked with the local community to renovate it, laying kinetic tiles under the pitch surface.

We invited world’s most famous footballer – Pelé – to kick the first ball, creating news for consumers around the world.

We followed with a global, integrated media campaign, creating cinematic short-film content in partnership with Condé Nast, distributed online and via social media.

We promoted Pelé’s tweets and put paid-for promotion behind Shell posts and tweets.

The message thrived on digital, directing people to Shell’s #makethefuture social properties.

The 2014 World Cup presented the ideal platform to engage the world with this message.

In Rio, football is the best way to keep local children off the streets; their parents know where they are and that they are safe. However lack of energy can be a big problem. After dark, most have nowhere to play safely.

We created the first-ever renewable energy football pitch, powering floodlights thanks to kinetic tiles that stored the energy generated by the players’ footsteps.

The project provided an innovative solution for one Rio community while inspiring a global audience to think differently about energy.