We developed a mobile Street View hack that allowed users to virtually plant Sakura anywhere in the world. We did this using emerging WebGL technologies and the Google Street View API, entirely in the phone’s browser.

This virtual planting of trees inspired us to bring the idea to life in the real world. Spring 2016 marks the fifth anniversary of the devastating Tsunami in Tohoku. In partnership with local government and the non-profit Sakura Line 311, we took 10 yen from every bottle of Lux Sakura sold and bought hundreds of Sakura trees. We then started planting them along an invisible line 170 kilometres long: the line that marks the furthest point inland the tsunami traveled. Tree after tree, every ten metres. It’s a memorial to the past and a marker for the future.

Sakura Dream is mobile first, working entirely within the mobile browser using Street View API and 3D modeling in WebGL.

Users arrived at the site from geo-targeted mobile ads served in all of Japan’s 47 prefectures.. They also arrived via social media or from a QR code on the Lux Sakura bottle itself.

The user is dropped into one of 25 curated scenes, artfully ‘hacked’ to show Sakura trees lining the streets. From there users can choose their exact location using GPS or enter any address in the world.

We created a short film to show how the idea was brought to life in Tohoku. We also turned the mobile site into a donation platform where people could contribute money or volunteer their time.

The project was launched in April 2015. We started planning trees in November 2015. We’ll continue to plant hundreds of trees a year until the full 170 kilometres is

500 million Media Impressions generated. Over 1 million Sakura Dream Scenes created. Over 750.000 Visitors to the mobile site.

Average Time Spent more than 2 minutes, with the average user exploring 4-5 different locations.

Over 24% of people returned to the site later with a significantly higher average interaction time of 10.5 minutes.

83% of experiences came from mobile.

Over 500,000 people have viewed our film about the Sakura Dream Project and Tohoku.

Dynamic, bespoke mobile ads served in all 47 prefectures in Japan.

Nearly 1,000 trees have been planted. Contributions from the sales of Lux Sakura shampoo continue to grow. We’ll stop when we’ve helped plant the entire 170 kilometre line.

The product sold out within a week, exceeding sales targets by 960%.

The Sakura Dream Project is rare in that we began with a simple, small, technology led digital idea, and grew it into a large scale, real world, long term project that will last for decades and decades. First, we created a mobile Streetview hack that lets you plant virtual cherry blossoms anywhere in the world.

Then, we partnered with the government and NGO Sakura Line 311, and started planting real sakura trees in a place that needed it the most: in Tohoku, along an invisible line 170km long, marking how far the tsunami came inland.

The Lux brand represents beauty and aspiration, and the strategic platform for this project was to ‘spread the beauty of Sakura where there was none’.

The original mobile-based component of the project did exactly that - by showing people ‘Sakura Dream’ versions of places that were meaningful to them, such as their high school or family home. Mobile made sense as the lead platform for this because, aside from Japanese women being heavy mobile users, the idea lends itself to the use of GPS and geotargeting. Visually, the phone’s gyroscope provided a natural way to explore the experience.

What started as an indigenous digital idea then grew to a real world idea. Dimensionalizing the strategy to include actual tree planting gave meaning to the virtual planting, and created a longer term vision for the brand encompassing corporate responsibility, sustainability and social impact.

In April 2015, Lux introduced a limited-edition Sakura (cherry blossom) shampoo. It’s quite common for brands to release new products in the Spring. Most, however, have only a superficial connection to the season.

Sakura bloom but once a year. They’re at their peak for just a few days. Cherry blossoms have long held a special place in the heart of Japanese. Their flowering marks a time of both reflection and hope. We wanted to create an experience that extended this ephemeral beauty, to make it more lasting and meaningful.

To stand out in this crowded market, Unilever was looking to do something different, to recast the brand and make it more modern and relevant to younger Japanese. The use of mobile and web technologies was our obvious first choice.