EssenceMediacom: Sheba’s Hope Reef

Over 50% of the world’s coral has been lost since 1950, with 90% of reefs facing extinction within just 20 years. As a commitment to going beyond simply sourcing sustainable ingredients for its cat food, Sheba wanted to actively restore ocean health.

Working with Mars Petcare and partners including AMV BBDO, Google and Freuds, EssenceMediacom helped develop the Hope Reef campaign. Located off the coast of Indonesia, Hope Reef restored a barren site that had been blasted with explosives by fishermen. Using the reef star system to create the perfect environment for coral to thrive, Sheba’s marine biologists regrew the coral to form the word Hope, a living testament to Sheba’s commitment to sustainability.

EssenceMediacom’s high-impact paid media campaign across 11 markets helped showcase the visual of Hope Reef alongside its coordinates, driving people to Google Maps to view it for themselves and ‘swim it’ on underwater Streetview. Over one million people explored the reef on Google Maps.

EssenceMediacom also invited the world to play a part in reef restoration via a YouTube video that gained 20 million views and raised enough funds for a new crowdfunded reef. Today Hope Reef is thriving, with 70% coral coverage and a 300% increase in fish abundance.

The campaign saw a 308% return on investment, earned 2.5bn media impressions and five countries have now adopted Sheba’s reef system.