Ocean Bottle Makes Waves with First TV Ad Campaign

The social impact brand turning the tide on ocean-bound plastic makes its TV debut as a 2023 Sky Zero Footprint Fund finalist

Sky Media, the advertising arm of Sky, has today announced that 2023 Sky Zero Footprint Fund finalist, Ocean Bottle, is making its TV debut supporting its mission to save our ocean. The new campaign tells us that by 2050, plastic is expected to outweigh all fish in the ocean, and now, more than ever, it’s time for change.

Ocean Bottle impressed judges last year with its sustainability credentials and potential impact, securing £250,000 in media value for its national TV campaign. Each Ocean Bottle funds the collection of 1000 plastic bottles in weight. Collectors exchange plastic for money and get access to social resources such as healthcare, education and financial security. So far, Ocean Bottle has collected 14,164,500 kilograms of plastic via its partners: grassroots organisations in coastal communities in countries such as Indonesia, India and Ghana – the equivalent to 1 billion plastic bottles in weight.

Ocean Bottle’s TV campaign will air across a mix of Sky Media’s Linear and Video On Demand (VOD) platforms. The campaign will use Sky Media’s Performance Solution team to optimise delivery in real-time to maximise response. The VOD activity aims to drive brand awareness through the ‘Must See VOD’ package, featuring a wide range of Sky’s premium content. The first wave of the campaign will run until 11th July 2024 and marks the brand’s TV debut.

The 30” advert aims to spread the Ocean Bottle message and connect viewers to the plastic-pollution crisis by depicting a strange yet dystopian world where plastic replaces fish. Scenes show a girl winning a plastic bottle in a bag of water at the funfair, a woman picking which plastic bottle she’d like at the fish counter in a supermarket, and a man serving a battered plastic bottle at the fish and chip shop. The campaign’s message is clear: Buy 1, Rescue 1,000 – with an Ocean Bottle anyone can directly contribute to protecting the health of our ocean.

The creative was crafted and produced in partnership with Hatch London and follows best practice advice and recommendations from the Advertising Association’s AdGreen programme.

Will Pearson, CEO and Co-Founder at Ocean Bottle said: “Ocean Bottle was created to give people an easy way to contribute, have an impact, and make a difference when it comes to protecting our ocean. We’re so proud to be one of Sky Zero’s Footprint Fund finalists to spread this message further and empower more individuals to drive positive change. With Sky Zero’s backing, we’ve been able to create a truly impactful campaign that we hope will get even more people hydrated while helping the ocean at the same time.”

Mark Gibson, Managing Director at Hatch London, commented: “Ocean Bottle and Sky are at the very forefront of companies making a real difference towards Net Zero. We’re honoured that the collective team at Hatch has been chosen as the creative partner for the campaign. We look forward to continuing the journey with these outstanding clients.”

Sarah Jones, Director of Planning at Sky Media, added: “The Footprint Fund celebrates brands that make sustainability accessible and impactful. Ocean Bottle’s innovative and thought-provoking campaign does just that. We are thrilled to help bring this creative vision to life and anticipate it will inspire significant positive change in consumer behaviour towards reusable products.”

Winners of this year’s £2million Sky Zero Footprint Fund revealed

• Five brands have been announced as winners of the £2 million sustainable advertising initiative
• This year, Ecosia, Homethings, Royal Mail, Serious Tissues and WUKA have been selected by an esteemed judging panel to win £250,000 each in media value, helping fast-track their sustainable initiatives
• The five brands will now move into ad production and the final stage of judging in December, which will see the most compelling creative securing a total of £1 million in media value.
• Established by Sky, the Sky Zero Footprint Fund supports brands committed to a more sustainable future by helping to amplify their positive environmental messages using the power of TV and advertising

Sky has announced the five winners of its Sky Zero Footprint Fund, a £2 million advertising fund which uses the power of TV advertising to amplify business initiatives that are driving positive behavioural change for a more sustainable world.

The campaign champions the adoption of tangible steps towards a sustainable future. The five winning brands were selected because of their pitch’s display to inspire change, with each one demonstrating sustainable values that align to Sky’s own. Sky Zero‘s pledge is to go net zero carbon by 2030 and inspire others to join the journey.

Each of the winning businesses has been awarded £250,000 in media value. They will now move into ad production, ahead of a final stage of judging in December, which will see the most compelling creative securing a total of £1 million in media value.

Fiona Ball, Group Director of the Bigger Picture at Sky, said: “Last year, the Sky Zero Footprint Fund resulted in five great adverts and brought disruptive brands to TV for the first time. It’s exciting to see this year, yet again, so many inspiring brands are committed to making a difference. Each of the winning brands from this year’s Sky Zero Footprint Fund delivers a critical message that aligns with ours; that sustainable can be attainable. And, with the opportunity to use the power of TV advertising, this message is amplified, ultimately driving positive change.”

The five wining businesses are (alphabetically):

• Ecosia
• Homethings
• Royal Mail
• Serious Tissues
• WUKA

A panel of respected industry experts, with credentials in advertising, creativity and sustainability, assessed 15 live pitches from the shortlisted brands on Wednesday 10th August at the Thinkbox headquarters in Chancery Lane. Each brand was judged on the merit of their creativity (ability to capture the attention of the nation), impact (the potential to drive real, tangible behavioural change) and sustainable credibility (their authentic commitment as a business to improve future sustainability).

Sarah Jones, Director of Planning at Sky Media, said: “It has been such a privilege to discover so many brands who are helping pave the way to a more sustainable future. The standard of pitches we saw on judging day was excellent – with inspiring origin stories, shocking statistics and brilliant business ideas. Thank you to all the brands who took part and to our fantastic judging panel for their expertise and guidance. We believe our final 5 have a huge opportunity to make an impact within their categories and beyond through the power of TV.”

This year’s judging panel included three new additions with Tara Chandra, Co-founder of Here We Flo who won the Grand Prix £1 million ad spend last year; Bruce Crouch, Executive Creative Director of Hatch London and the creative behind Here We Flo’s award-winning period drama concept; and Marianne Matthews, Sky’s Head of Responsible Business.

The panel also included the return of advertising legend Sir John Hegarty, Stephen Woodford (Chair of the Advertising Association), Karen Blackett OBE (Country Manager at WPP & GroupM UK CEO), Jo Fenn (Founder of AdGreen) and Sarah Jones (Director of Planning at Sky Media)

Sophie Dembinski, Ecosia’s Head of Policy & UK, said, “We’re thrilled to have been selected as one of the winners of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund. With Sky’s support, Ecosia will be able to reach and enable millions more people across the UK to fight the climate emergency by planting millions more trees and regenerating forests around the world at a crucial time for the planet.”

Tim Keaveney, Founder of Homethings, said, “We’re fizzing with excitement to be in the final 5 of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund. This campaign will be a game-changing step on our journey to change the way the world cleans, helping us to educate consumers that shipping water is bonkers for the planet whilst refilling with tap water makes sense.”

Sonia Sudhakar, Managing Director, Marketing and Digital at Royal Mail, said, “We’re thrilled to be shortlisted by Sky’s Zero Footprint Fund. As the UK’s greenest delivery company*, we are committed to raising awareness about the real carbon impact of our parcel deliveries. Now, with the help of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund and AMV BBDO, we’ll campaign for our entire industry to do the same, thereby empowering customers to help tackle climate change – today!”

Chris Baker, Founder of Serious Tissues, said, “We’re seriously excited to be one of the Sky Zero Footprint Fund winners and especially amongst the amazing company of the other brands on the shortlist. TV has the power to make sustainable switches mainstream, showing how something as small as changing your toilet roll to Serious Tissues can have a massive impact. Fingers heavily crossed for the final in December.”

Ruby Raut, CEO and Co-Founder of WUKA, said, “We believe the future is girls and the future of periods is sustainable period underwear so having the Sky Zero Footprint Fund team believe our vision is an incredible start on our journey. Supporting our campaign means supporting generational impact, a lasting positive impact for both women’s health and reducing our collective footprint on the planet.”

All five winning ads will be produced using insights, tools and learnings from AdGreen. Part of the Advertising Association, AdGreen supports the ad industry shift towards net zero, eliminating the negative environmental impacts of production. Established by Sky, the Footprint Fund is part of the Sky Zero campaign to be net zero carbon by 2030.

Pura releases sustainably made TV ad with support from the Sky Zero Footprint Fund

Fast-growing eco-ethical baby brand, Pura, has released its first major TV ad campaign after victory in the Sky Zero Footprint Fund competition. The ad was created in the most sustainable way possible, with all single use plastics banned from the set.

Pura was among five finalists each awarded £250,000 in media value by Sky Media in a competition designed to provide worthy companies with funding to amplify TV adverts with a sustainable message.

Entrants were tasked with pitching and creating adverts that would drive positive behavioural change and have a tangible impact towards a more sustainable future in the £2M million advertising fund initiative.

Created by FCB inferno London, Pura’s TV commercial was designed to inspire viewers to be greener and for the two-day shoot, all single-use plastics were banned from set and all props were made from sustainable materials.

Using a cute cast of disgruntled “spokesbabies”, Pura’s ad – It’s Time For A Change – educates parents by blowing the whistle on hidden plastic in wipes and explains how they can easily switch to plastic-free.

Pura founder and chief executive officer Guy Fennell said: “It was important to us to practice what we preach. That’s why we made sure that the shoot for the ad was designed to be as eco-friendly as possible.

“As a new Dad, I know most parents can’t live without the convenience of baby wipes, but most don’t know that 90% of baby wipes sold in the UK contain plastic.

“That plastic is a carbon intensive material from when it’s made, to when it’s thrown away. The shocking truth is plastic wipes last over 100 years, outliving the babies they were used on.

“For my son Ezra, and for all babies, Pura’s is here to say it’s time for a big change. We know our new TV commercial has the power to drive big change. I’m immensely grateful to Sky Media for this opportunity.”

With bespoke consultation from Sky Media’s Direct to Scale team, Pura’s prize media value will be used across Linear and VoD channels in the Sky Media portfolio, which have been carefully planned to reach and resonate with their ideal audience: households with young kids. The plan is to blanket this audience across an extensive 4-month period starting in April with the aim to increase brand awareness and drive purchases of Pura’s extensive product range.

Katharine Dunlap, Head of Direct to Scale at Sky Media, said “We’re excited to be able to give Pura access to the most effective platform, which will help scale up the business and amplify its positive message through the unrivalled reach of TV. We believe that Pura can play a key role in encouraging the nation to make small but significant changes for sustainability, which is why the brand made it into our Footprint Fund top five. We’ve also seen, through research conducted by Sky and the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), that TV really does have the power to encourage consumers to decarbonise – with 1 in 3 having changed their lifestyle because of content seen on TV. In my opinion, this could be a really impactful combination in the steps towards fighting climate change.”