Why 80,000 people came to Innocent’s Trafalgar Square takeover

The brief

Despite a growing narrative around the concept of ’rewilding’, it was still an obscure concept to many. The research found that the term appeared 282k times across social media compared to ‘gardening’ at 25.3m times. 43% of the public are unaware of rewilding and what it is, yet six in ten adults admit that nature makes them feel happy and calm with 48% saying that they think the UKs cities and rural areas have become too sterile and concrete. 4 in 10 were also concerned that there will be no green spaces left in the UK in the future.

The brief was to:

• Launch innocent’s new initiative – The Big Rewild, a mission to get the nation rewilding as part of innocent’s pledge to rewild and protect 2 million hectares of land.

• Promote Innocent’s orange juice going carbon neutral

• Amplify innocent’s tone of voice and harness the brand's purpose-led social power

• Deliver a campaign that is bold, impactful and engaging

The idea

The decision was to approach rewilding from the perspective of urbanization, knowing it would be more motivating for families who have experienced their communities being transformed into concrete jungles over recent decades with more green spaces vanishing in favor of buildings and paving despite the benefits of green spaces on our health and wellbeing.

The best way to bring this to life would be to de-urbanize an iconic landmark - a bold and disruptive moment to stop the public in their tracks and get them to see and experience the benefits of rewilding first-hand. The aim was to create a striking image of a well-loved, universally-known London space famed for its concrete aesthetic and give it a green makeover.

The agency worked through the night to create the stunning reveal of Trafalgar Square as an overgrown garden filled with over 6,000 plants, flowers and trees. Complete with a team of gardeners and horticulturalists, we overtook a 30 x 20m space, turning it into a green paradise complete with a replica lion statue covered in foliage, turf, meadow and oranges.

Each of the plants and trees used was hired for the day and remained potted to preserve them before returning to the nurseries we’d loaned them from. The entire activation was developed following a strict 7-step sustainability process with suppliers and materials vetted and opportunities to offset any emissions integrated at each point.

The results

In total the campaign delivered 651 pieces of traditional coverage in addition to 527 social mentions with a combined reach of 668m.

Pre-prepared audio took the campaign far and wide across the radio airwaves up and down the country. Meanwhile, partnerships with four carefully selected influencers helped to push the campaign to social audiences delivering over 32,000 engagements.

Within hours the 500 plants and 3m seeds had been sampled for the 80,000 members of the public attending the one-day event. The significance of this KPI will have a greater environmental impact as visitors use their seeds to start rewilding projects in their local communities.

The stunt and resulting coverage drove a 150% increase in visitors to the whole innocent site, making the campaign page the second most visited page on innocent’s site.

This campaign was a winner at The Drum Awards for Experience in 2022. The Drum Awards for Marketing are currently open for entry. Find out how you can enter now.