Our goals:
To show how international financial institutions are changing people’s lives around the globe in the run-up to the main United Nations climate conference: #COP27
To give hope by sharing examples of the positive climate action work we are doing right now and for the future
To create a brilliant video to show the impact of our investments
To increase our collective visibility by joining forces to pay-promote the video on Twitter
Target audience:
Real people around the globe who care about climate change
Global governments, especially Egypt (as the host of #COP27)
Stakeholders and shareholders of IFIs
Media
Partners and clients
In this unique campaign which brought the 14 leading international financial institutions (IFIs) in the world together for the first time, we wanted to communicate how we help save the planet and give people hope through the medium of a video and social campaign. We aimed to spread our message by maximizing video views, in the run-up to the biggest climate event of last year, COP27. The film was also screened there, reaching key climate leaders, influential green voices in the private and public sectors, activists and general audiences.
One of the official mission statements for COP27 was “Ensuring humans are at the centre of climate talks is imperative.” We put humans at the centre of our video: the protagonists are the real beneficiaries of our climate investment projects and they tell their own stories about the difference those projects have made to their lives and communities.
#InvestingForAGreenerWorld was our hashtag, capturing our essential elements: finance, climate, global.
Given our combined international reach, we set out to be as representative and as diverse as possible. We couldn’t possibly showcase a climate project from each bank, so we chose one from each geographical area: the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe.
Our collective choice of coral reef restoration in Saint Lucia, flood protection in the Philippines, electric trams in Romania and solar power in Uganda meant that we presented a mixture of sea and land, urban and rural, adaptation and mitigation. We were also careful to get a balance of female and male protagonists.
The EBRD in-house two-man crew designed the film and shot every project themselves: travelling to four different continents in five weeks!
Key features:
Clever opening ‘teaser’ to hook people in
Each project and protagonist filmed in a single continuous shot, with ‘oooh!’ transitions between them
Easy-to-read, complementary infographics giving concrete facts about what we do
Closing message revealing a montage of faces of real employees from all 14 organisations and the key takeaway just before our logos: We invest billions in solutions across the globe / Improving lives / Fighting climate change / Investing for a greener world.
Video subtitled in 7 different languages
Versions for Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram (including behind-the-scenes Reels) and YouTube Shorts (teaser)
Synchronised roll-out in the week before COP, posting and engaging with each other to boost the Twitter algorithm
After launch, internal and external organic outreach to our leadership, prominent green voices, youth activists.
After 3 days, paid-promotion of the video for 2 weeks on Twitter, maximizing our efforts to reach as many people as possible.
Challenges:
Critical mass and agreement at senior management level for participation came in the summer for a November campaign: very limited time for planning, coordination and execution.
Co-ordinating 14 different organisations in different countries and time zones was challenging!
Very limited budget as all the IFIs are publicly funded, and most don’t have marketing departments or budgets.
Various hiccups... our protagonist in Romania was meant to be the city mayor, but he had broken his ankle. His replacement pulled out, so we had to find another (she’s great!)
With more than 12 million impressions and over 5.5 million views our group approach resulted in a massive 1,533x uplift. Vastly more views compared to previous similar videos produced alone by our individual organisations.
We were also able to show the video to all COP27 attendees. Because of the nature of the event, most if not all people there, are our exact target audience.
For the first time ever, the world’s international financial institutions combined brains and resources to share a positive message about the number one emergency facing our planet in a stunningly creative way. In the context of the climate crisis, we demonstrated united action, showcasing the work we do to make a difference to the lives of millions of people dealing with global warming right now.
Our campaign was a first, we overcame several huge hurdles, and we learned plenty for next time. That there is going to be a next time is an achievement in itself, and we’re immensely proud of what we did.
