Ocean has partnered nine agencies to establish a long-term “corporate climate activism” initiative funded by OOH adspend.
Using corporate impact platform Pinwheel, a percentage of Ocean’s 2024 revenue uplift has been invested into four projects that remove atmospheric carbon or help to repair natural ecosystems. All have been vetted by Pinwheel.
The agencies involved are: Dentsu, EssenceMediacom, iProspect, MG OMD, Mindshare, PHD, T&Pm, the7stars and Wavemaker.
Ocean’s clients and agency partners voted to decide on the beneficiaries of their adspend.
The four projects that received investment are: Empower, which tracks plastic waste using blockchain technology; new Coralive restoration projects in Kenya and Mauritius to grow, harvest and outplant coral; the protection of 300,000 turtle hatchlings and nesting sites via SEE Turtles; and Hourglass Climate and Project Vesta, which are developing technology to safely transfer CO2 from the atmosphere into the oceans.
This is the first full year of Ocean’s initiative. The company will continue the programme in 2025, with the same four beneficiaries, and hopes to expand it to involve more advertisers.
“We launched this programme as an experiment and, in the first year, it has performed way beyond our expectations,” said Ocean UK chief commercial officer Nick Shaw. “That’s down to our remarkable agency partners who have embraced the scheme and made it a success.”
“Funding is hard to come by, but the environmental scientists running these projects have told us how important this money is. Going forward, we hope more advertisers will come on board, allowing us to scale how OOH, our agency partners and the wider advertising industry can lead by example.”
Pointing out that the initiative supports the agency’s own “Good Growth” proposition, Scott Whitton, head of investment at Mindshare, added: “We wholeheartedly support this innovative initiative and are proud to have contributed to their carefully vetted environmental projects.”
Ocean has not disclosed the amount that was invested, citing its terms of engagement for the project.
Under its wider sustainability strategy, Ocean already commits 2% of its reported UK revenue in ad space to charities and organisations that work to reverse climate change.
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