London's Lungs
E.ON
Issue 53 | December 2019
Agency
ENGINE
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director: Aaron Goldring Creatives: Brendan Wilkins, Paul Hancock, Dave Newbold
Production Team
Design: Nicki Kythreotis, Nick Dinnen Creative Technology: Alistair Cole, Kim Lawrie Build: Ministry of Fun
Other Credits
Client service: Sam Paiolo, Ece De Waal, Ginny Paton, Sam Holl, Emily Westcott Strategy Director: John Crowther Client Managing Director: Rob Carter
Date
September 2019
Background
Air pollution is the UK’s number one public health priority. It contributes to 40,000 deaths each year through strokes, lung and heart disease. The problem is that it’s largely invisible. Research has shown that 63% of people have put air pollution to the back of their minds because they can’t see it. So how could E.ON highlight this unseen killer in order to start the conversation about its clean air credentials?
Idea
A 16-foot tall installation was created in the shape of a giant pair of lungs. Throughout the day it tracked and displayed the air quality across London by pulling in live pollution data. When levels surpassed those set by the World Health Organisation, the lungs filled with different coloured smoke to represent the pollutants Londoners were breathing in every day. Every 15 minutes the latest air quality data was analysed and each time WHO guidelines were breached, the pristine pair of lungs would be ‘polluted’ by the smoke again.
The installation was supported by DOOH, online, press and radio – all directing people to the campaign website to find out what E.ON is doing to combat the air pollution crisis.
Results
‘London’s Lungs’ was featured on both the BBC and ITV news. As well as press coverage, it was the subject of 11 radio interviews. Combined with extensive online coverage and influencer-generated content, to date, the campaign has had a total reach of over 185 million.
Our Thoughts
When working with marketers, I sometimes ask them “What is half thirteen?” “Six and a half,” they always reply. After some coaxing we get to 1 and 3, to 11 and 2 if you look at it in Roman numerals, to Thir and Teen, and so on. A bit facile, I know, but the point is that there is never just one solution to a problem. That’s why it’s so interesting to look at this alongside addresspollution.org’s work on pages 70-71. Same problem, but different way of raising awareness though both are reliant on the oxygen of PR.
addresspollution’s campaign has been crowdfunded by worried people wanting to raise awareness of the problem. E.ON, by contrast, has a clear commercial purpose.
Their campaign is raising awareness of the solutions they have to offer.
Let’s hope that between the two of them something happens to clear the air.