‘One of the Top 5 ancient restorations of 2020’ – NatGeo.

‘I do not work for Mars for Sheba, but I have to say out of all my 30 years of diving and coral explorations this is the world’s best restoration programme.’ Prof Enric Sala, Marine Biologist.

‘Inspiring Positive Change’ The Nature Conservancy.

The idea: 

As part of our commitment to fish sustainability, Sheba is pioneering the world’s largest coral restoration program. So, to get it talked about we needed an idea big enough to highlight that there can be man-made solutions to man made problems - proving that coral can be regrown at speed and scale. Built on the site of a dead reef, the 150ft long Sheba Hope Reef is a living billboard with a simple aim; to change the narrative on ocean health. However, the build was anything but simple. After a year of planning, the 850 ‘reef stars’ and 13,000 pieces of bleach resistant coral were pieced together over 3 days by a team of local islanders and marine biologists. The resulting giant four letters, each 50 feet tall, would have to be strong enough to withstand typhoons and boat anchors. More importantly though, for the world to be able to see them, the coral had to grow. And it did. After just 3 months Google were reported that they’d picked up Hope on their Google Earth satellite. In a world first for a brand, Hope Reef is now discoverable on Google Earth and maps as a historical landmass, with viewers also able to “dive” around the underwater reef itself in Google Street View. But Hope Reef is more than just a billboard, it’s become a campaign for change. We flipped the traditional brand – YouTube relationship on its head. Sheba has become the content creator, with all ad revenue generated from its’ ‘Channel that Grows Coral’ donated to The Nature Conservancy. This simple, yet unique mechanic lets consumers become actively involved in growing coral reefs from home. It is the first time ever that 100% of funds from a YouTube channel have been monetized for sustainability efforts. We also developed an educational growing font that could be downloaded by parents and school teachers to inspire the next generation. Plus, our most premium line of cat food, was also our least sustainable, so we took it off the shelves, furthering our commitment to ocean biodiversity.

Background

If the headlines are to be believed, it’s easy to get sucked into the notion that the world’s coral crisis is too big to reverse. Or that someone or something else will come along and fix the problem further down the line. The Sheba Hope Reef seeks to fight this, by putting a one-word mission statement for ocean health on the map. Literally. For over a decade, we have been rebuilding coral reefs in Indonesia’s Coral Triangle – an area crucial for the world’s marine biodiversity. Engaging with local communities at every stage to plan and build back reefs. And there’s a reason for this. As a big brand with sustainability at its heart, we know the importance of maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem. If current projections are correct, almost 95% of coral will be gone by 2043, along with the fish populations they support – directly effecting the 500 million people who rely on fish for survival. For Sheba this is just a first step. We’re a big brand, but we can’t do this alone. The Hope Reef in reality is a proof of concept - a calling card for other brands and governments to take on Sheba’s reef building technology and act.

Results

In just 2 years Hope Reef has outperformed our initial goals. In the area around the reef, fish stocks are up almost 300%, with Islanders reporting species returning they’d not seen in years. Coral cover is increasing at a rapid rate, going from 5-55%. Enric Sala, leading marine biologist and NatGeo’s Explorer in Chief said of Hope, ‘I do not work for Mars or Sheba but I have to say out of all my 30 years of diving and coral explorations this is the world’s best restoration programme.’ With NatGeo itself naming Hope Reef one it’s Top Five Ancient Restoration Sites of 2020. Indeed, since the campaign launched, we have begun to change the narrative. Our 2.5 billion earned impressions has led to a 267% increase in social conversations about reef restoration. Hope Reef has featured on BBC Science as well as Sky’s Climate Change show.

But importantly, the most crucial goal has been realised. For Hope to grow. Both the Australian and Mexican Governments have now taken on our reef growing technology, with new sites being planned in the Maldives, Seychelles, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Ningaloo in Australia.