“Tired of the hustle… wanna hear the leaves rustle”. And other advertising strategies for the ultimate client, devised by The Agency for Nature

From a “high-fashion campaign for nature”

We’re delighted to see this initiative, a collaboration between two ethical agencies in advertising that we’ve featured before - Glimpse and Purpose Disrupters - to create an “Agency for Nature”. They’re producing campaigns for the ultimate client - Nature itself. As the client says:

We have the most incredible product on earth. Every living creature has literally evolved to live and breathe its mystery and abundance. It is the source of all life.

For thousands of years no one doubted our range was desirable. Our seasons and storms, our vegetables, medicinal plants, fierce wildlife and magical places. Above our heads, a glittering cosmos so beautiful it can make you weep.

Humans lived their whole lives as part of this intricate web. We didn’t need a marketing plan.

But in the last couple of hundred years something strange has happened. It’s like humans have forgotten their connection with the rest of nature. They’ve started to talk about the living world as if it’s over there, irrelevant, not a part of them.

They’ve been so busy with their fast-paced, always-on lifestyles that they’re totally distracted from the meaning that nature can bring. And without it, human life becomes anxious, empty and hollow.

This isn’t just a problem for the humans. This constant need for ‘fast everything’ is causing a great sickness in the rest of nature too. Climate change, extinction and the destruction of wild places all stem from this disconnection from the source.

We need to help human civilisation come back to life. To remember that nature is our extended family, the original source of beauty, solace and joy. To rekindle an ember that somewhere, deep down, still glows within them.

Here’s a few of the deeply playful campaigns the participants came up with - productive as a result of their shortcomings, as much as their strengths.

Nature’s a Trip

From pitch:

When young people are anxious, stressed out and rushed, they don’t have an immediate outlet to decompress and restore mental balance.

With this campaign, our creatives wanted to show that not only does a readily accessible outlet exist but it has benefits you can barely imagine. That tonic is called “Nature” and it is a magical mental health portal for lasting wellbeing. 

To awaken our audience to the life-enhancing properties of this wunder-medicine, and encourage them to trial the great outdoors, we created hypnotic, captivating visuals (social and OOH) showing young people floating in outdoors bliss, their worries melting away, finding deeper connection with every moment. 

Forget the quick fixes. It’s time to tap into your ancient bodily biochemistry and embrace the best trip of all; Nature.

Slow Brew

From the brief:

What if we could take people out of the rat race of daily life and transport them on an incredible micro-adventure to reconnect with nature? 

In ‘The Slow Brew’ campaign, that’s exactly what happened. On 6 February, 2023, we gatecrashed FWD:Coffee in London and transformed people’s coffee breaks into a mini urban nature experience. Gifting them with a toolkit and a map, a secret itinerary turned flat white-sippers into nature connoisseurs.

Eventually, ‘the Slow Brew’ route guided people to a local community garden where they were instructed to sink into the spongy embrace of moss beds, close their eyes and focus on the intricate sensations of the natural world.

In other words, nature isn’t just “out there somewhere”. It’s right here, living and breathing, in the heart of the city and the hope is that one day, all cafe menus will display nature adventures on their menu alongside coffee…

We’ll certainly drink to that. 

Girls Just Wanna Grow Plants

From the pitch:

What’s the best way to use outdoor advertising to promote the slower side of life?

This. With the ‘Girls Just Wanna Grow Plants’ campaign, we co-opted high-fashion photography to promote nature in a way that instantly touched a nerve with our target audience – Gen Z women tired of hustle culture and looking for an outlet to slow down and escape modern life. 

In the run-up to London Fashion Week, passers-by were treated to the unusual spectacle of models clad in haute couture laid low by hustle culture while headlines promoted what we might call “rustle culture” – i.e. reconnection to all things green, nourishing and slow.

Seed Saga

From the brief:

Targeting an overlooked audience for environmental campaigns, the ‘Seed Saga’ campaign went where few have dared to tread, attempting to ignite the interest of the gaming community in real-world gardening!

Starting with the Blooming Passiflora, then Flax, and ending with the Crimson Sunflower, fans of the game Guild Wars 2 will gather to uncover foraging locations dispersed throughout their virtual world, learning real-life growing tips from a nature guru and levelling up on their eco knowledge.

But here’s the twist; gamers can also get their hands on a highly collectable, limited edition seed packet to plant in real life and farm resources for real! 

Twitch influencer Little Bunny and TV presenter, nature activist and author Nadeem Perera launched SeedSaga to gamers via an in-game nature walk Livestream foraging plants from Guild Wars 2.

Head to www.seedsaga.co.uk and pick your preferred plant. Game on, Guild Warriors. 

Time to lay your claim to the universe’s coolest seed packs and harvest all the perks for this world too.

More here from Agency For Nature - including the original creative brief. See more eco-civilisational creatives in our archive of “creative industries” and “advertising”