Our campaign research showed strong public appetite for Mercator’s story: one in two people actively seek out ocean stories; 66% want to know more about marine conservation; and BBC audiences in particular are deeply engaged with sustainability and environmental issues.

To tap into this appetite, we developed a content solution that balanced scientific integrity with emotional resonance, delivering a campaign that was both authentic to the brand and innovative in execution.

Harnessing the BBC’s storytelling power to humanise the science, we transformed data into emotional, accessible narratives, anchored in real-world impact, aiming to connect audiences to the ocean’s story in a way that felt personal and urgent.

At the heart of the campaign was, our hero film, “If This, Then What?”, a playful yet poignant exploration of cause and effect. Our creative concept hinged on making ocean health personally relevant. By drawing unexpected links between marine degradation and everyday life, we aimed to spark curiosity and provoke deeper reflection. The narrative moved through a series of imaginative leaps: from the obvious to the absurd, the beautiful to the unsettling, illustrating how our lives are more entangled with the ocean than we might realise.

To achieve this ambitious vision, we chose a mixed-media animation approach. This freed us from the storytelling constraints of live shoots and allowed us to blend premium stock footage with bespoke graphic design and animation to tell the whole Mercator story. The result was a fast-paced, visually rich film that conveyed the urgency and complexity of the issue, while maintaining a tone that was engaging and accessible for a broad audience.

Complementing the film, we produced an in-depth journalistically led piece titled “A Sea of Change.” Here, we unpacked key findings from the Copernicus Ocean State Report, transforming complex data into a clear, compelling narrative. Recognising that awareness was a primary objective, our editorial team simplified the science without diluting its impact, ensuring relevance for newer audiences unfamiliar with marine policy or environmental data.
Visual storytelling was a cornerstone across formats. Working closely with our design team, we developed a suite of graphics that distilled critical data into memorable visuals. These assets echoed the film’s aesthetic, creating a cohesive visual identity across the campaign.

By combining powerful editorial storytelling with dynamic visual content, we invited audiences not just to learn about the ocean’s challenges, but to care about the personal effects of ocean change.

To effectively engage audiences with the campaign, we implemented a highly targeted, paid media strategy across the BBC ecosystem – designed to drive reach, relevance, and impact. This multi-channel approach, blending precision targeting, high-impact formats, and editorial alignment, ensured the campaign cut through and reached audiences with relevance and credibility.

Content was promoted on BBC.com using audience, contextual, and geo-targeting powered by BBC’s first-party data. This ensured we reached environmentally engaged users in key markets, delivering the campaign to those most likely to connect with its message.

In addition to standard media formats, we created a bespoke video interscroller unit – a dynamic, custom-designed format that allowed users to view highlights from the hero film directly within the ad space. This innovative unit helped bridge the gap between media and content, increasing dwell time and engagement.

To further expand reach, we distributed campaign assets across BBC StoryWorks’ social channels, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. These platforms allowed us to connect with audiences in a more casual, mobile-first environment, using adapted creatives to suit each platform.

A standout element of the campaign was the exclusive sponsorship of the BBC Earth vertical on BBC.com where Copernicus Marine and Mercator Ocean received 100% share-of-voice display ads and logo accreditation. This premium placement aligned the brand with the BBC’s respected climate journalism and reinforced its authority in ocean science.

A Sea of Change delivered a campaign that surpassed performance benchmarks, audience engagement expectations and delivered impactful action from audiences who clicked and read the report.

The campaign attracted 90,121 visitors on BBC.com and delivered 96,478 page views – achieving an outstanding 276% above the original target KPI.

Engagement quality was equally really strong, with users spending an average of 93 seconds per session, showing a deep interest in our storytelling.

Our hero film, generated 3.8 million video views — incredible results for a campaign of this size and a testament of how informative, engaging and premium our content is A total of 28,069 views came from our ultra-premium audience on BBC.com.

On social, we achieved 1.3 million views on TikTok, hugely extending reach to younger audiences. On Facebook, we saw 2.56 million 3-second video plays from 3.5 million impressions, with healthy retention throughout. On Meta, our link clicks were 67.1% higher than other campaigns in the same 30-day period, reflecting an informative, urgent and relative campaign for audiences.

Our ad campaign generated 1.2 million+ impressions and up to 5.75% CTR in key regions such as France and Belgium. Innovative ad formats, including impactful interscrollers and 10×10 creatives, contributed to high engagement, with CTRs reaching 0.48%.

The most impressive result of all, was our ability to translate audiences into passionate advocates for ocean change. Our content campaign drove a hugely impressive 9855 clicks through to the Ocean State Report, generating new leads for Mercator. This is our most successful lead generation campaign in ten years of StoryWorks content history!

Overall, the campaign’s blend of video and written worked seamlessly in tandem, thanks to the many internal resources we applied to enhance and expand our offering, that successfully delivered real value for Mercator Ocean and their mission to highlight and share oceanic change.

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