Siemens: THE SIEMENS BAOBAB TREE

Credits & Description:

Category: Exhibitions & Live Events
Advertiser: SIEMENS
Product/Service: SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY
Agency: BRAND ACTIVATION
Agency: OGILVYACTION
Executive Creative Director: Witold Reidel (OgilvyAction New York)
Creative Director: Jeff Leaf (OgilvyAction New York)
Creative Director: Greg Cameron (Brand Activation)
Creative Director: Adrian Duffin (Brand Activation)
Art Director: Adrian Duffin (Brand Activation)
Copywriter: Andrew Pearson (Brand Activation)
Project Manager: Hannah Vicary (OgilvyAction New York)
Project Manager: Fiona Robertson (Brand Activation)
Event Manager: Noeline Vanden Berg (Brand Activation)
Event Manger: John Arvanitakis (Brand Activation)
Industrial Artist: Daniel Popper
Head Of Corporate Communications: Jose Machado (Siemens South Africa)
Media placement: Temporary Installation - Public Thoroughfare - Durban Beachfront - 27th November 2011
Media placement: Outdoor Signage - Public Thoroughfare - Durban Beachfront - 27th November 2011
Describe the brief from the client
Showcase Siemens' message of environmental sustainability to the United Nations delegates at the 2011 United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP17), in Durban, South Africa - as well as local government officials and the general public. Create a symbol of hope for earth's environmental future, one that both the UN and the general public can rally behind.
Describe the challenges and key objectives
Siemens AG needed to showcase their commitment to climate change prevention, as a brand that offers environmentally aware engineering solutions.
Although this could be achieved in a very corporate fashion during press conferences and exhibitions, they wanted to speak to a less-informed public as well, and do it in a clear, easy-to-understand way that didn't rely on 'tech speak' or jargon.
Describe how you arrived at the final design
Along with road shows, press conferences and product showcases, the brief asked for a public-facing activation that would arrest the attention of the general public.
By creating an over-sized replica of the African baobab tree from reclaimed materials and powered only by sustainable energy sources, Siemens adopted one of Africa's most iconic symbols of longevity as the face of their campaign.
The tree installation was echoed across all Siemens communications worldwide before, during and post the United Nations conference through a circular icon, which in turn was adopted by the United Nations as the official symbol for the Climate Change Conference.
Give some indication of how successful the outcome was in the market
The site of the build became the unofficial broadcast point for local and international media with reporters using it as a backdrop for their reports.
Visited by thousands of passers-by every day, as well as the United Nations delegates, the Baobab Tree allowed Siemens to share their brand vision with a daily average of 4,310 people, totalling almost 27,000 individual recorded visits, including the Mayor of the City of Durban and various other government officials.
Siemens enjoyed almost R1m worth of advertising value from the resulting PR, excluding highly active social media engagement.