OLIVER's Psychedelic ‘Nature Trip’ Encourages UK Youth to Fall in Love with Nature

OLIVER – the only company in the world to exclusively design, build and run in-house agencies and ecosystems for brands – launches its creative campaign to entice Britain’s youth into connecting with nature.

The campaign launches in response to a creative brief set by the first-of-its-kind 'Agency for Nature', developed by climate and creativity non-profits Glimpse and Purpose Disruptors.

Research shows Britain ranks bottom for nature connectedness in Europe, and UK Citizens measured lowest for their feeling of ‘oneness with the natural world’. And yet a recent poll from the Agency For Nature conducted by YouGov shows 77% of people ages 18-35 would like to be more connected to nature, while a further YouGov poll showed our disconnection to nature is a root cause of our spiralling mental health crisis and eco-anxiety amongst young people.

To tackle this, five top UK creative agencies seconded rising talent to the Agency for Nature – Weiden+Kennedy, The&Partnership, Amplify, Leo Burnett and OLIVER. They were tasked with ‘creating hype for a nature-connected lifestyle’, as part of a provocative brief where ‘Nature’ is the client.

OLIVER produced a hypnotic psychedelic billboard and social campaign, bringing to life the transformative, meditative, and awe-inspiring benefits of nature - our ultimate medicine. 

The creative duo behind the campaign – OLIVER’s Mark Betteridge, creative design director, and Susie Cornelius, senior copywriter – explain their creative process for the campaign:

"We had such an immersive briefing experience with Purpose Disruptors and Glimpse, it immediately got our creative brains going. Exploring in a London green space, we got our bodies and minds in tune with how nature can make you feel.

“Having researched the NHS move to start prescribing outdoor activities for different health issues, peoples instinctive reaction to medicate rather than meditate, and the innate connection we have with natural patterns like plant fractals, we landed on the idea that nature's the original trip – bringing a joy and wonder that both makes you feel good and does you good too.

“The idea started as an OOH static, but quickly became a motion built DOOH, and social video really tell the story of the amazing psychological benefits of being in nature.

“To bring our idea to life, we worked with OLIVER’s amazing CGI, Production and Shoot teams, alongside our studio partner Quite Brilliant, to develop the campaign using AI and Virtual Production. The fractals used in the DOOH and OOH are based on real fractals in nature, with individual benefits handwritten by different creatives in the OLIVER network. 

“We're really happy with how this project has turned out. And hope it inspires other creatives to tell their own stories of how we can bring people of all ages in the UK back into nature."

Fiona Rees-White, group head of integrated production at OLIVER, expanded on the use of sustainable production in the campaign and the role it will have in the future of OLIVER’s marketing production: “From the moment we saw the creative idea, it aligned completely with our sustainability goals as a team. As marketeers and production specialists, we understand the need to reduce the impact that our content has both on and off screen. This brief really embodies that ambition. With nature as our client, it became even more important to deliver against our promise of more sustainable and measurable outcomes for every piece of content we create; a commitment we have made as an agency and to our clients.”

On the importance of getting involved in sustainability-centred initiatives, Lucy Usher, OLIVER’s UK sustainability lead added, “Delivering on the sustainability commitments we’ve made across the industry means better brands and companies, as well as building trust in business for people. But efforts need to be collective. The Agency for Nature project is a great example of how silos can be broken down when working towards a common goal. For this type of brief, competition can stifle progress, and so the collaboration from multiple agencies to positively impact people and planet can benefit all of us. This project was something OLIVER’s people were proud to be a part of.”

The Agency for Nature will be a long-standing initiative to build a public mandate for nature connection and protection. Campaigns will contribute to an open-source creative library for nature and climate communicators demonstrating the power of novel climate communication approaches. 

Explore the work and join the movement here.