Berlin based not-for-profit search engine, Ecosia, has previously planted more than 120 million trees across 26 countries as part of its sustainable promise. Users search the web, Ecosia generates revenue from ads and uses this income to plant trees. The new campaign is set to increase awareness of the scheme, improve customer engagement and therefore the number of trees planted.

The four 30-second videos were created in partnership with Sky Media and JCDecaux in its first major international brand campaign across Europe. It used AdSmart from Sky to ensure the campaign will reach the screens of sustainably conscious consumers in the UK.

Launching across multiple channels, the campaign is set to reach millions of users across the continent. It combines TV and out-of-home platforms strategically placed to target eco-conscious 18-34 year olds.

It follows a previously successful brand video created by students at Germany’s Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, which won awards including a Silver Screen in the Young Director Award at Cannes. After the success of the student’s creative video, Ecosia’s marketing team acquired a 12-month license for the content.

The humorous videos show users entering weird search requests from ‘chewing hamster gif’ to ‘what does 2nd base mean’ before spotting trees growing in usual places. It ends with the promise ‘No matter how weird your search request, we’ll plant the trees anyway.’

Weird Search Requests is Ecosia’s first major TV and OOH campaign. Speaking on the launch with both Sky and JCDecaux as partners, Hannah Wickes, CMO at Ecosia, says, “Their support on this campaign means we can reach millions of new Ecosia users. Our audience is uniquely young and active and growing rapidly, with over a million users already in the UK alone, but we need our movement to grow even faster to keep pace with the climate emergency. With new users joining across Europe with this campaign, we will be able to plant millions more trees and expand our critical work of regenerating forests around the world."

A planned 3,700 billboards and posters will also launch in 12 cities across Europe. Fittingly, the UK billboards from JCDecaux are all printed on 100% recycled paper.

The campaign will launch on 5 April and will run full-length 71-second and shorter 30-second edits across Ecosia’s paid video programme and AdSmart from Sky. To measure the impact of the campaign, Sky Media’s research team is working with JCDecaux UK to see the impact on consumer brand awareness.