MUMBAI: National Geographic India has released an innovative digital stunt reiterating the brand’s commitment to inspire people to care about the planet. The activity was part of ‘Planet or Plastic? It is conceptualised and executed by Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital agency Isobar India, which was essentially a ‘Facebook story’ that refused to go away and garnered more than 1.5 million story views with 200+  replies.

This digital stunt struck a resonating chord with its social media audience by reinstating in their mind that plastic is non-perishable and negatively impacts the environment.

National Geographic India’s marketing and programming head Pawan Soni said, “Plastics crisis wasn’t created in a day and it certainly cannot be solved in a day. This is why we launched a multi-year initiative - Planet or Plastic? The initiative is aimed at raising awareness about the global plastic issue and we wanted people to join the movement and pledge to eliminate single-use plastic usage. In order to roll out the campaign, we briefed the agency to use a method that should be innovative, yet not niche, so that maximum participation can be achieved. And that’s exactly what they did with ‘Story that Stays’.”

Isobar India’s EVP Gopa Kumar said, “National Geographic launched the first phase of the ‘Planet or Plastic’ campaign globally in 2018. It was a huge opportunity to raise awareness and make a mark. To unveil the campaign in India, we primarily targeted the millennials who use social media extensively and are the majority users of single-use plastic. We carefully chose a medium that resonated with them and reached out to them on platforms that they end up engaging with and spend more time on. That’s how the ‘Story that Stays’ was born. It facilitated us to get the desired attention and start a movement that will help the cause, and eventually the planet. This is just a start and during the course of the year several interventions are planned to raise awareness on this issue.”