Mumbai: Britannia, an oldest and largest FMCG advertiser, has turned to nature to spotlight its commitment to sustainability in a unique and innovative outdoor advertising campaign. In a departure from traditional outdoor advertising, the brand’s latest initiative, ‘Nature Shapes Britannia’, uses the surrounding trees themselves to shape the billboards, symbolizing Britannia’s adaptive approach to sustainability and environmental responsibility.
The campaign, created in collaboration with creative agency Talented, is a visual metaphor of how the company aligns itself with nature rather than trying to shape it. Each billboard, strategically placed next to trees, takes on a unique shape depending on the growth and direction of the trees, highlighting Britannia’s progressive steps in sustainability, such as plastic neutrality, waste management, circular economy practices, water stewardship, and energy management.
Amit Doshi, Chief Marketing Officer, Britannia, “Britannia has been committed to being a sustainable organisation with a deep commitment towards its strategic ESG pillars. Through years, we’ve learnt that sustainability needs a conscious, adaptive, flexible approach. This initiative is an embodiment of this flexible approach with nature shaping ‘Britannia’, quite literally. The team ensured even the material used for the hoardings was 100% cotton biodegradable, ensuring we stay committed to the cause we are delivering.”
In this ground-breaking campaign, the trees are not just a backdrop but a core element of the creative process. The shapes and growth patterns of the trees influence the typography and art direction of the billboards, making the brand name sometimes curve, sometimes stretch, and at times be cramped, all while reflecting the adaptive mindset that large brands must adopt to thrive in sustainability efforts.
Aabhaas Shreshtha, Founding Member and Creative, Talented, “Nature shapes Britannia and so it was natural for us to want nature to shape its advertising as well. And so began our mission to find ‘rare trees with billboards right next to them’. After a long and rigorous recce-ing with our media partners, we studied the contours of each tree, understood its growth and coverage, and designed around them. Large-scale sustainability charters are extremely consequential in the bigger picture, but can feel distant. By partnering with nature around us to tell the story, Britannia is bridging that gap.”
The campaign launched in four cities—Hyderabad, Kolkata, Meerut, and Pune—and features trees such as Nag Kesar, Aam, Neem, and Peepal, all carefully selected for their unique shapes and sizes. The innovative approach even extended to the materials used, with hoardings being made from 100% biodegradable cotton fabric to ensure sustainability was maintained at every touchpoint.
Sonia Lal, Partner at Coral Media, expressed her excitement at supporting this unique initiative: “We were pleasantly surprised when we were briefed on the current campaign and honestly feel incredibly proud to support Britannia’s initiative. It’s not just a wonderful way to show the impact of the brand’s sustainability initiatives, but also a signal from one of the country’s long-standing advertisers to other media owners to think differently. Not everything great must come at the cost of nature.”
Through ‘Nature Shapes Britannia’, Britannia is making a powerful statement about the future of advertising, blending sustainability with creativity in an unprecedented way.
