Despite all the political scandals that have affected the country recently, Romania is still a heaven for tourists. If you take the corrupted leaders out of the equation, you’ll see that Romania is worthy of all admiration it gets. It’s where the river Danube’s delta lies. Where the sea whispers its best-kept secrets to the shores. And where the mountains offer one of the most beautiful scenic views. From alpine landscapes to long valleys carved in stone, Romania’s mountains are full of idyllic places and natural wonders.
In these mountains are hidden some of the most spectacular virgin forests in Europe. Over 12% of Romania’s forests would have been virgin if it weren’t for the illegal logging and the corruption inside the state’s borders. Sadly, this relatively high percentage has dropped to a mere 2% in the present days. And it keeps dropping because no less than 10,000 square meters of these virgin woodlands simply vanish every hour. If you’ll do the math, you’ll see that one tree is being cut every 1.2 seconds.
Virgin Radio Romania wants to do whatever it takes to stop these illegal actions. So, it found a good ‘partner in crime’, WWF Romania, and together they embarked on a journey during which they want to save Romania’s virgin forests. Although the road is long and bumpy, while they were planning a strategy to give a hand to the country’s priceless nature, another trusted friend decided to hop on and keep them company: McCann Worldgroup Romania, a Bucharest-based creative agency that prides itself in building famous brands for its clients.
You’ll see that the agency has brought value not only to its clients but to nature too. How? By transforming the alarming statistics into an actual beat that we can now all hear on radio stations, being included within the songs of some of Romania’s most notorious singers. Once every 1.2 seconds you’ll hear the Deforestation Beat, a not-so-natural musical tone that complements the hits of Romanian artists such as INNA, The Motans, Mihal, Vanotek, or Grimus feat Dj Silver. These were the artists who responded first to Virgin Radio’s call.
The brand invites other celebrities to get involved in the initiative and include the beat in their hits. But it’s not just popular artists who can get involved in the challenge. The public can also give it a try by downloading the beat sample. “This campaign translates a huge problem into the language of the young generation and simplifies the way they can get involved to save the nature. Radios and podcasts are part of their everyday life, so that’s where we went to educate and ask for their help. One beat, one song, one click away,” stated Orieta Hulea, Director of WWF Romania.
“We are losing our forests. That’s a hard fact, backed by numbers. But numbers and statistics no longer impress us. So we transformed the numbers into entertainment and warnings,” explained Catalin Dobre, CCO McCann Worldgroup Romania in a press release.
The campaign asks the audience to get involved and donate as much as they can to help WWF identify new land surfaces of virgin forests. Plus, this way, you’ll be able to add a tree on Virgin Radio’s map, therefore virtually contributing to making the country healthy again. Let the beat drop, listen to the songs and artists’ call to action, and help stop deforestation in a creative manner!
Credits:
Client: Virgin Radio
Agency: McCann Worldgroup Romania