In a MediaBrief exclusive, Archana Balaraman, General Manager – Marketing at Britannia; Ria Sharma, Strategy at Talented; and Sohan Ray, Creative at Talented, share insights behind the latest Nature Shapes Britannia campaign. They speak about the creative strategy of the campaign, highlighting Britannia’s commitment to sustainability and eco-conscious advertising.
They also speak about the collaboration and logistical challenges of carrying out the campaign and discuss the response to Nature Shapes Britannia. They further explore the future of sustainable advertising and predict how it will evolve in the coming years.
Nature Shapes Britannia is an OOH series that stands-out for a simple reason: these billboards literally take the shape of trees around them, establishing both metaphorically and visually, how one of India’s biggest organisations adapts to nature and not the other way around.
Sharing insights behind the concept of Nature Shapes Britannia and letting trees shape the design of the billboards, Sohan Ray, Creative at Talented shares, “India is one of the few countries where trees are cut down to make way for billboards, an issue that is both unfortunate and widely underreported in reality. When we struck on this idea for Britannia, we were naturally drawn to these specific billboard sites covered by untrimmed trees.”
“While the idea wasn’t fully formed yet, we instinctively knew there was something powerful in exploring the relationship between these two unlikely rivals (the billboards and the trees). This initial spark, over the course of six months, became the foundation of Nature Shapes Britannia,” he reveals.
“The synergy between the message and the medium was already there,” states Ray. “We just needed to bring it to life in a way that felt authentic and impactful. Rather than viewing the trees as obstacles, we made them part of the story.”
“This approach influenced everything, including the art direction. After several iterations, we literally let the trees shape the canvas and typography, giving nature the lead in defining the outcome,” Ray adds.
Balancing sustainability with creativity
Sharing how the campaign message seamlessly aligned with Britannia’s core value of sustainability while also being visually compelling and unique, Archana Balaraman, General Manager – Marketing at Britannia, says, “At Britannia, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, and with the Nature Shapes Britannia campaign, we wanted to highlight our sustainability efforts in a way that truly resonates with consumers. By creating billboards that adapt to the shape of trees around them, we’ve seamlessly integrated the natural environment into our brand communication.”
Ray notes that Britannia has been actively upholding sustainability benchmarks for the past decade, “and so when we came up with the campaign idea,” he says, “everything fell into place.”
“We knew the right partners to collaborate with on this project. In fact, over the course of months, it was a massive learning curve to let go of traditional design rules, logo placement, typography, and other brand guidelines. Once we figured that, it was about connecting the dots and letting natural elements guide the creative process,” Ray adds.
Collaborative process behind the campaign
Shedding light on the collaborative process between Talented and Britannia for this unique campaign and how each side contributed to the initiative, Ria Sharma explains, “Our sustainability charter for Britannia started with Har Pocket Ab Dustbin, leading to the commendable practices at Britannia toward their ESG goals becoming a central part of the comms we craft for them, even on social.”
“Nature Shapes Britannia has been a massive collaborative effort and a case study in the ideal agency-client relationship,” Sharma states. “The belief and support for the creative vision that Britannia gave us played as important a role in making it a reality as the core idea itself.”
“Using 100% biodegradable cotton, this campaign is a testament to how creativity and responsibility can come together to deliver a meaningful message,” shares Archana Balaraman. “The campaign was brought to life in collaboration with Talented, who conceptualized the idea. This partnership beautifully showcased how creativity can amplify purpose.”
Navigating the logistical challenges
Discussing some of the logistical challenges in translating Britannia’s ESG commitments into a visual language that relies on nature itself to shape the art direction, Sharma shares, “Media agencies don’t keep a record of ‘tree-covered billboards,’ so the selection of sites required massive on-ground presence to verify whether a site actually worked for us.”
“The bigger challenge, however,” she adds, “was where the idea originally came from: trees getting pruned for better visibility of OOH sites. In collaboration with our Outdoor Media partners, Coral Media and MOMS Outdoor, we ‘auditioned’ close to 73 sites that had trees partially covering them. By the time we went live, we were down to a significantly smaller number—because the trees were no longer available.”
“We also fully committed to being sustainable and eco-friendly, so we chose 100% biodegradable fabric to print and install our campaign designs on, which came with its own set of challenges during mounting,” adds Sharma.
Environment friendly OOH advertising
Ray believes without a doubt that the unconventional billboards mark the future of outdoor advertising, where brands must learn to adapt to the environment rather than dominate it. According to him, “It is a part of a larger consciousness toward environmental and sustainability efforts that is altering the way brands communicate.”
“In a world where consumers are more aware of environmental issues than ever, brands that adapt to and work with nature are likely to resonate more deeply,” Ray says, adding that, “this goes beyond marketing. To truly connect with audiences, businesses must walk the talk.”
“It’s not enough to just talk about sustainability; they must live it. Whether through supply chains, packaging innovations, or product development, there’s always room for more conscious, better-made choices. It’s about demonstrating consistent efforts and genuine motivation to create a lasting, positive impact,” he adds.
Response to the campaign
Speaking about the public response to the campaign, both in terms of social media reactions and on-the-ground impact, Sharma shares, “The internet’s response has been overwhelmingly positive. Interestingly, there’s something in the final outcome that people are able to connect with and relate to.”
“Even while mounting,” Sharma says, “we saw people who had nothing to do with advertising stop and stare in every city. They asked us questions out of genuine curiosity to know why Britannia was written the way it was. The campaign has taken the internet by storm, and it is a gratifying feeling to know that it resonated with so many people!”
Archana Balaraman adds, “The positive reactions—both during billboard installations and through the user-generated content on social media—show that the campaign has truly connected with audiences. It has sparked meaningful conversations about sustainability and offered a fresh perspective on outdoor advertising.”
“Nature Shapes Britannia isn’t just about standing out—it’s about inspiring a shift towards more sustainable and thoughtful approaches to marketing in the future,” she emphasizes.
Future of sustainable advertising
According to Sharma and Ray, “Nature Shapes Britannia wouldn’t have the same impact without the art direction, the art direction doesn’t have the same impact without the line, and none of it would resonate if the brand didn’t have the facts and work to back it up.”
They point out that, “With the growing consciousness of audiences toward sustainability, eco-friendliness, green initiatives, and the laundry list of buzzwords in the domain, it’s extremely important for brands talking about said buzzwords to also walk the walk and take more real charge.”
They conclude the interaction by saying, “Nature Shapes Britannia feels like a natural expression of Britannia’s initiatives and eco-practices they’ve adopted, which speaks volumes (literally). So while we’d love for Nature Shapes Britannia to become the benchmark for nature-centric advertising, we also hope that brands don’t blatantly greenwash in the name of marketing.”
