2023 World Oceans Day | ‘Planet Ocean: Tides are Changing’, what can brands do?

The 8th of June is World Oceans Day, and this year’s theme is ‘Planet Ocean: Tides are Changing.’ In honour of that day, our experts in China put together these insights for brands about the ocean, and also about our relationship with the ocean.

World Oceans Day aims to remind the public of the importance of the ocean in our daily lives while showing the adverse effects of global pollution and overconsumption of fishery resources on marine environments and marine life. It aims to promote a global citizen movement to protect the ocean, through a sustainable management project.

Mintel’s consumer trend report Hungry Planet (client-only link) reveals the importance of ocean conservation in addressing climate change, reducing pollution and carbon emissions, protecting biodiversity, and achieving environmental goals. This is also a direction worth exploring for brands.

In this regard, we can also see that Chinese consumers have a strong awareness of environmental protection – according to data from Mintel Global Consumer Research, Chinese consumers are among the world’s leaders in practising sustainable development. They also have high expectations for eco-friendly brands. For example, 50% of consumers believe that eco-friendly containers or packaging should be used, 50% believe in using environmentally friendly ingredients, and 46% think that not containing environmentally harmful materials is one of the essential conditions for an eco-friendly brand.

How do brands respond?

We have seen MUJI open China’s first sustainable concept store in Shanghai, with shopping baskets made from ocean plastic waste. Additionally, we have even seen many cases of brands advocating for the ocean.

This year, Oppo released a public welfare short film called “Coral’s Letter,” using the Find X6 to capture the rare colours of the ocean. Coral reefs provide many important ecosystem services, and Oppo uses the perspective of coral to remind people of the challenges coral reef protection faces: global warming, ocean acidification, overfishing, etc., causing vibrant and thriving coral to bleach and ultimately face death. Through this initiative, Oppo further strengthens its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality in its operations by 2050 and demonstrates the idea of integrating sustainable development concepts into the entire product lifecycle management.

Not only tech brands but also beauty, food and drink brands have been innovative in protecting marine biodiversity. For example, plant-based seafood uses synthetic ingredients to replace the extraction of squalene from hunted sharks and uses more eco-friendly and “bluer” ingredients and products to meet consumer demands.

In addition to the protection of marine biodiversity, we have also paid attention to the healing characteristics of the ocean. LA MER once collaborated with Tencent to host an online charity concert, with the theme of healing, translating abstract concepts into tangible and engaging activities for consumers.

For brands, finding a balance between consumer interests, public opinion hotspots, and corporate assets is crucial in campaigns.