Vale S.A.: Amazônia Alive
Vale S.A. tasked Artplan with shifting public perception of the Amazon ahead of COP30. The goal was to move beyond corporate sustainability metrics to foster a deep, emotional connection with the forest's biodiversity and indigenous culture. They needed a campaign that would cut through the noise of climate discourse and resonate with global leaders and the public alike.
Creative Idea
A 700-page book captured only 0.00012% of the Amazon to prove its infinite complexity.
Vale created a sensory 700-page book and floating stage to amplify the Amazon's cultural presence. By framing the project as 'consciously incomplete,' they highlighted the forest's vast, irreplaceable nature, shifting corporate environmental communication from dry data to emotional connection.
The 0.00012 Percent Manifesto of the Amazon
Crafting the Living Forest
The production of the 700-page book was a feat of artisanal engineering. Beyond its massive scale, the pages were infused with authentic Amazonian aromas using microencapsulated technology provided by Croma Microencapsulados. To ensure the physical object felt as organic as the subject matter, the team utilized exposed stitching and manual binding techniques performed by local artisans. The sensory experience was further deepened by the Vitória-Régia vinyl, a record pressed using actual fibers from the giant water lily plant, which plays a soundscape of indigenous chants and forest rhythms.
Portraits Woven from Nature
Photographer Maurício Nahas led the visual direction, creating a series of portraits that blurred the line between human and landscape. In a process that required immense patience and precision, natural materials including seeds, straw, vines, and leaves were physically woven onto the subjects' bodies. This technique visually expanded the human form into the forest, reinforcing the campaign’s core message that the people of the Amazon are inseparable from the ecosystem they inhabit.
A Cultural Catalyst
The project served as a socio-environmental manifesto, intentionally moving away from dry corporate data to foster emotional connection. By collaborating with 45 local Amazonian artists across 30 distinct visual styles, the agency ensured the narrative remained grounded in regional authenticity. The campaign philosophy of conscious incompleteness served as a mathematical humble-brag; by calculating that the book captured only 0.00012% of the forest's biodiversity, the team successfully framed the Amazon as an infinite, mysterious, and ultimately irreplaceable entity that no single brand or project could ever fully define.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Vale leveraged its deep regional roots and resources to curate a massive, multi-disciplinary cultural archive of the Amazon.
Category
Mining corporations typically rely on dry, data-heavy sustainability reports that fail to generate genuine public emotional engagement.
Customer
The public felt disconnected from the Amazon, needing a tangible way to experience the forest's complexity and cultural soul.
Culture
The global spotlight on the COP30 climate conference created an urgent need for authentic, human-centric environmental storytelling.
Company
Vale leveraged its deep regional roots and resources to curate a massive, multi-disciplinary cultural archive of the Amazon.
Category
Mining corporations typically rely on dry, data-heavy sustainability reports that fail to generate genuine public emotional engagement.
Strategy:
Transform abstract environmental data into a tangible, emotional experience to drive cultural resonance.
Customer
The public felt disconnected from the Amazon, needing a tangible way to experience the forest's complexity and cultural soul.
Culture
The global spotlight on the COP30 climate conference created an urgent need for authentic, human-centric environmental storytelling.
Strategy:
Transform abstract environmental data into a tangible, emotional experience to drive cultural resonance.
Results
The campaign achieved significant global reach and tangible environmental impact. It reached over 170,000,000 people worldwide. In terms of conservation, the initiative contributed to over +800,000 hectares of preserved Amazon rainforest. Financially, it drove over +$85 MILLION dollars invested in social and environmental initiatives, directly and indirectly impacting over +60,000 people.
170M+
people reached worldwide
800K+
hectares of preserved Amazon rainforest
$85M+
invested in social and environmental initiatives
Strategy Technique
Make the Invisible Visible
By quantifying the Amazon's vastness as 0.00012% of the book, the campaign makes the overwhelming scale of the forest tangible. This strategy forces an emotional connection to an otherwise abstract, invisible environmental crisis.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Use Art
The campaign uses a handcrafted, sensory book and a vinyl record made from actual forest plants to turn environmental advocacy into a tangible, artistic experience. This elevates the message through physical, multi-sensory storytelling.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign's craft is elevated by its extraordinary physical production design, transforming real natural elements into beautiful, functional works of art that carry the message of the forest. The meticulous creation of the vinyl records and the handcrafted book bridges the gap between ancient legend and modern environmental activism.
The physical creation of the custom vinyl records from real Victoria Regia leaves and the stunningly detailed, embossed leather book are masterpieces of physical craft.
Designing a massive, blooming Victoria Regia-shaped stage for a global concert broadcast seamlessly merged the campaign's central metaphor with a high-impact live event.
The sweeping aerials of the Amazon canopy and the intimate, beautifully lit macro shots of the forest floor and river create a visually arresting portrait of nature.
The poetic, fable-like voiceover script beautifully frames the environmental message through the lens of indigenous folklore, making the cause feel deeply personal and timeless.
“The magic of the campaign lies in how the physical craftsmanship of the book and vinyl records directly informed the grand scale of the experiential stage design, turning a local legend into a global spectacle.”
