The Faroe Islands & Google: Sheep View
The Faroe Islands sought to significantly increase global awareness for their beautiful, isolated country, which lacked Google Street View coverage. They needed to attract media attention and Google's support to put the islands on the digital map and boost tourism, all with a zero media budget.
Creative Idea
Sheep equipped with 360-degree cameras mapped the Faroe Islands to demand Google Street View.
The Faroe Islands, lacking Google Street View, ingeniously equipped sheep with 360-degree cameras to create "Google Sheep View," generating massive global media attention and public demand, ultimately compelling Google to officially map the islands and significantly boost tourism.
Putting the Sheep Islands on the Digital Map
The Shepherd and the Solar Panel
To bypass their lack of infrastructure, the team turned to the islands' most abundant resource: a sheep population that outnumbers humans 80,000 to 50,000. Local shepherds and designers collaborated to engineer a custom harness that could stabilize a Ricoh Theta 360-degree camera on a sheep’s back without causing discomfort. These mobile mapping units were powered by solar panels and synced to mobile phones, programmed to capture a panoramic image every 60 seconds as the animals grazed across the rugged terrain.
Shear Brilliance and Global Pressure
The campaign, led by Guðrið Højgaard and fronted by Visit Faroe Islands employee Durita Dahl Andreassen, utilized a "David vs. Goliath" PR strategy to petition the tech giant. The narrative was so compelling that it generated 2 billion media impressions and an estimated $50 million in earned media value. Within two months, the capital city of Tórshavn was completely fully booked. The organic reach was unprecedented, with 98% of the 394 million video views occurring without paid promotion.
Google Joins the Herd
The viral pressure worked. Google’s David Castro González de Vega eventually arrived with a Street View Trekker backpack. However, the mapping didn't stop with sheep; the project expanded into a multi-modal effort, mounting cameras on kayaks, horses, ships, and even wheelbarrows. The initiative’s success birthed a long-term "petition-style" marketing legacy for the islands, leading to follow-up projects like Faroe Islands Translate, which successfully lobbied for the inclusion of the Faroese language on Google Translate.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
The Faroe Islands possessed unique, unmapped natural beauty and a plentiful, iconic local resource - sheep.
Category
The tourism category typically relies on conventional scenic advertising or influencer marketing to attract visitors.
Customer
Global audiences desired authentic, unique travel experiences and enjoyed supporting creative, underdog initiatives that challenged large corporations.
Culture
A cultural appetite for viral, feel-good stories and crowdsourced initiatives made a charming, tech-enabled underdog narrative resonate globally.
Company
The Faroe Islands possessed unique, unmapped natural beauty and a plentiful, iconic local resource - sheep.
Category
The tourism category typically relies on conventional scenic advertising or influencer marketing to attract visitors.
Strategy:
Leverage an overlooked local asset to creatively highlight a global tech gap, sparking a viral movement for recognition.
Customer
Global audiences desired authentic, unique travel experiences and enjoyed supporting creative, underdog initiatives that challenged large corporations.
Culture
A cultural appetite for viral, feel-good stories and crowdsourced initiatives made a charming, tech-enabled underdog narrative resonate globally.
Strategy:
Leverage an overlooked local asset to creatively highlight a global tech gap, sparking a viral movement for recognition.
Results
Media Budget: 0. Facebook Shares (highest recorded): 45,569. Facebook Comments (highest recorded): 108. Reach: +2,000,000,000. News Stories: +7,000. Webpage Mentions: +42,200. PR ROI: +150,000%. Tourism Impact: "Two weeks into the campaign most hotels in Torshavn were sold out."
+2,000,000,000
reach
+150,000%
PR ROI
Sold Out
hotels in Torshavn
Strategy Technique
Build an Utility, Not an Ad
Instead of traditional advertising, the campaign built a functional "Sheep View" mapping service using local resources. This utility directly addressed the problem of unmapped islands, generating authentic engagement and media interest.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Unexpected Utility
The campaign ingeniously transformed sheep into mobile 360-degree cameras, providing a novel and charming way to map the Faroe Islands. This unexpected use of a common local resource captured global imagination and media attention.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional in its innovative use of technology and its highly effective PR and social media strategy, transforming a simple idea into a global phenomenon with zero media budget.
The ingenious and practical application of 360-degree cameras on sheep, combined with mobile tech and Google's API, created a unique and accessible solution to a real-world problem.
The campaign generated over 2 billion in reach and 7,000 news stories with a zero media budget, demonstrating masterful storytelling and strategic outreach that captivated global media.
The creation of engaging content, from the initial 'Sheep View' videos to the 'Name a Sheep' competition and petition, effectively sustained public interest and participation.
The campaign successfully mobilized both local residents and a global online audience to actively participate in mapping the islands and advocating for Google Street View.
The campaign's magic truly came from the synergy between a clever, low-tech digital solution and a highly effective, community-driven PR and social media strategy.
