United Nations: The People's Seat
The United Nations tasked Grey London with engaging a cynical younger generation in the COP24 climate conference. They needed to overcome the perception that global climate policy was an exclusive, slow-moving process for politicians only. The goal was to mobilize global public opinion to pressure world leaders into signing a historic agreement, making the negotiations feel relevant and accessible to ordinary citizens worldwide.
Creative Idea
Created a physical UN seat for the public, voiced by David Attenborough via crowdsourced messages.
The UN democratized global climate diplomacy by creating a physical People's Seat at COP24, using Sir David Attenborough to deliver a crowdsourced address that transformed millions of social media messages into a direct, unavoidable mandate for world leaders.
The 194th Seat That Broke The Internet
A Billion Dollar Reach For Zero Dollars
The campaign achieved a staggering 1.3 billion people reached within its first month without a single cent of paid media spend. By leveraging a multi - agency WPP team including Whalar and MediaCom, the initiative relied entirely on earned media and organic social sharing. The digital engagement was equally massive, generating 19 million views on Facebook. Beyond mere awareness, the ActNow AI chatbot - developed with Facebook - turned passive viewers into activists by recording over 25 million individual climate actions, such as dietary changes and transport shifts, by mid - 2019.
Attenborough And The Marshallese Voice
The AI Powered People's Mandate
The production centered on the creation of a physical 194th seat in the UN plenary hall, a space traditionally reserved for sovereign nations. To fill this seat with meaning, the team used the hashtag #TakeYourSeat to crowdsource videos and messages from citizens in all 193 UN member nations. Creative leads Ben Clapp and Andy Lockley at Grey London designed this as a "flying chair" - a mobile replica of the iconic blue UN seating - symbolizing that the public's voice could no longer be excluded from the room where decisions are made.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
The UN's unique authority to host the world's most critical climate negotiations and provide a platform for global voices.
Category
International diplomacy usually happens behind closed doors, making ordinary citizens feel excluded from decisions that determine their future.
Customer
Young people felt powerless and ignored by aging politicians, despite being the generation most affected by the climate crisis.
Culture
A rising tide of digital activism and the urgent need for radical transparency in global political processes.
Company
The UN's unique authority to host the world's most critical climate negotiations and provide a platform for global voices.
Category
International diplomacy usually happens behind closed doors, making ordinary citizens feel excluded from decisions that determine their future.
Strategy:
Bridge the gap between institutional power and public urgency by creating a symbolic conduit for collective representation.
Customer
Young people felt powerless and ignored by aging politicians, despite being the generation most affected by the climate crisis.
Culture
A rising tide of digital activism and the urgent need for radical transparency in global political processes.
Strategy:
Bridge the gap between institutional power and public urgency by creating a symbolic conduit for collective representation.
Results
The campaign achieved significant global impact, reaching over 1.3 billion people. It generated massive earned media coverage across major networks including BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, and The Guardian. High-profile figures such as Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Nicola Sturgeon engaged with or supported the initiative. The campaign culminated in a tangible political outcome: 200 countries reached a historic agreement on the rulebook for the Paris Climate Treaty at COP24.
1.3B+
global reach
200
countries reached agreement
1st
ever People's Seat address
Strategy Technique
Turn the Brand Into a Movement
It shifted the UN from a closed-door bureaucratic entity into a platform for global activism, mobilizing millions to pressure leaders through a unified, symbolic presence at the summit.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Celebrate a Symbol
By designating a physical chair for the public in a room reserved for nations, the campaign turned a piece of furniture into a powerful symbol of democratic inclusion and accountability.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign excels through strategic Media Planning that turned a physical object into a global digital movement, supported by the authoritative Copywriting of Sir David Attenborough.
The orchestration of a physical seat at a closed-door event into a viral global hashtag campaign created a bridge between grassroots activism and high-level diplomacy.
The script for Sir David Attenborough masterfully distills complex climate data into a moral imperative that feels both personal and universal.
The visual identity of 'The People's Seat' uses the UN's Sustainable Development Goals color wheel to create a recognizable and inclusive brand.
Creating a physical 'seat' for the public in a space where they are usually excluded is a powerful piece of symbolic design.
The synergy between the physical activation (the seat) and the digital call to action (the hashtag) is what allowed the campaign to scale from a single room to 1.3 billion people.
