Free The Sea

Free The Sea stops ocean plastic pollution at the source by bringing better waste management options to coastal communities.

They have 22 waste collection hubs, most of which are based in Indonesia. They work with local communities to educate and incentivise them to drop their waste off there, bringing more jobs and infrastructure to the areas that need them most – and, crucially, stopping this waste from reaching the ocean. They even turn the recycled plastic into little pellets that can go on to become new products.

“The ocean is our client”, Ina told me in our first call together. They weren’t interested in competing with other projects – they’d much rather share what they know with others. Reducing ocean waste is their North Star.

Free The Sea stops ocean plastic pollution at the source by bringing better waste management options to coastal communities.

They have 22 waste collection hubs, most of which are based in Indonesia. They work with local communities to educate and incentivise them to drop their waste off there, bringing more jobs and infrastructure to the areas that need them most – and, crucially, stopping this waste from reaching the ocean. They even turn the recycled plastic into little pellets that can go on to become new products.

“The ocean is our client”, Ina told me in our first call together. They weren’t interested in competing with other projects – they’d much rather share what they know with others. Reducing ocean waste is their North Star.

The marketing team at Free The Sea had already put a lot of thought into their strategy and the messaging, including a messaging hierarchy dictating which messages should be prioritised over others. But they were stuck on the final hurdle: 

“We have a pretty good idea of what we want to say - but we need someone who can help us say it in a great way. Right now, phrases like “setting up plastic waste infrastructure in underserved communities” aren’t exactly turning heads.”, they wrote in their initial email. What they needed was a fresh perspective and some fresh ideas on how to tell their story.

This wasn’t a complete comms overhaul – the team have already pencilled in a new website for later in the year. What they needed at this point was some new taglines and headline options, as well as a short, medium and long description for different social platforms. 

I started by looking at similar projects, and working out how we could deliver our message differently. I then drafted different suggestions for the team and, after an efficient edit, the project was wrapped up within a week. 

I loved working with Free The Sea on this project – their marketing team is as obsessed with finding the right word as I am, and they offered me great extra perspective on the needs of their Indonesian audience.