Bank of the West in San Francisco is drawing attention to the effects of climate change through a unique marketing method — a billboard in the sand that disappears when the tide gets too high.
The $95 billion-asset bank unveiled its Before it Disappears advertising campaign on Wednesday, furthering the conversation around how climate change is harming kelp forests and other coastal ecosystems while exploring how traditional financial institutions can play a part in building a more sustainable world.
"The 'Before it Disappears' billboard came about as almost the ultimate expression of how we were going to market. … We started by spraying our billboards with a special film that absorbed carbon and toxins out of the air [and] then we went to the next level and upcycled our billboards into backpacks," said Ben Stuart, chief marketing officer and head of growth and transformation for Bank of the West. "Then the idea came about and we thought, what if we did a zero-impact billboard, where there was actually no manufacturing, there was only art?"
As part of its initiatives for environmental, social, and corporate governance, Bank of the West offers a branded checking account in partnership with 1% for the Planet, a nonprofit that enables companies to pledge a donation equivalent to 1% of gross sales through a combination of monetary, in-kind and approved promotional support for environmental firms in need of funding.
But for a task involving nontraditional artistic mediums, the bank sought an expert who could both appreciate the underlying message and effectively work with as little lasting impact as possible.
Andres Amador, a local earthscape artist who was commissioned by Bank of the West and creates impermanent works using all-natural resources such as clay and straw, explained his ethos for sustainability and how it influences his approach to creating works of art.
"I strive for my work to be a dialogue between myself, the location and factors such as being aware of what I'm leaving behind, what I'm disturbing and how I'm gathering the materials. … I try to be as low impact as possible and leave as little trace as I can," Amador said.
But despite being originally ambivalent about a bank conscripting an eco-friendly campaign, Amador understood that traditional financial institutions could play a hand in promoting change of any scale and completed the project at Dillon Beach in late August.
"I see banks as being part of the [climate change] problem, but through this project, I also see that things aren't going to change radically unless there's some radical thing that happens, otherwise it will be incremental. … So the institutions that do exist can be part of the solution, and that was something I got from this project," Amador said.
On the northern coast of California, a combination of climate change leading to warmer ocean temperatures and abundance of sea urchins led to a significant loss in the overall population of kelp forests, according to a
"[We] found that both business executives and consumers claim to be passionate about climate change, however
As part of its marketing campaign, Bank of the West has teamed up with the nonprofit Sustainable Surf. Sustainable Surf, a partner of 1% for the Planet, supports efforts to combat climate change by channeling donations to directly fund restoration projects across the globe.
Michael Stewart, who co-founded Sustainable Surf in 2011, explained that the Manhattan Beach, California, organization's offerings match individuals and brands seeking to become involved with scientists and environmental communities dedicated to rebuilding local ecosystems.
"All the programs that we've been developing have the same basic ethos" — that "we need to engage and inspire people, we need to educate them about the issues related to climate change and we need to give them a way to actually take action to become part of the solution," Stewart said.
One such initiative is the
Through SeaTrees, using the money gathered through its 1% for the Planet checking account, Bank of the West has helped re-seed more than 3,000 square feet of kelp forests along the Palos Verdes peninsula in its home state.
"This decade between 2020 and 2030 is critical for us to wrap our hands around both reducing the amount of emissions that we're putting out there," Stewart said, "and at the same time sequestering or drawing down the emissions that we've already put up into the sky and have been soaked up by our oceans."
