RACE FOR THE BALTIC
Capabilities
Brand communication
Campaign Strategy
Visual identity
Digital design
Race for the Baltic has spent more than a decade tackling one of the biggest environmental threats facing the Baltic Sea. This year, they decided to take the conversation beyond experts, policymakers and environmental organisations.
But there was one problem: almost nobody knows what eutrophication is, and hardly anyone can pronounce it correctly. How do you build a campaign around that?
WTF IS EUTROPHICATION?
Eutrophication is the over-fertilisation of water with nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture and wastewater, and it has affected 94% of the Baltic Sea. Seven of the world's ten largest dead zones are located here.
The science is clear, but public awareness is close to zero. Every summer, beaches along the Polish coast close as green blooms spread across the water. Children can't swim, dogs are kept away because they get sick and holidays are interrupted.
Most people have seen it, but almost nobody knows what causes it. Those blooms are cyanobacteria – sinice – one of the most visible consequences of eutrophication. That became our starting point.
WIDZISZ SINICE?
Eutrophication is driven largely by agriculture, wastewater systems and policy decisions. To raise awareness, we needed a connection between a problem the public already knew and a cause they had never heard of. So instead of telling people what they should do, we started with something they already recognised. A question.
Widzisz sinice?
Do you see algae?
A simple question directed at anyone who has ever stood in front of a closed beach. The question doesn't explain, it invites the public to understand more and turns a familiar summer frustration into the beginning of a much bigger story.
THE BALTIC BEGINS ON LAND
The project was designed as the first chapter of a broader public awareness platform. Eutrophication doesn't begin at the coast – it begins hundreds of kilometres inland, in fields, rivers, drainage systems and wastewater infrastructure. The beach closure is simply where most people notice it.
THE CAMPAIGN
We created the complete communication system: visual identity, key visual, photography approach, messaging framework and digital experience.
The campaign launched in June 2026 with city-light installations across Warsaw and the Tricity (Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot), supported by outdoor media from Jet Line and PR activities led by Weber Shandwick.
Alongside the campaign, we designed and developed the project landing page (rftb.pl). For the first time, millions of Poles have a name for what closes their beach every summer – and an inkling of where it comes from.