Campaigns
FEATURED PROJECT
Beyond Why to How
McKinsey Sustainability's flagship full-funnel campaign, repositioning the firm from a strategic advisor to an implementation partner.
Role: Partnered with the Creative Director in leading the development of the campaign's visual language and design system
The Challenge
A distinctive campaign that could grow
McKinsey Sustainability needed a distinctive campaign that would stand apart in a crowded market while remaining unmistakably McKinsey. The visual system also needed to work beyond a single launch—supporting a growing body of content across digital, social, events, and web experiences while remaining easy for creative teams around the world to apply consistently.
The Solution
A flexible visual system
We developed a visual system that balanced three priorities: creating a distinctive identity for McKinsey Sustainability, maintaining a clear connection to the McKinsey brand, and giving creative teams a flexable foundation they could confidently extend across future content, channels, and campaign phases.
Array of paid and organic top and mid-funnel assets —video, animated gifs, static imagery, carousels.
Blue gradient: A transparent blue gradient grounded the campaign in McKinsey's visual identity while providing a consistent solution for text legibility across diverse imagery, messaging, and formats.
Green “pixel: Rather than relying on green as a dominant visual language—a common approach in sustainability marketing and one used prominently by several competitors—we introduced a simple geometric green pixel as a focused sustainability cue. Its bold form created a deliberate contrast with the softer blue gradient, making it instantly recognizable and allowing it to become a distinctive signature across the campaign.
Imagery: An art direction centered on machinery, infrastructure, landscapes, and dramatic shifts in scale reinforced the campaign's emphasis on implementation and action while helping it stand apart from conventional sustainability marketing.
Design applied to campaign landing page with click-throughs to case studies, specific areas of expertise, and related insights
System applied to the immersive booth experience at the COP29 event
The Impact
Broad reach and industry recognition
The campaign reached more than 3 million executives, achieved over 30% audience penetration, and increased traffic to the McKinsey Sustainability practice page by 232%. The campaign itself received multiple awards…