Impact Case Study: The Lion's Share

The problem

Earth is on the brink of its sixth mass extinction, and as it stands 100,000 species could soon disappear off the face of the planet.

As The Lion's Share Ambassador, Sir David Attenborough puts it, "the question is, are we happy that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?"

The idea

Animals feature in approximately 20% of all of the adverts that you see. But do these animals ever see a chunk of the profits? What if we were to treat their usage in the same way we would casting and paying talent for ads?

Created by film director, Christopher Nelius and Rob Galluzzo, founder of Australian production company FINCH, The Lion's Share does just that. The fund aims to raise $100 million a year over the next three years, which can be invested back into conservation initiatives all over the world.

The idea came to Christopher during a cricket game when he noticed the ads between each wicket. "The sheer volume of animals being used" surprised him, "particularly cheetahs, tigers and elephants." It dawned on him that "the picture we were painting in communications of animals was very different from the plight that animals are facing in the real world. As a director, he knew we pay everyone else to be in ads, so why couldn't we do the same for animals? And instead of using animals for profits, wouldn't it be great if companies could contribute to their survival too."

Sir David Attenborough was an obvious choice as a brand ambassador, based on the fact he's already so intrinsically tied to the presence of animals across media and advertising.

How it works

When a brand uses the image of an animal in an ad campaign, whether this is real, cartoon or CGI, the advertiser donates a small percentage of paid media spend to The Lion's Share Fund.

In the same way, media companies can also donate a percentage of revenue from ads featuring animals on their platforms. This money is then used to finance wildlife conservation and animal welfare on a global scale.

A number of aims the project looks to address in the coming years include protecting the dwindling numbers of wild tigers estimated at only 4,000 remaining, safeguard jaguar populations and working to bring the illegal ivory trade industry to a grinding halt. But some of the aims are a little closer to home too, and the fund also looks to address the welfare of over 200 million abandoned household pets all over the world.

The results

So far, over 50 brands have signed up, including JCDecaux, Kering Group & The Economist, and this number is growing all the time. "This equates to $16M raised. In Indonesia's Leuser Ecosystem, we've purchased 260,000 hectares of rainforest to protect the last remaining Sumatran Tigers, Rhinos and Orangutans. The money has also helped digitise ranger communication technology in Mozambique, which means that for the first time in 20 years, the number of elephant poachings has gone down to zero "a first in history".

Funds are also being used to restore the Pacific Ocean coral reef triangle in the West Pacific, which over 2000 species of reef fish call home. "This restoration is also vital for the 120m surrounding people who rely on the coral for their livelihood." The team at FITCH describe the project as a "major achievement in equality and fairness. It creates a true value exchange between brands and animals.

Until now, there was no mechanism for advertisers to give fair compensation to the animals they use in marketing campaigns. To be an organisation who benefits from the image of animals and contributes to their survival- You can be part of this solution and not the problem".