2025 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

In the face of escalating wildfires that devastated communities in 2023, tentree, a sustainable clothing company, saw an urgent need for collective action. tentree has long positioned itself as a tree planting company, that happens to sell outdoor apparel, and has been planting trees in wildfire-affected areas in Canada since 2015. The escalating situation called for an approach that would help with prevention as well as restoration, further building tentree’s sustainability credentials.

The solution came by looking at the problem from a new lens and enabled a unique and ground-breaking opportunity for impact.

The insight driving the strategy was simple: more than 55% of wildfires are sparked by human activity in areas where traditional monitoring falls short, as satellites and drones tend to focus on the most remote communities, creating a monitoring blind spot of sorts.

In an age where everyone is a potential data point, tentree saw an opportunity to leverage social media as a real-time surveillance network.

Thanks to advances in computer vision, it is now possible to train an algorithm to detect early signs of wildfire that the human eye might miss. Their strategy was to focus on images taken in wildfire monitoring blind spots and use computer vision technology to automate the detection of early signs.

At the heart of this initiative is their proprietary algorithm, designed to scan social media platforms for images tagged with #FollowingWildfire and other
popular outdoors hashtags and locations. It detects signs of wildfire then integrates this data with regional weather and vegetation conditions to assess the risk and potential spread. Trained specialists review detections, ensuring accuracy before alerting fire authorities.

The priority was a seamless user experience. Users simply tag photos as they normally would, and the system does the rest. The dedicated “Following Wildfire” website offers an immersive journey, providing vital information about wildfire impacts and prevention. It also features a 3D map of potential wildfire risks.

To amplify their reach, the agency leveraged PR and traditional and digital media channels and influencers, encouraging Canadians to participate and share their photos while they’re in the outdoors, by using the
#FollowingWildfire hashtag.

By tapping into the collective vigilance of Canadians, tentree has created a scalable, globally applicable solution that can detect wildfires that traditional technologies might miss. The tool even received public endorsement from Tristan Landry – Regional Director of Canada’s Environment Protection and Climate Change agency.

A week after its official launch “Following Wildfire” captured public attention from mainstream outlets like Global News, CTV, NewsTalk, Le Devoir, Le Soleil de Québec and Yahoo Finance amongst others, totalling more than 8M earned media impressions. More importantly, to date more than 24,000 outdoor photos have been analyzed, and over 200 threats detected, with immediate risks escalated
to relevant authorities.

In a world where the climate crisis demands innovative solutions, tentree’s “Following Wildfire” stands as a testament to what’s possible when technology and community converge.

Credits

tentree
Co-founder & CEO: Derrick Emsley,
Senior Brand Director: Wendy Kubota

Dentsu Creative
CEO: Stephen Kiely
President & Chief Creative Officer: Jordan Doucette
Chief Strategy Officer: Rafik Belmesk
Chief Client Officer: Dimitra Georgakis
Executive Creative Director: Ryan Egan, Maxime Sauté
SVP, Studio & Operations: Kristie Filipp
VP, Client Management: Josie Daga
Executive Producer: Cynthia Cyr
Director, Broadcast and Content: Rob Lazar
Account Manager: Cloe Boulianne
SVP, Communications: Kate Dobrucki
Director, Communications: Lisa Gamble Brand Strategist: Libby Sutherland iProspect
Chief Client Officer: Tracey Johnson
Group Account Director: Leona Hobbs
Senior Planner: Danika Smith
Amplifi
President, Media: Nicole Brown
VP, Partnership & Media Compliance: Krista Furlano

Reflektor
CTO: Max Rusan
Lead Developer: Luc Palombo
Head of Production: Simon Conlin
Producer: Ryan Kelly
Creative Direction / User Interface Design: Glenn Catteeuw
Creative Developer: Rogier de Boevé
3D Production: Carlos Garcia
Front End Developer: Shiqi Wu
Project manager / Research: Koji Saeki

Cypher Audio
Audio Design: John Black
Audio Production: Julie Neff

Saints Editorial
Editor: Nick Coleman
Producer: Phoebe Lorimer
Executive Producer: Mackenzie Goodwin
Darling Colour & VFX
Motion Graphics - James Reid
Online Producer - Will Culverwell
Grayson Music
Senior Producer - Nicholas Shaw
Executive Producer / Partner – Kelly McCluskey

Pomp & Circumstance
Creative Director, PR: Lindsay Mattick
Account Manager, PR: Jennifer Dunsmore

EGS PR
President: Effie Giannou
Account Manager, PR: Jennifer Ahken