Submitted by OgilvyAgency IPI Score 95/100

The Endangered Typeface

PR & Communications

Ogilvy (BAR Ogilvy) created a living font for WWF Portugal and Lisbon Zoo whose letters disappear as species decline, driving downloads, donations, and awareness of the 6th mass extinction.

Case in 60 seconds

WWF Portugal and Lisbon Zoo needed people to grasp and act on the sixth mass extinction, but biodiversity statistics are easy to ignore.

A number like 42,000 endangered species means little until you can see loss happening; extinction needs to be made visible and personal.

Build a living font where each letter is an animal and disappears in proportion as that species declines, so the alphabet itself erodes.

Ogilvy launched The Endangered Typeface with a series of print images and a call to download the font, donate, and use it to spread the word.

No metrics are reported on the source page; downloads, donations, and reach are not disclosed.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

The general public, and anyone who writes and shares text, who could carry the message simply by using the font.
People acknowledge biodiversity loss but rarely feel it, and large extinction figures fail to move them to act.
Conservation communications compete for attention and often rely on statistics that do not translate into behaviour.
WWF Portugal and Lisbon Zoo positioned themselves as making extinction visible and giving people a tangible, expressive way to help.
When a message is embedded in a tool people already use, writing, they can participate and spread it with almost no effort.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Downloadable living font
  • Series of print images
  • Campaign call to action to download, donate, and use the font

Partners

  • Ogilvy (BAR Ogilvy)

Participation mechanic

  • People download the font, donate, and use it in their own communications to spread the message

Creator role

  • Not disclosed

Why Ogilvy's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Tying each letter to a species turned an abstract extinction statistic into something people could see erode.

  2. 2

    Embedding the message in a font let anyone spread it simply by writing, lowering the effort to participate.

  3. 3

    Pairing the font with print imagery gave the idea a striking, shareable public face.

  4. 4

    A clear download, donate, and use call to action linked awareness directly to an action.

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