Ocean – the latest film fronted by Sir David Attenborough – has now moored up on streaming services around the world. It has a clear message – but does my social marketing & behaviour change brain say about it? Here’s my hot take in a leisurely 6 minute read.

Ocean Distribution – reviewing using the EAST social marketing framework

Easy

Big tick in the box for the ‘E’ of EAST – ‘EASY’.  So long as you subscribe to one of the services, you can watch Ocean in your underthings, upside down, alone or with as many people as you like.

I roll ‘accessibility’ into ‘Easy’ too. Certainly streaming makes it more financially accessible. It’s an £8.99 subscription versus about £24 for the two of us at the cinema, including parking but not snacks.  However – we must remember that there are direct and indirect costs – even if you do the free subscription fandango, you still need a credit card and to have a paid-for internet connection that’s fast enough to stream the film.  Plus a capable TV to watch it on.  These aren’t free for the most part…

Another ‘accessibility’ benefit is also to be able to watch it at the volume you need, with/without subtitles in a range of languages, and maybe even audio description (I’m not sure about signed versions though). 

Attractive

I’m torn here.  

I’ll watch almost anything with Sir David.  So I’m sold.  And the film is beautifully created.  Big ticks.

But I’m not everyone.  I’ve watched Cowspiracy, Black Fish, An Inconvenient Truth, Food Inc and virtually every BBC nature documentary of the last 30 years.  I’ve also got a real connection with water, having grown up on the coast.

If I wasn’t me, if I was climate-change sceptical or if I didn’t have such a pull towards the waves, would I choose to watch the film?  The promotional marketing leans into stories of hope woven into the script; but would that be enough to lure me away from the fast dopamine hits of the latest thrillers?  Would I want to risk feeling sad, even if there’s a few stories of positive change to lighten the mood?  I don’t know, genuinely.

Social

The ‘S’ of ‘Social’ is where the home experience struggles.  Unless you’ve got a load of folk around you, there’s no social element to the experience.  This isn’t the fault of the film, and many of the cinematic experiences come with post-film discussion or social opportunities.  

For the home viewing experience, many folks would use social media to fill that social void.  However – and I find this fascinating – there’s not a hashtag or social platform promoted anywhere… 

Timely

Doubled edged, this one.  

Politically – yes.  It was released onto streaming platforms the day before the UN Ocean Conference in Nice opens (who knew?).   

Personally (for the individuals watching in their jammies) – I feel it’s much more of a mixed picture.  For social marketing to work, we need a timely element to increase salience and – yes – give us a nudge when we need it.  The film talks about climate catastrophe in the next 30 years – but, heck, a week is a long time right now, isn’t it?  What’s the timely action driver here?

Politically timely, tick.  Personally timely – not so much, I think.  And this leads me onto my biggest point…

Ocean’s content – does it measure up against EAST?  

From a social marketing and behaviour standpoint, I think that Ocean is a lost opportunity.  Power for in the film change is situated outside of the individual.  There’s no easy to follow ‘Do this to be part of the future’ invitation, no specific action to take.  There’s no attractive or accessible sources of further information to deepen what you’ve just witnessed.  There’s no social element, especially for the home viewer.  And, timely?  Unless you’re literally eating a trawler sourced fish sandwich at the time, it misses out.

In fact, some of the scenes are so huge – massive trawlers and ‘factories of the sea’ ripping the ocean apart – that I’m literally feeling tiny, lost and a bit seasick. What can little old me do?

Maybe Ocean isn’t meant to be a campaigning film.  Maybe it’s meant to be the presentation of information and a hope that change will follow – but social marketers know that just providing information rarely leads to new behaviours forming.  So what is the film trying to do for us, with us and within us?

I wrote on LinkedIn recently about a social marketing campaign which gave the audience Easy / Medium / Hard actions to choose from.  This would have been super powerful here.

• Easy – visit the film’s website and subscribe to an eNewsletter, or follow along on social media using a single, trackable conversation tag
• Medium – contact your local politician to request their response and activities relating to the themes raised in the film (and then hold them to account). 
• Hard – find a local campaign group and join that, giving up some of your time and availability for other things to make change happen.  Change your dietary habits, look out for certain certifications or guarantees of eco-friendly practices.  

In conclusion

We know that films and media are powerful drivers for change. In the UK, we’ve seen this recently in another sphere with Mr Bates V The Post Office.  An Inconvenient Truth made climate ripples at the time, as have some of the other films.  Maybe we will see some change as the UK Government announced the day after the streaming services came on line that it would move to extend a ban on bottom trawlers.

Ocean is a good piece of film making and story telling.  If you enjoyed The Blue Planet, you’ll love this.  But I’m drawn back to this post from Bangor University in 2019:  Do nature shows deceive us into thinking that our planet is fine?  (Or would be if we’d just stop beating it up)

The film is hopeful, and there are some human level stories (vital for behaviour change to happen).  And it makes it clear that if we just stop the abuse, the ocean can heal itself.

However… With the power to change situated outside the viewer, we have to hope that politicians will sign up to the UN High Seas Treaty and abide by its terms (because other things they’ve signed up to, such as the 2016 Paris Agreement are going so well).

So there’s no need for me to act, even if I knew how.  Because everything will be fine as it was when we were young and politicians were noble…. Is that the message that was intended?

What can you do next?

While the film doesn’t leave you with anything tangible, I wanted to share some resources to check out if you are motivated to reduce your impact on our ocean.  There are millions more – so please find and share your favourites!  Individually, each one won’t take a trawler out of the water – but together, our impact can be massive.

• Six suggestions from the Smithsonian, 10 from the National Ocean Service and 15 from Ocean generation – including changing the language you use
• Support a Kelp forest
• Find out about the wonders of seagrass
• Consider adding your voice to the pressure for politicians to sign up to the UN High Seas Treaty

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I am an award-winning senior communications leader, with a proven 20-year track record in strategic marketing and communications, reputation management, crisis communications, stakeholder engagement, change management and brand-building.  I’m a writer by trade, a strategist at heart and a geek for everything to do with social marketing. I love what I do – and it shows. If you need this energy on your team – let’s talk!