Tree Of Hope – A WhatsApp Adventure
View the case- Brand
- WWF
- Year
- 2023
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Other
- Mechanic
- Adventure & Quest
- Platform
- App
- Agency
- Charles
Objective
WWF Deutschland wanted to reach a younger audience that had grown numb to grim climate headlines and get them to care about the more than 8,000 protected natural areas across Germany — an issue made urgent by the European Commission's legal case against Germany over how those areas are managed. WhatsApp was the obvious channel, reaching an estimated 85% of German internet users with message open rates above 90%, and it doubled as a way for WWF to start longer-term relationships with donors and supporters.
Solution
Players find the game via a landing page or a QR code on billboards that opens a WhatsApp chat with WWF pre-filled with the words "OPEN GAME" — sending it kicks off the story. Cast as "EcoNinja," the player works through a choose-your-own-adventure told entirely in chat bubbles, tapping buttons and picking from lists to decide how to protect a forest ecosystem in a German nature reserve, guided by a mysterious character called the Owl of Protection. Along the way messages arrive as retro-styled images, voice notes, PDFs, and even short videos, with the story branching based on the choices made. Players can tap a "FOREST INFO" button at any point for a real fact about German conservation areas before picking the story back up. About 15–20 minutes later the adventure ends, and everyone who finishes it unlocks a limited-edition WWF T-shirt from WWF's online shop.
Results
WWF sent over 130,000 messages to roughly 3,000 people who played the game. More than 30% of players who started the game finished it, a completion rate WWF's own team called "outstanding." Every player who tapped the "FOREST INFO" educational button went on to return to the game afterward.
- 1
The game is reached through outward-facing ads — a billboard QR code, an Instagram click-to-chat post, or a WWF page — that lead to a mobile landing page with a "Spiel starten" button and its own QR code.
- 2
Tapping the button (or scanning the code) opens a WhatsApp chat with WWF's number with the keyword OPEN GAME pre-filled; sending it — or typing the same keyword manually — starts the game.
- 3
An opening message casts the player as "EcoNinja," tasked with saving a forest ecosystem, and introduces a guide character, the "Eule des Schutzes" (Owl of Protection), who narrates the conservation story throughout.
- 4
The core loop is a stream of automated WhatsApp messages arriving with timed pauses; the player responds almost entirely through preset WhatsApp buttons and list options rather than free text.
- 5
Messages are interspersed with AI-generated retro-style images, voice notes, ambient sound files, PDFs, and video clips to build atmosphere.
- 6
Choices center on real forest threats — bark-beetle infestation, overhunting, and illegal logging — with the player deciding how to respond to each.
- 7
At certain points an optional "FOREST INFO" button opens an educational aside on the state of German forests and their wildlife (such as the lynx) and the dangers they face, before returning the player to the story.
- 8
A playthrough runs about 15–20 minutes and can be done solo or with friends.
- 9
The story closes by revealing the Owl of Protection as the same owl depicted on German Naturschutzgebiet (nature reserve) signs, delivering the campaign's message that nature must be respected and protected to recover.
- 10
Finishing the game unlocks a limited reward in WWF's online shop: a free WWF T-shirt designed by charles.
