Coverage spreading like wildfire - A reactive Digital PR campaign for Distrelec

Using EFFIS to locate the European countries experiencing the most severe wildfires in 2022, the team estimated their cost based on the assumption that every hectare of land burned costs around 10,334 euros.

They measured the forest density of these countries using World Bank data, dividing the km squared by 15 (the range of the IoT sensor) to calculate the number of sensors required. Using the average market cost of IoT sensors in bulk, it was possible to calculate the total cost of sensors, and what percentage this number was of the total estimated cost of wildfire damage.

To calculate the CO2 emitted as a result of the wildfires, they took the average of 15 tonnes per 2.5 hectares burned.

Phase 1:

The team deduced that countries, such as Portugal, would benefit greatly from sensors. Their 2022 wildfires made headlines as they enveloped Madrid in smoke – 400km away! With 100,098 hectares of land burning, this cost an estimated €1,034,434,753.56, whilst implementing IoT sensors would’ve cost €43,961.28, just 0.00424% of the damage cost.

They outreached angles around percentage costs to highly relevant sites and saw some success, however, it didn’t make the impact we felt it deserved.

Then came 2023…

Phase 2:

Southern Europe saw unprecedented heatwaves this year, resulting in the largest wildfires across the continent burning through thousands of hectares of green space, impacting residents, wildlife and holidaymakers. Those in Greece being the biggest the EU had ever recorded.

We were able to rework the previous campaign and contribute to this story in a meaningful manner. Our approach was different, in that we simply looked at the total cost of the 2023 wildfires in the worst-impacted countries, and the total cost of preventative sensors.