The archive · Marketing & Growth · Strategic decision · 2024–2026
SKF frames moon-powered tidal kites as a space program — Cannes B2B Grand Prix
SKF reframes Faroe Islands tidal power as a 'space program that never leaves Earth' — underwater kite Luna harvests moon energy — Cannes 2026 B2B Grand Prix.
SKF
What it had to solve
SKF, the world's biggest bearing maker, wanted to express its 'fighting friction' ethos in a bold new way, away from rational, boring B2B comms; the global conversation about mining the Moon gave it a cultural hook.
How it works
In 2025, as superpowers talked about mining the Moon, Swedish bearing maker SKF launched the Faroe Islands Space Program — a space program that never leaves Earth. With agency NORD DDB, tidal developer Minesto and Faroese utility Sev, SKF deployed Luna 12, a 1.2 MW underwater kite that 'flies' on tidal streams driven by the Moon's gravity, generating predictable renewable power.
The framing did the creative work: tidal energy became 'moon energy', the kite became an 'underwater spacecraft', and the brand's century-old engineering story became a mission to harness the Moon from the deep blue sea instead of the black night sky. It was the first campaign under SKF's new 'Less friction, more progress' brand strategy.
The idea produced numbers B2B spec-sheet ads rarely do: 839 million impressions, earned coverage in the BBC, CNBC and The Economist, and a 161% uplift in sustainability perception. At Cannes Lions 2026 it won the Creative B2B Grand Prix and a Gold Lion in Creative Strategy, showing a bearings company can lead culture rather than just supply it.
Why it lands
- SKF reframed a real engineering project as a 'space program', borrowing the most exciting cultural frame available to B2B.
- Tidal energy became 'moon power', turning a dense technical product into a story anyone can repeat.
- The initiative was real — an actual 1.2 MW kite deployed offshore — so the campaign ran on substance, not filmic claims.
- It launched a repeatable brand platform ('Fighting Friction initiatives') instead of a one-off ad.
What it did
839 million impressions, earned coverage in the BBC, CNBC and The Economist, and a 161% uplift in sustainability perception; Cannes Lions 2026 Creative B2B Grand Prix plus a Gold Lion in Creative Strategy.
What you can take
A commodity B2B brand can borrow culture's biggest story and make its own technology the hero; reframing a real engineering project beats rational spec sheets when the goal is belief.
Since then
SKF made the space program the first of its 'Fighting Friction' initiatives, a rolling framework of real engineering projects under the 'Less friction, more progress' strategy. The next goal is a 200 MW tidal facility off the Faroe Islands, enough to supply 40% of the islands' expected electricity demand by 2030 as the nation targets 100% renewable power. The campaign ran globally across SKF's markets in digital, social, outdoor, print and native formats.
Sources
- SKF Launches a Space Programme That Never Leaves Earth
- 'The Faroe Islands Space Programme': One Grand Prix for SKF, One Giant Leap For Excellence
- A Fighting Friction Initiative
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