Vixeran is a new bacteria-based agricultural product that enables crops to utilize nitrogen directly from the air. This reduces the need for traditional fertilizers, which are CO2-intensive to produce, and also limits the release of nitrogen into the environment.

Vixeran is both beneficial for the climate and farmers' economy. Since Vixeran works by activating the plants' own strengths, the product is also so environmentally friendly that it is allowed for use in organic farming.

Challenge

Although Vixeran is a potential game-changer for agriculture, there were still barriers to overcome. The product belongs to a category of new, highly advanced agricultural products collectively known as biostimulants. This area is still under development, and due to some earlier products with limited effectiveness, parts of the target audience are skeptical of this type of technology.

Strategy

Syngenta knew for sure that they had an effective product. And if farmers could be convinced to try the product on their own fields, they would clearly experience its effects. Therefore, we needed a campaign that could capture farmers' interest and overcome their skepticism.

Marketing agricultural products is often generic and relies on images of rolling fields and shiny farm machinery. This is partly because many farmers have a traditional mindset, but also because many of them feel significant financial pressure due to factors like rising energy costs and low market prices, which forces them to focus intently on securing their returns.

To create awareness and ensure attention from the target audience, the launch concept needed to be bold without straying too far from the core message. Therefore, we chose a communication strategy based on a combination of familiarity with a surprising visual twist that could clearly convey the core story and product benefits.

Creative Solution

As a creative solution, we developed a series of clean images featuring farmers' most common crops on a white background – but the crops were made as balloon figures.

This approach allowed us to showcase the crops in a completely new and unconventional way. The simple figures in bold colors created maximum visual impact and ensured that the campaign would stand out from all other communications in agricultural media and at farming exhibitions.

Under the headline PUMP UP YOUR CROPS, we were able to communicate that Syngenta helps crops grow big – while also telling the unique story that they actually grow using nothing but ordinary air.

To develop the demanding illustrations in the most cost-effective way, we chose to use generative AI, which gave us exactly the result we wanted.

Results

PUMP UP YOUR CROPS was a great success. With a high level of ambition and a limited budget, we managed to create a strong launch campaign for Syngenta Vixeran using generative AI.

The campaign ran in Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom on digital platforms in Google's Display Network, on Facebook, as well as in physical trade media and at agricultural exhibitions.

The initial strategy was to create broad awareness within the target group by directing the digital advertising toward an upper funnel segment, based on interests and look-a-likes. At the same time, the concept was rolled out at several physical events, where real balloons were also inflated.