Cannes Lions

Contract for Change

FCB CHICAGO, Chicago / MICHELOB ULTRA / 2022

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Overview

Background

Anheuser-Busch’s business is sustainability. Because without grains like barley, there’s no beer. In 2018, this truth inspired us to create Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold, the first mass organic beer in America. But as our need for organic ingredients grew, we confronted a shocking reality: Barely 1% of U.S. farmland is organic and the supply of organic barley couldn’t keep pace with our growth.

Under pressure to grow more, faster, and cheaper, farmers must rely on dangerous pesticides, herbicides, and artificial fertilizers, contributing to an unsustainable system that’s harming biodiversity and destroying our ecosystems. Going organic is unfeasible for most; it takes three extremely difficult years of reduced yields, intense re-training, and diminished earnings. And they might not find a buyer on the other side.

We decided to radically rethink our relationship with farmers, through a new operating model that will revolutionize our business, our category, and the entire agricultural system.

Idea

Contract for Change is a revolutionary agreement between one of the world’s largest buyers of grain–Anheuser-Busch–and American farmers, created to change the future of America’s agriculture. It sets farmers up for a successful organic transition by addressing the three biggest barriers they confront:

? Farmers sign today and are guaranteed that Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold will be their first organic customer after the 3-year transition.

? Anheuser-Busch commits to buy crops grown during the transition for its yearly production of non-organic beers at a 25% higher price, so farmers don’t lose money.

? The contract provides in-depth training in organic farming practices, through the most trusted agricultural organizations such as the Organic Trade Association and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Strategy

Our research took us to rural Idaho, where we spent time getting to know farmers and really understand the barriers they face when transitioning their land to organic. We learned that an organic future wouldn’t happen with a campaign, but that we needed to come up with a concrete, scalable and long-term solution that had the power to spark an organic revolution. That solution was Contract for Change.

To develop the contract, we brought Anheuser-Busch agronomists, marketers, supply chain managers and legal teams together with the most important and trusted agricultural organizations, such as The Organic Trade Association, California Certified Organic Farmers, the Idaho Barley Commission, Sustainable Food Lab and the United States Department of Agriculture.

To introduce Contract for Change to the farming community and enlist growers, we then created a hyper-targeted integrated communication plan, that used farmers’ preferred media, but also leveraged our existing relationships with the community.

Execution

After a short pilot in Idaho, Contract for Change was offered to all American farmers through a hyper-targeted approach toward the farming community. Anheuser-Busch agronomists partnered with organic trade groups to discuss the program in their communities. In support, we launched a hyper-targeted campaign via local media (radio, print, and wild-postings). Facebook ads, email, and agricultural publications helped spread the word, and we even mailed personalized copies of the Contract for Change to farmers across America. PR outreach led to national coverage from agricultural publications like Organic Insider and Green America, as well as mainstream media such as Marketwatch, Business Insider and Forbes.

Through a special phone number and website, farmers could inquire and apply for the contract.

The targeted campaign ended in April 2021, but Contract for Change is still available today. In 2022, Anheuser-Busch developed a toolkit for international markets that want to implement the program locally.

Outcome

In two years' time, we’ve begun transitioning 104,000 acres—tripling America’s organic barley acreage by 2023. 175 farmers are part of the Contract for Change. By going organic, they’ll keep 114,900 pounds of toxic pesticides from the environment annually, helping progress toward the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: smaller carbon footprints, improved soil health, and cleaner air and water.

These farms will grow organic crops for generations, producing ingredients for our beer and hundreds of other products and brands, improving the world’s access to all kinds of foods that help reduce the risks of cancer, allergic disease, and obesity.

By leading the change and bringing this B2B story to the largest consumer stage–The Super Bowl–Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold’s business grew 18% during the campaign, and by 2023, the brand projects to expand production by 25%, keeping pace with explosive demand.

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