Bees are dying all over the world. We know that, but don’t realize the extent to which it hurts us. As pollinators insects, they play a critical role in global food production and biodiversity: 75% of the food we eat is the direct result of bees pollinating plants. Without them, we would miss a good portion of fruits and vegetables, but also meat and dairy (livestock feed), chocolate, coffee…

46% of wild and domestic bee species are on the verge of extinction, because of intensive agriculture, pesticides, and monoculture which destroys bees' habitat and food sources.

The heart of the matter: money. Saving bees costs a lot because we need to finance farmers’ conversion to bee-friendly agriculture, rebuild bee habitats, finance research.

Fondation de France -involved for 50 years in collecting donations for biodiversity issues- wanted to mobilize a wide audience and raise money for the cause.

At the heart of the strategy: a social concept to engage a general audience and brands with social media (followers & shares), other Influencers (share & engage) and PR (media & social editors), with zero media spend.

We designed the cutest influencer ever, created her looks and tone of voice to appeal to all demographics around the world. We created a dedicated fund inside the Fondation de France: The BEEFUND, to make sure followers clearly understood where the money went.

We rolled out a PR & Digital influence campaign to make B a famous influencer.

With a clear call-to-action: follow to support. Thanks to B, Instagram’s follow button becomes a new way to act. B benefits from her influence and money earned through paid brands partnerships to support the cause and educate her community. “The more you follow, the more brands will pay to save bees.”

#1Teasing: onboard social editors, media and influencers to announce B.’s birth and spread the word on the bee issue.

#2 -Reveal and launch: Reach lifestyle media and influencers to support the creation of Bee’s account on World Bee Day, help B. expand her community, call brands to work with B.

#3 Managing the account: B regularly shared stories and posts about her life and answered Q&As to educate her followers about the cause and the ways people could act at their level.

#4 - Creating 13 paid brand partnerships for B.

#5 - Announcing B’s death :

To end as strongly as we began, B passed away. It devastated her community, serving as a reminder of the urgency. We built her tiny grave at the Paris Pet Cemetery to remind everyone of the need to fight. We reached media and influencers to announce her death, and ask for donations.

-Reach: In 2 years, 600,000people followed B thanks to outstanding media coverage. The media positioned B. as the IT girl to follow. +250influencers committed to the cause, +570clippings, 70% online/30% print, 4TVs shows, 100%positive coverage. A social media &media coverage amounted to 240,317,694 impressions, with a total reach of 23,269,871 (excluding B.'s account).

-Engagement: 600,000 followers over 2 years (272k today) engaged with the 769posts/stories shared on her account. With 4,137,376engagement, 3,106,922likes, 40,609,380impressions, B mobilized an international community with a 8% engagement rate, 4times superior than average.

- Money: With her growing influence, 13 committed brands worked with B on paid partnerships: Ricola, LaPoste, Burt’sBees, AirBnb, Guerlain, Fleurs d’ici, TeamVitality, BeeHome, Citeo, Abeilles&Botanique, Lydia, Axa. She even became the Galeries Lafayette’s Christmas muse. Raising 150,000€. Financing 4 projects for bee preservation: 1Creating new agricultural practices. 2Educating farmers. 3Analyzing pollens. 4Developing a toxicological diagnosis tool.