For decades, wireworms have cost American farmers billions of dollars, with more than 80% of them saying they are the biggest threat to their livelihood every year. The challenge was there were no products on the market to KILL wireworms, so populations weren’t reduced and the threat never went away. And, just as wireworms destroyed their crops, farmers wanted to destroy wireworms. While Teraxxa does, in fact, solve the problem by killing wireworms, overcoming years of inferior products and a cultural understanding that killing wasn’t possible created a challenge for introducing a new product. Combine that with a lack of perception of BASF as a leader in seed treatment and being outspent 2:1 by the competition-the battle for a successful launch was real.

The objective was to launch in a manner that secured a 5% market share among seed houses/retailers and farmers in the first season on the market.

We knew farmers would be skeptical when BASF developed Teraxxa, a treatment that kills wireworms. First, we tapped into farmers’ desire to destroy wireworms by disguising our product demonstration as an arcade game, turning Teraxxa the crop treatment into Teraxxa the video game. Farmers could now learn about the revolutionary product while experiencing the joy of obliterating these real-world pests. Knowing they gather at seed houses/retailers to socialize and share information, we put full-size arcade games in stores so farmers could see how Teraxxa worked firsthand. And knowing they spend hours on their phones working crops from inside self-driving tractors, we released a mobile version so they could keep destroying wireworms and order Teraxxa right from the field. Geofencing around events and retail stores was used to retarget players with display and social, while direct mail, OOH, and radio were used to amplify the benefits of Teraxxa.

The primary audience was farmers, specifically those identifying first as a wheat farmer and growing high-value wheat for the export market. Because of this export focus, yield and quality are essential, making them more likely to be open to a product like Teraxxa. University and wheat association data that tracked historical wireworm pressure were overlaid to further identify the intersection of need and openness.

Secondary focus was on seed houses/retailers that align with the identified farmers and move most of the seed treatment. They prefer selling more product to new customers than a different product to current customers, and farmers rely on them for recommendations that help them maintain their reputation.

The approach was to educate the audiences about wireworms and their impact, build anticipation prior to release, and motivate audiences to buy Teraxxa based on its ability to protect farmers’ investment and increase yield.

For pre-launch and preceding EPA approvals, the strategy was to utilize native articles alongside PR. Once approved, the product launch incorporated numerous touch points with wheat farmers to educate them about this revolutionary product.

Trade print, social, out of home, digital and experiential combined to create high impact during the introductory two months. In addition to standard digital assets, we deployed an in-ad mobile experience where farmers could see the video game, click through and play on their mobile devices or directly on the microsite. Geofencing was deployed around events and retail to remind farmers about the benefits of Teraxxa, while retargeting messages continued to remind them the following month.

Campaign scale:

• Print - 8 full-page placements with 322,205 impressions

• OOH – 13 boards/5 million impressions

• Display - 4 networks with 5.67 million impressions

• Social - 4 videos/700,000 views

• Radio - 1,680 airings/58 stations

Teraxxa was a new product launch, which meant it had to receive approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before it could be sold. After delays, and a four-month loss of potential sales, there were just 3.5 months left in the season. Despite the setback,

Teraxxa was the most successful product launch in BASF history.

• Teraxxa game launch increased site visits by 1,425%

• Retail sales increased by $8.5 million, causing Terraxxa to sell out just one month after launch

• 7% gain in market share

• Social video performed 662% above the clickthrough-rate benchmark

• Teraxxa games averaged nearly 7 minutes per play, with one user playing a game that lasted 31 minutes