2018 Winners & Shortlists

POTATOES ON MARS

BrandCIP - THE INTERNATIONAL POTATO CENTER
Product/ServicePOTATOES
EntrantMEMAC OGILVY & MATHER Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryPublic Education & Awareness
Idea Creation MEMAC OGILVY & MATHER Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production GREAT GUNS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Additional Company OGILVYONE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Campaign

The International Potato Center briefed us to prove the potential of potatoes. So we came up with an idea that was out of this world - Potatoes on Mars. A mission to prove that growing potatoes successfully in Mars-like conditions would mean we could grow potatoes in the most extreme climates anywhere here on Earth. Whilst Matt Damon was preparing to play his fictional movie role, our very real mission had already started.

Creative Execution

The CubeSat was set up in strict laboratory conditions at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru. We brought in soil from Peru’s Pampas de la Joya desert, the most Mars-like soil on Earth and planted the International Potato Center’s sturdiest potato varieties, in the most inhospitable Mars like conditions. Then, together with 100 million other people around the world, we watched the live feed from cameras inside the CubeSat and waited to see which, if any, would grow. Twenty-four hours a day, people watched on our dedicated portal: http://potatoes.space/mars/.

The mission made history. We developed a new organic variety of potato that now leads the way in climate-resistant crops. This has set the bar for future extra-terrestrial farming, but just as importantly, it’s proved that potatoes will grow in places here on Earth that nobody thought possible. We’ve shown the world that by growing potatoes in Mars-like conditions, we can help save millions of lives here on Earth. And we’ve already started - Our new potato has been sent to crisis spots in Bangladesh. * Over 100 Million People Watched It Grow Live.* 280 Million Online Engagements* Over 3 Billion In Global Media Reach* NASA Will Feed Future Mars Colonists With Our New Potato In The 2030s.

From our base at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, we gave people around the world an incredible opportunity to watch history in the making – Growing Potatoes on Mars. Twenty-four hours a day, people were glued to our dedicated portal: http://potatoes.space/mars/. Word spread fast and through specially fitted cameras inside our CubeSat, 100 million people around the world, watched the live feed as we attempted to cultivate a new variety of potato in Mars-like conditions, to see which, if any, would grow.

We assembled, and collaborated with, a cross disciplinary team of CIP, UTEC and NASA scientists representing the fields of agriculture, plant breeding, astrobiology, medicine and physics. The NASA and UTEC scientists then designed and built an innovative CubeSat. The hermetically sealed device with a range of monitoring sensors was created specifically to replicate conditions on Mars – including Martian atmospheric pressure, extreme temperature, CO2 levels, light and radiation.

Credits

Name Company Role
Paul Shearer Memac Ogilvy Dubai Chief Creative Officer
Will Rust Ogilvy One Dubai Executive Creative Director
Joel Ranck The International Potato Center Head of Communications
Julio Valdivia-Silva NASA Ames, UTEC Lead Biologist
Christopher P. McKay, Melissa Guzman NASA Ames Planetary Scientists
Jan Kreuze The International Potato Center Sub-Program Science Leader
David Ramirez The International Potato Center Associate Scientist
Walter Amoros The International Potato Center Senior Research Associate
Logan Allanson Ogilvy One Dubai Creative Director
Ramzi Moutran Memac Ogilvy Dubai Executive Creative Director
Nabil Moutran Ogilvy One Dubai Regional Director
Joe Lipscombe Ogilvy PR Editorial Director
Petra Biro, Ben Griffiths Ogilvy One Dubai Head of Art
Will Rust, Rafael Valencia Ogilvy One Dubai Art Director
Muhammad Umair, Rajish Kappad, Vaclav Sramek Ogilvy One Dubai Designers
Prajakta More Ogilvy One Dubai Copywriter
Benjamin Schwartz Ogilvy One Dubai Senior Account Manager
Jeffrey Martin, Gavin Farrell Sphericam, Panogs Camera Technicians
Arturo Camacho, Ursula Canchaya Ogilvy & Mather - Peru Project support
Gary Rolf, Naz Yunt, Dylan Kidson, Marc Cruzem Memac Ogilvy Dubai Creative Team
Luke Morris Magnet Executive Producer
Brian Mullany HIBRIAN Studio Sound Engineer
Ameya Gupta Magnet Editor
Ryan Gonsalves Freelance Editor
Tim Francis, Kojo Abban Great Guns Ltd. Producer
Omar Hilal, Laura Gregory Great Guns Ltd. Executive Producer
Ahmed Tarabily Great Guns Ltd. Editor
Quim MIquel Great Guns Ltd. Director of Photography