2018 Winners & Shortlists

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/.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

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.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

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 came together virtually, to watch 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.