Stella Artois and National Geographic collaborated to extend the impact of their "Buy A Lady A Drink" campaign where, for every Limited-Edition Chalice that is sold, Stella Artois will help water.org provide five years of clean water for one person in the developing world. Water is a fundamental human need, yet 663 million people around the world today live without access to safe water. This problem disproportionately affects women and children, who spend millions of hours a day collecting water instead of working, caring for family or attending school.
The goal of the program was to:
Stella Artois and National Geographic designed a social-first 360 campaign that educated, inspired, and empowered consumers to take action.
Here's how we did it:
Seized the Moment with World Water Day
National Geographic and Stella Artois centered the campaign around World Water Month, seizing on the opportunity to contribute to a global conversation at a time when people were paying attention.
On World Water Day, March 22, 2017, we drove global awareness with a full takeover on National Geographic's social channels. A total of 30 photos across five of National Geographic's Instagram channels, 10 posts across four of National Geographic's Facebook channels, and a Snapchat takeover all featured editorial content, photos, captions and statistics about global water issues.
Also on World Water Day, Stella Artois and National Geographic announced "Our Dream of Water," a documentary by Crystal Moselle, highlighting the effects of the global water crisis and illuminating the real lives of women across Haiti, Peru and Kenya and their daily struggle to find clean, safe water. The hour-long documentary premiered on National Geographic Channel.
Captivated Audiences with Native Social Storytelling
In an effort to meet consumers where they are, we tailored our storytelling to each platform and channel. We produced two Instagram stories on our hero account that used the power of photography to introduce our fans to the issue, contextualize with facts and statistics, and issue a call to action, all without ever leaving their Instagram accounts. On Snapchat, we created three water-themed editions that aligned the campaign to related editorial content. And on Facebook and Twitter, we took the more traditional approach of sharing editorial content with carefully crafted posts to draw our audience into the deeper stories on NG.com.
Connected to the Cause
Throughout all communications, we integrated the call to action to "Buy a Lady a Drink," providing consumers with an opportunity to create tangible impact with their purchase. For every Limited-Edition Chalice sold, Stella Artois helps water.orgprovide five years of clean water for one person in the developing world.
Created Socially Shareable Mini-Docs to Extend the Impact of Long Form
We extended the reach and impact of the long-form documentary by creating three mini-docs for digital distribution in our Short Film Showcase and social distribution across our footprint. 1) "Amid a Water Crisis, These Women Are Banding Together in Kenya" 2) "Denied Access to Clean Water, Women Fight for Change in Peru" 3) "Haiti's Water Crisis: One Woman Shares Her Story of Perseverance."
Activated Across all Platforms
In addition to social, the campaign extended to digital, broadcast and print. A robust digital headquarters on NG.com served as an aggregating hub—showcasing the program, custom content, infographics, an interactive quiz and driving chalice sales. Homepage takeovers and digital media drove to the digital HQ and Amazon marketplace to drive Chalice purchases. 12 broadcast spots were created to reach viewers, theming including holistic program awareness, World Water Day Month and Day, Chalice purchases, and to promote the documentary. Additionally, two premium positions extended the reach to National Geographic Magazine subscribers.
The Stella Artois and National Geographic partnership garnered more than 200 million impressions, more than half from social media, sparking a global conversation and encouraging personal action through the "Buy A Lady A Drink" campaign. Through the distribution of eye-opening statistics and spotlighting personal stories, the global water issue was made tangible and urgent to the everyday consumer. As a whole, the 2017 Stella Artois and MediaCom "Buy a Lady a Drink," campaign, helped half a million people in the developing world gain access to clean and sustainable drinking water (through US Chalice sales, Trade contribution, and US contribution to global contract).
By planning a campaign in conjunction with World Water Day, National Geographic and Stella Artois contributed relevant content to the WWD conversation and maximized impact. In one day, the WWD social takeover yielded 81.3 million social impressions, over 3.5 million likes, 465K video views, and 12K comments. Additionally, Instagram stories, Snapchat takeovers and social posts throughout the initiative provided 54 million social impressions and saw 1.75 million+ likes.
