Launching a brand with human stories advertorials

The Challenge

Corteva Agriscience launched as the world’s largest standalone agricultural organization, bringing together expertise in crop protection, seed science and sustainability. With a new brand to introduce, the company needed to establish credibility and purpose with two very different audiences:

• External stakeholders: Commercial farmers, supermarkets and SMEs worldwide, who wanted to know what Corteva was doing for agricultural producers and consumers.

• Internal audiences: Senior executives and sales teams, who needed to understand the company’s capability, offer, and vision for the future of food.

The challenge was to launch with impact, blending scientific innovation with human storytelling, and to do it in a way that would cut through to global business leaders while also engaging employees and partners across the world.

The Solution

We designed a dual-content strategy, combining documentary filmmaking with immersive technology to bring Corteva’s brand to life.

• A Global Documentary Film Series: We produced eight short films that connected Corteva’s scientific innovations with the human stories of farmers, researchers and communities worldwide. Filmed on location in Spain, the US, Kenya, Brazil, Thailand and Tanzania, the series spotlighted both technological progress and lived experience.
  • In Kenya, we profiled farmer Edith Adembesa, who more than doubled her crop yield with Corteva’s support, improving food security in her community.
  • In the US, we followed Technology Development Lead Jillian Foerster, who develops solutions to help growers produce more food on less land.

The films were broadcast as advertorials during Corteva’s sponsorship of the BBC World News series Follow the Food. They also aired on Bloomberg and Canal, were hosted on Corteva’s digital channels, and reached a global audience through a variety of online and broadcast platforms.

• An Augmented Reality Experience: To engage senior internal stakeholders, we developed a narrative-led AR tool that transformed complex science into a hands-on, exploratory experience.
  • A branded plot of local soil at launch events served as the “stage” for virtual content, with digitally rendered plants growing from the earth.
  • Using handheld devices and wearable speakers, users could explore interactive stories on topics such as drone farming, gene editing, and precision crop monitoring.
  • The experience blended immersive audio with visual storytelling, allowing users to literally “walk through” Corteva’s innovations.

The AR app was later expanded for independent use by sales teams and adapted for recruitment fairs, enabling Corteva to demonstrate its technology to both clients and future talent without the need for physical staging.

Value Created

The combination of documentary filmmaking and immersive AR ensured Corteva’s launch was not only seen but felt, leaving a lasting impression on diverse audiences.

• Global visibility: The advertorial series reached audiences worldwide via BBC World News, Bloomberg, Canal and Corteva’s own digital platforms, linking the brand directly to conversations on climate change, sustainability and food security.
• Authentic storytelling: By putting farmers, researchers and communities at the center, the films humanized a corporate brand launch and built trust with external stakeholders.
• Innovative engagement: The AR experience replaced traditional corporate presentations with a dynamic, interactive format, helping senior leaders and sales teams understand Corteva’s offer in a memorable way.
• Scalability: The AR tool evolved into a sales and recruitment asset, expanding the life of the investment and allowing broader use beyond launch events.

Corteva’s launch established the brand as both a scientific leader and a human-centered partner in global agriculture, setting the stage for ongoing storytelling that continues to reinforce its purpose of enriching the lives of producers and consumers.