One in every three bites of food comes from pollinators (Like bees).

As everyone well knows, the last few years have been unpredictable. No category was safe from market changes, inflation, and consumer uncertainty. As a result, Justin’s parent company tightened the pursestrings on marketing budgets in 2023. We had one shot for a paid media effort that would draw attention to the brand, drive sales, and, importantly, bring attention to Justin’s CSR efforts, particularly those committed to saving pollinators.

Challenge

The task: surprise and delight consumers with a big brand action that would bring Justin’s delicious nut butters and confections top-of-mind and educate them on what the brand is doing to save the bees and how they can help. Barkley had to remind people that Justin’s is a must-have not just for its delicious products but because they’re helping Justin’s have a positive impact every time they buy a jar of almond butter.

Modern Consumer Insight

Consumers increasingly prioritize brands that share their values and infuse more good into the world. This attitude, combined with general economic unease, placed Justin’s in an interesting spot: as a premium brand, they weren’t about to enter the price race, but they could compete on our values of making the world a better place.

Solution

What better way to get someone to sit up and pay attention than to put them in a situation where they wonder what is happening? So that’s exactly what we did. Using the fact that one in three bites of food come from pollinators like bees, and the shocking statistic that bee populations are declining at a rate of 39% each year, Barkley devised a hidden-camera stunt at a one-night-only pop-up restaurant. Unassuming diners came in for an exclusive meal, during which waiters removed one-third of everything that was served to them. Would you like a glass of wine? How about two-thirds of a glass of wine instead? A steak? Sure, but let us just take that section there. We captured diners’ reactions as they grew more bewildered until it was finally revealed during a dessert of Justin’s peanut butter cups that we were taking one-third of their meal as an opportunity to teach them about the plight of pollinators.

To spread the word beyond just one group of diners, Barkley cut the captured footage into short-form teaser videos placed on paid social and YouTube, driving to a new microsite we built: JustinsNutsAboutBees.com. The website housed educational information about what pollinators are, why they’re important, and the steps Justin’s is taking to help save them — and, of course, a long-form video showing our full restaurant stunt and people’s reactions. The website also included an entry form for a pollinator-friendly garden makeover giveaway for those willing to take Justin’s Pollinator Pledge.

Results

62MM
social media impressions.
196K
website visits.
17K
give-a-way entries received.
91%
of traffic to the campaign landing page was driven by paid social efforts.

“Honeybees are responsible for more than 35% of the foods we eat, and our team recognizes how connected and critical these pollinators are to our food system," said Penny Andino, vice president of marketing at Justin’s. "We are honored to continue our partnership with the National Honey Board’s Honey Saves Hives campaign for the third year in a row, as we share a common mission of protecting honey bees and our food supply. We’re nuts for bees; collectively, we can help save pollinators.”