Forbees

Background:
When people think of bees, they think of honey, not high finance. But wild bees are the invisible engine behind global industries: pollinating over 75% of the crops we rely on. Everything from food and fashion to medicine. Despite this, their populations are in steep decline, while most people don’t even know they exist. Bee:wild, a global campaign from Re:wild, set out to change that. The brief: make wild bees famous. Show their value. Inspire action. And do it in a way that grabs attention, educates, and activates people.

Creative idea:
By contributing billions of dollars to the economy every year, you could say that bees are one of the most influential businesses in the world. Yet they are not on the cover of Forbes among the most influential people. So we put them there. A full-page ad, not in but on the cover of Forbes. We show the most influential person, but this time its a wild bee The message: “They run the biggest business in the world. But they are about to go out of business”

Strategy & insight:
Wild bees contribute an estimated $150 billion to the global economy each year. Without them, global systems would collapse. There is no other company or business that brings that amount to the table. So actually, bees are the biggest business in the world. It’s unbelievable that they don’t get credit for that. Even worse, that people don’t even know this. Yet if they go out of business, everyone will feel the consequences. It’s time the bees get credit for their hard work, and people become aware of their actions. We’re doing that by placing them on the stage where all the most famous, influential, impactful people are: the cover of Forbes. Or this issue Forbees. This approach flips the script on nonprofit campaigns by putting a nonprofit center stage of the high finance and economic world. We’re talking business. People need to take it seriously and understand what’s at risk. Reaching them through an unexpected channel with a massive reach and has big shareability/PR value. Especially for Gen Z. This bold approach and realness is exactly what they want to see.