How BayerCropScience Created the World’s Corniest Album… Literally
Something you might not know about corn farming is that the key to a great harvest lies in healthy roots. Yes, it makes sense on paper - what kind of plant doesn’t need healthy roots to thrive - but specifically in this case, it not only allows the corn to better utilise water and nutrients, but serves as an anchor point in the soil, making it less susceptible to being dislodged.
However, they’re also not the easiest to care for. Being below the ground and all, they’re a prime target for hungry pests, which traditionally made stopping them difficult, and monitoring their wellbeing even moreso. To this end, Bayer CropScience (Bayer) recently released SmartStax PRO, which uses RNAi technology to interrupt the creation of life-essential proteins when ingested by corn rootworms - a surefire way to keep the crops healthier and, well, with their roots uneaten.
To celebrate the peace of mind that comes with not worrying about corn roots, Bayer, creative agency McCann Canada and Grayson Music teamed up to literally showcase the sound of healthy roots, albeit in country album form. Titled ‘Roots Remastered’, the six-track, first-of-its-kind creation came to life via captured electrical biorhythms from healthy corn roots, which were then converted into MIDI sequences from which songs could be written.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with McCann Canada executive creative director Brian Allen, senior copywriter Jon Dick, senior art director Olivia Hashka, the team from Bayer, and Grayson music and sound directors Mark Domitric and Lowell Sostomi to explore how this bountiful campaign came to fruition.
LBB> What was the brief for this campaign, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Bayer> The brief for this campaign was to launch the new product, SmartStax PRO, with the need to create buzz and awareness of the trait. McCann Canada, as our agency of record, was ready to take this on!
Brian>: Corn rootworm is a major problem for farmers. It attacks underground roots, and that causes a lot of stress. Bayer’s solution to the problem was SmartStax PRO. So, our challenge was figuring out how to get farmers to see the benefits of biotechnology that works underground. Well, we immediately thought of some above-ground product demos showcasing how the pest is killed, but none of them really made an impact.
Lowell> The brief captured my interest immediately - it was a fresh approach that had the potential to share something unique with the target audience. The McCann team’s excitement surrounding the brief was palpable, and for us at Grayson, making a record was a dream project! (Personally, I am a classic country music fan, so the brief spoke to me on that level as well!)
LBB> So what made creating a music album out of corn electrical biorhythms the right way to promote it, in this regard?
Jon> We asked ourselves, ‘If corn farmers can’t see the product working, what if they could hear it?’. From there, we did some research and found out that all living beings (corn crops included) actually produce electrical biorhythms. So, we realised we could work with an audio house to convert those raw electrical notes into a six-song country music album. Corn farmers didn’t have to see SmartStax PRO create healthy corn roots - they could just listen to music made from them!
LBB> Creatively, where does one start with an undertaking like this? And how did you work to capture the sounds of the roots?
Olivia> Honestly, we didn’t know if this was even going to work. So, we immediately tapped Grayson Music Group to work its magic. We took a field trip with them to a Bayer research farm that had a SmartStax PRO corn field. There, Grayson tested the audio of healthy corn roots and compared them to unhealthy corn roots - massive difference! The healthy corn roots were alive and exciting, while the unhealthy roots were dissonant and flat.
Mark> Honestly, it wasn’t immediately clear how we would be able to translate the scientifically gathered source material into anything musically interesting, nor was there any early indication that the process could be authentically creative from a songwriter’s perspective... and that’s why it was such an ambitious, unique and exciting task for us.
Lowell> To actually record, we utilised a device that converted the plants’ electrical signals into MIDI notes and also simultaneously created generative music with its own algorithm. We found that the music it was outputting was far more useful to us in the writing process than the raw MIDI data. So, we collected a curated selection of music samples, which all had a very ethereal and new-agey quality to the arrangements.
LBB> And from there, how did you approach the composition?
Mark> We recorded the audio and divided it up into six unique inspiration packages for each writing team, so everyone would have different sounds to work with. Each recording was a tonal swatch the songwriters could play aloud in their studio and play along with to find hooks, melodies, rhythms, keys and tempos that would inspire their songs. Some riffed on a guitar, imitating the melodies and chords they heard in the biorhythms, others sat at the drums and tried to find a beat that the tempo of the source material was implying, and some just sang non-verbally looking to find a melody with the biorhythms as a backing band.
Lowell> From the generative music clips that were collected, two unique samples were distributed to each artist. The intention was to provide the songwriters with two sources to draw inspiration from. Each songwriter would then have to reimagine these abstract pieces as country songs and rework them into an entirely new musical genre.
When I first heard my selected sample, it immediately informed the tempo, rhythm and key of my song-to-be. I started to strum along with it on an acoustic guitar and was able to map out a few different chord progressions based on the information that the plant had provided. The song began to take shape quickly once all those elements were established.
LBB> Notably, you worked with several singer/songwriters on the composition process. Who all was involved, and what made them the right choices for the job?
Lowell> It’s no straightforward task turning a very abstract piece of ambient-style music into a believable song with lyrics. This is why it was crucial that everyone involved not only be Canadian, but have a deep understanding of the country genre.
Mark> Specifically, the composers were selected based on our familiarity with their genre proficiency, as well as their interest in being involved in such a wild brief (they were all VERY interested to be involved):
- Jeff Milutonivic (composer) and Lowell Sostomi (singer) - ‘Can't Uproot Me’
- Mark Domitric (composer and singer) - ‘When The Day Is Done’
- Lowell Sostomi (composer and singer) - ‘Long Dirt Road’
- Andrew Austin (composer and singer) - ‘My Own Road’
- Gavin Gardiner (composer and singer) - ‘Planting Seeds In the Sun’
- Chiara Young (composer and singer) - ‘Love Grows High’
LBB> Specifically, why did you take a lyrical approach to these songs, and what was the writing process like?
Mark> The lyrics were inspired by the field recordings (ambient sounds recorded on-site at the corn field) and our growing understanding of the agricultural lifestyle, leading to a running ideas list that we shared as a group to make sure we weren’t covering the same ground. ‘Can’t Uproot Me’ is wry and fun-loving, riffing on playful corny puns. ‘Planting Seeds In The Sun’ is more reverent, using setting and imagery to evoke the agricultural experience. ‘When the Day is Done’ closes the album, celebrating the results of hard work and that moment of reprieve and reflection that harvest season brings. We organised our lyrical ideas chronologically - the songs telling the story of a full agricultural day-in-the-life, from morning to night - and this was a continuous play album, meant to be enjoyed as a whole.
Lowell> The intention behind our lyrical approach was to make a genuine connection with our audience. We wanted agriculturalists to be able to relate to the material and feel represented by it. The writing itself was a process where each artist found their own unique perspective on the topic of corn cultivation and the lifestyle surrounding that. The lyrical content in the songs ranges from fun and playful to very earnest and sincere.
LBB> And what was the recording process like? How did it come together?
Mark> Surprisingly, every songwriting team was immediately inspired by this unique approach and had almost too many ideas to start with. We shared ideas as a team, continually assessing the integrity of the process (i.e. making sure the melodies and chords and drum beats actually came from the field recordings). ‘Long Dirt Road’ features a powerful steel pedal guitar part that sounded almost exactly like the lush and leisurely biorhythm samples it used as source. ‘Love Grows High’ features corn stalks playing a classic country drum pattern as its main back beat and found its chord structure in the harmonies offered by the corn data. ‘My Own Road’ has baritone vocals that hum peacefully along like some of the low frequency patterns in the biorhythms, and was inspired by the ambient foley recordings heard in its intro.
Lowell> We all enjoyed bouncing ideas off each other, sharing works-in-progress, and even singing/playing on each other’s tracks! We also integrated percussive elements that were recorded in the field (corn stocks cracking, leaves being rubbed together, etc) which added an organic quality to our productions. Overall, this created the cohesiveness that was necessary to make these individual recordings feel like an album.
Fun fact: we also decided to use the field recordings we captured to create a soundscape that served as the backdrop for the album, as well as connective tissue between each song. In the beginning, you hear the sounds of morning and a rooster crow. By the end, you’re left with the sound of nighttime crickets.
LBB> The campaign was supported by a live corn concert! How did that go, and how did you work to make that element come to life?
Olivia> We knew we needed to launch the campaign in a big way. So, just like a band goes on tour, we did too. We kicked-off with a live corn concert at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock (Ontario). Instead of a band, a crop of 15-feet tall corn took centre stage, and 40,000 people showed up to listen to ‘Roots Remastered’. Similar to real concerts, we gave out merch like vinyl records, t-shirts, and beer koozies. It was all gone in hours!
LBB> The campaign also received full 360 support, including OOH and the aforementioned merch. What was the design process like for these elements, and is there an aspect you’re especially proud of?
Brian> It was a lot of fun! Our designers took classic cues from the country music genre to create all kinds of posters, shirts, and giveaways. The challenge was figuring out how to make the designs feel fresh, interesting, and really evoke country music without it feeling, well, corny. Ultimately, we were really proud of how it turned out. Specifically, we love the design of the vinyl album cover.
LBB> What lessons have you learned in the making of this campaign?
Olivia> Don’t know if you heard, but corn makes music… really good music!
Mark> Briefs that require solutions that are initially elusive can be the most enjoyable and creatively satisfying projects to be a part of, and finding that solution is all about patience, teamwork and good energy.
Lowell> I learned that plants can make great co-writers!
LBB> How does this campaign fit into Bayer’s branding for 2023 and beyond?
Bayer> An internal initiative for us at Bayer is ‘Launch Excellence’, ensuring that when launching new products, we provide them with a range of support as we bring them to market and engage with our target audience meaningfully. So, this campaign highlights the benefits of that.
Beyond that, there has been positive feedback from internal staff, our sales force, and our customers. We continue to see people posting pictures of the t-shirts they won at the Farm Show, and listening to the great tracks on the album.
