Going into the 2018 Farm Progress Show, Corteva Inc. (dba Corteva Agriscience) faced a challenge so extensive that it seemed nothing short of a magical intervention would surmount it. The provider of seed, crop protection, and digital agriculture solutions had just emerged from one of the biggest mega-mergers in history: the unification of Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont de Nemours Inc. But unlike these behemoth brands, Corteva didn't amount to a hill of beans among the show's audience of farmers, seed distributors, crop producers, and agriscience affiliates, as almost none of them had heard of the newly minted organization. But to better understand how a $21 billion firm had zero name recognition at one of the largest outdoor trade shows in the United States, it helps to examine its roots.

In 2015, the merger of Dow and DuPont resulted in an uber-conglomerate valued at $130 billion, i.e., DowDuPont. However, this union was just the first footfall in a multistep process. Over the next few years, DowDuPont stakeholders reorganized the whole shebang and ultimately split all products and services into three companies.

While this dissolution didn't take place until June 2019, DowDuPont announced the upcoming trio of born-again firms in February 2018, namely Dow Inc. (managing commodity chemical production), DuPont de Nemours Inc. (offering specialty chemical production), and Corteva Inc. (handling all things agricultural). Absorbing products formerly owned by Dow and DuPont, Corteva encapsulated more than 300 brands in the United States. Among them was one of the most well-known and well-respected names in the industry: Pioneer.

So as the 2018 Farm Progress Show approached, Corteva marketers were tasked with not only generating awareness for the new, unknown firm but also creating an emotional and symbolic link between it and the veteran Pioneer brand, the latter of which would likely lend some credence to the industry tenderfoot. And due to booth-space purchases made prior to the dissolution announcement, both Corteva and Pioneer had their own outdoor exhibits – comprising 14,600- and 18,000-square-foot spaces, respectively – located 930 feet apart. That's the equivalent of more than three football fields, and given the unification objectives, it's the stuff of marketers' worst nightmares.

A Long Row to Hoe
Corteva's conundrums, however, were as prolific as dandelions. A sort of state fair for agriculture, the Farm Progress Show is held in an enormous field in Boone, IA, a locale that among other things can make high-tech presentations a bit of a sticky wicket. The three-day show sells tickets (a mere $20 for adults) – as opposed to distributing scannable badges – to view the roughly 500 exhibitors spread across 90-some acres. Visitors comprise around 150,000 people from more than 40 countries, most of whom only attend for one day as opposed to all three. This audience includes everyone from high-ranking reps of agriscience affiliates to entire farming families who often bring their RVs and set up camp. Bottom line: This isn't your average exhibition with its run-of-the-mill problems.

"Since the distance between exhibits at this show is often measured by tenths of a mile, simply getting people to trek to and into your space takes considerable doing," says Doug Mertz, CTSM, communications manager at Corteva. Also, the badge-less nature of the show means exhibitors can't collect lead information or track attendance by traditional means. "And whatever we do has to keep our family-focused target audience in mind," Mertz says. "Therefore, we usually need to provide a mix of education and entertainment if we want to please all of our booth visitors."

This "edutainment" combo was critically important in 2018 because in addition to introducing the new company and linking it with Pioneer, Corteva hoped to educate attendees about all the products now under its proverbial roof. And whatever tactic the firm ultimately chose had to be sufficiently entertaining to draw in attendees and make them stay long enough to soak up both the brand story and product information.

As Corteva sat down to brainstorm solutions, Mertz and his team also sought an option that could cultivate massive awareness before, during, and after the show. They wanted the Corteva name to be known far and wide, not just within the relatively spacious confines of the Farm Progress Show. And nothing spreads the word wider and faster than media coverage. "To generate the kind of awareness we were after, we had to lure in media outlets and prompt them to tell the Corteva story on our behalf," Mertz says. "Our efforts had to make the news."

Jumping to Illusions
That newsworthy solution turned out to be a little bit magical as well. After weeks of brainstorming, Mertz met with Scott Tokar, a trade show magician and the founder of Corporate-FX whom Mertz had enlisted to entertain and educate attendees in previous exhibits. Together they hit upon an enchanted idea that seemed to tick all the necessary boxes: a human teleportation illusion.

"Magic is experiencing a sort of renaissance at the moment," Tokar says. "Shows like 'America's Got Talent' and 'World's Greatest Magic' have brought magic to the forefront and given it a cool factor once again." So the duo reasoned that a magic performance might be just the type of family-friendly incentive to bring people into the exhibits. To further unite the stands, they deduced that a teleportation illusion would seal the deal. Thus, the pair began planning a magic performance – offered multiple times during the show – whereby Tokar would teleport his assistant from the Corteva booth to the Pioneer exhibit. Live video links in each booth would relay the action happening in one stand to those seated in the other, symbolically fusing the spaces and brands. After the performances, staffers would offer scientific and product presentations to the captive audiences.

To up the ante and increase the newsworthiness of the performances, Mertz and Tokar also decided to attempt a world record for the longest teleportation illusion via Guinness World Records Ltd. "We knew that by leveraging the power of the Guinness brand, we could attract the attention of both attendees and the media and likely score scads of awareness before and after the show," Tokar says.

Pre-emergent Fertilizer
Leading up to the show, Mertz and Tokar planted high-yield promotional seeds to draw attention to the activation. First, they met with the show's public relations team to discuss the Guinness world-record attempt. "Reps loved the idea and quickly realized that it gave them a talking point for the entire event," Tokar says. "As a result, they infused practically all of their planned promotions – which included various regional and national TV media interviews – with news of our record-setting endeavor." So before the show's entrance gates swung wide, news of Corteva's activation was already spreading like kudzu.

Next, the pair leveraged a show-offered jumbotron sponsorship that would enable them to blast out Corteva content throughout the event. They planned to position one 12-by-16-foot screen outside each of the exhibits, where they would display branded videos, a magic-presentation schedule, a list of product- and scientific-presentation topics, and live coverage of the performances. The team would also place a third screen near the show's entrance and a fourth on the demo plot, where crowds regularly gathered to watch farm machinery in action.

Meanwhile, they brought a Guinness rep on board to guide them through the detail-heavy process of setting a world record. An official, Michael Empric, would also be on site for the first performance to verify compliance and hopefully present Corteva with a plaque commemorating the achievement.

And of course, Tokar and Mertz had to mastermind the illusion itself. While they won't reveal the magic behind their machinations, the experience required ample technological wizardry just to develop the live feeds during each activation. "We had to establish a point-to-point wireless network in the middle of a cornfield," Mertz says. "There was minimal infrastructure compared to a convention-center environment, which meant that in order to make this work, we needed to bring in tons of technical equipment, not to mention extra generators and AC units for the tents."

To accommodate the presentations, they enlisted designers with Hamilton Exhibits LLC (creators of the Corteva exhibit) and Coppinger Exhibits Inc. (designers of the Pioneer booth) to prep a 1,600-square-foot theater space in each structure. The theaters featured bench seating along with plenty of overflow space for standing attendees and multiple 90-inch screens showing the live feeds.

A Moving Demonstration
Despite the labor-intensive preparations, both Corteva and Tokar were ready to take the stage on the show's opening day. Starting at 9:30 a.m., anticipatory music began playing in each stand, and staff started directing attendees toward the theaters. Shortly before 10 a.m., all screens sprang to life with live content. In the Corteva stand, Tokar, his assistant, and various officials (required by Guinness to validate the legitimacy of the record-setting attempt) appeared in person while screens at the front of the theater in the Pioneer booth showed a video feed of the Corteva stage.

At 10 a.m. Tokar took the stage, which featured a 7-by-4-by-5-foot box with two open sides. After briefing guests about the upcoming experience while also sprinkling in Corteva and Pioneer messaging, he asked for a volunteer from the audience. Once on stage, the volunteer accepted a playing card from Tokar, who instructed him to tear off a corner of it. Tokar then asked a Guinness official to verify that the two pieces fit together perfectly before handing the remainder of the card to his assistant.

Next, Tokar and the volunteer hopped in a waiting golf cart and sped off toward the Pioneer booth, as the screens in both stands switched to a video of the pair en route. After a quick drive, during which Tokar touted the Corteva and Pioneer connection, the duo made their way to the Pioneer stage, where a similarly sized box with an open side had been placed. All the while, the live feeds tracked the action.

Once on stage, Tokar instructed his assistant (back in the Corteva booth) to climb into the box and show the cameras that she still held the playing card with the missing corner. Once she and the card were inside, another assistant threw a drape over the box, concealing the woman. At the same time, Tokar lowered a shade on the front of his box to obscure its interior. After a dramatic pause and on the count of three, the assistant in the Corteva booth tossed back the drape to reveal an empty container while Tokar simultaneously raised the shade on his box and exposed his assistant, who was still holding the playing card. Awestruck, audience members in both tents erupted in applause.

After crawling out of the box, the assistant matched her card with the corner piece held by the volunteer while the Guinness official verified that the pieces matched. Finally, the crowd cheered as Tokar and his team accepted a plaque from the Guinness crew commemorating the world-record-setting experience.

Following the roughly 12- minute-long performance, a brand rep in each stand offered a brief product-related presentation to the rapt audience. "And by then, what started out as a crowd of about 100 people per stand had swelled to closer to 400," Tokar says.

After the initial record-setting illusion, Corteva planned to repeat the experience for a total of 12 performances throughout the show. However, a dangerous storm blew in after the 10 a.m. performance, causing the show to shut down for the rest of the day. "We really lucked out because the Guinness official was only available for the 10 a.m. presentation and left immediately thereafter," Tokar says. "The show closed by 11 a.m., so if we hadn't performed at 10 or if any-thing had gone wrong, well, things wouldn't have ended well for us."

You Reap What You Sow
Thanks to Mother Nature, Corteva hosted the magic act a total of nine times instead of 12. However, it was still able to generate a healthy yield of results. Without show badges, Mertz tracked Corteva's in-booth giveaways to devise traffic estimates and concluded that combined attendance for both stands exceeded 25,000. Along these same lines, Tokar purports that each performance drew at least 100 people to each tent. With the nine presentations, that's a minimum of 1,800 people, almost all of whom spent 20 minutes or more bathed in brand messaging.

During the show, Corteva also took to the social-media airwaves, promoting the illusion on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Mertz hoped to gain twice as many impressions as the event's total attendance of roughly 150,000. All told, however, Corteva's efforts scored 584,000 impressions, 89 percent over Mertz's goal.

But perhaps most importantly, 29 reporters representing international, national, and regional media outlets conducted 37 interviews with Pioneer reps and 24 interviews with Corteva leaders, crafting critical awareness for the brands. For example, sites and publications such as AgriMarketing, Growing Alabama, and even Inside Magic posted full articles about the experience. "Normally we'd be satisfied with 35 to 40 quality interviews," Mertz says. "Reaching 61 exceeded our expectations."

Plus, the experience was plastered across TV news coverage thanks to the show's promotional efforts. "Show reps appeared on many local and regional stations to promote the event before and during the show," Tokar says. "And almost every rep mentioned our exhibit as a main draw for the event, so we secured some serious airtime."

What's more, the illusion is listed in "Guinness World Records 2020," the latest iteration of the annual book Guinness puts out to honor its record setters. Available at countless retail outlets, the book extends Corteva's name-recognition opportunities far beyond the show and well into the future. "Talk about reach," Mertz says. "The book allows us to generate awareness not just now but for years to come."

The world-record-setting performance proved to be the magic elixir to conjure traffic, awareness, and excitement for both brands. It seems for Corteva, the words of writer Ronald Dahl hold true: "A little magic can take you a long way." E