Bega launches the ‘Purple Hive Project’ to protect Australian bees via Thinkerbell
Bega Cheese Limited (Bega) has launched a new honey product, B honey. Created with creative agency Thinkerbell, B honey is focused on the proposition ‘it all starts with a bee’. Inherent to B honey is a commitment from Bega to support the honey bees. To this end Bega and Thinkerbell have developed and launched the ‘Purple Hive Project’, an innovation designed to try to ensure the viability of the Australian honey industry, not just for B honey, but for all honeybee pollination dependent industries.
The Purple Hive Project is an AI enabled, solar-powered hive capable of detecting the Varroa Destructor (a type of Mite), a small yet devastating parasite that is decimating bee colonies around the world. The Mite is also known to transmit viruses amongst honeybees.
Currently Australia is the only inhabited continent on earth without Varroa Destructor, and monitoring of the Mite is currently a painstakingly manual process.
Says Adam McNamara, executive general manager, Bega Foods: “When we began to develop B honey, we realised the significant threat facing Australia’s honey industry. It was clear to us that we needed to invest in technology and innovation to support the future of our honeybees, Australian beekeepers, and in turn, Australian agriculture.”
The Purple Hive works by scanning each individual bee that enters the hive. The AI algorithm can tell the difference between a bee carrying the Mite and a bee without. If a Mite is detected, an alert is instantly sent which provides an opportunity to stop the spread of the Mite.
Says Tom Wenborn, executive creative tinker at Thinkerbell: “It’s been inspiring to help a company like Bega walk-the-talk in terms of their commitment to protecting the goodness of the land. We’ve been lucky enough to help build the B honey brand, and Purple Hive Project from the ground up and glad we’ve together found a meaningful way to help Bega protect the viability of the honey industry in Australia. Ensuring it was feasible, and getting it made has been a hugely collaborative effort working closely with Xailient, Vimana Tech, and Honest Fox. We’re really proud to see it live and running.”
Says Margie Reid, CEO of Thinkerbell: “We are exceptionally proud of this work and working with Bega Foods though this amazing project has been hugely rewarding for the team. It’s great to work on a purpose-driven idea that not only expresses the brand, but also helps protect the industry for years to come.”
You can read more about the initiative at purplehiveproject.com.au or watch the ABC Landline segment here.
The B honey range is now available at Coles.
Bega Cheese Limited
Adam McNamara – Executive General Manager, Bega Foods
Matt Gray – Head of Marketing, Bega Foods
Keri Morrison – Brand Manager, Bega Foods
Michelle Nguyen – Assistant Brand Manager, Bega Foods
James Coleman – Marketing Manager – Digital & Communications, Bega Foods
Hannah Saliba – Brand Communications & PR Manager, Bega Foods
Thinkerbell
Cale Berry – Creative Tinker
Nikia Shepherd – Head Thinker
Rosie Burke – Thinker
Adam Ferrier – Chief Thinker
Sam Butcher – Insights Thinker
Tarah Miller – PR Thinker
Margie Reid – CEO
Ben Couzens – Chief Creative Tinker
Tom Wenborn – Executive Creative Tinker
Lee Miglino – Legal Liaison
With the assistance of
Xailient Pty Ltd
Vimana Tech Pty Ltd
Honest Fox Pty Ltd
45 Comments
Really impressive innovation.
Amazing work guys 🙂 This is really one to be proud of!!!
Looks like a PWC idea that you tried to find a brand for.
wow
Of course the technological innovation is laudable. But this piece is a documentary, not an ad. An ad has an idea, which means you can condense all that talking head waffle into a brief but powerful communication. This is nothing more than a segment on Landline or other ABC lifestyle program. It’s too long to run as a TV ad purely on financial grounds.
It never refers to itself as an ad. It’s a project delivered by a brand. And it’s way more useful than an ad.
this is great.
Something Capilano should have started doing years ago; stop making generic beekeeper ads which could literally be from any primary industry, and start talking about Bees. The fact that Bega can come in and do something so distinctive and smart with very little category equity speaks to the vacuum that Capilano has created with myopic marketing.
That’s actually amazing Cale! You’re on a roll.
I saw the word ‘project’ and thought ‘fuck me, another scam’, but well done and fair play to anyone who can get essentially an ad onto ABC Landline.
exactly!
+1
When will brands realise generic, formulaic advertising messaging doesn’t work anymore.
Capilano should have done something as purposeful as this. Like Haagen Dazs did years ago.
Nice work Bega and Thinkerbell.
yeah nice one hopefully this has a tangible impact
i like it
How many hives are being distributed around these ‘high risk entry points’? Or just the one for the Cannes entry?
Oh, wait
A lot of food based ads coming out this week. Devondale, that chicken one, honey. Personally I think the Lilydale Chicken ad will have the biggest impact.
This is when I get excited about advertising.
I hope this has some impact. We’re the last continent without the virus – it’s really bloody important that we do something.
If it’s real it’s bloody impressive.
You were spot on (smart) Alex.
This is great.
I think this is sensational. As one previous poster said, please don’t be an idea for awards only like clever buoy, funderwear, brain band and that horse shit piece of work Colenso did for VW where they changed 2 dashboards to have fake kids’ drawings on them. Adam? I trust you to save our bees.
A quick bit of research and it’s clear this was made by a Tech Company: https://www.vimanatech.com.au/about
Can you confirm Thinkerbell’s involvement was to create the branding and packaging for the honey and a nice website?
Hi @please thanks. the idea was born from someone passionate about the bee issue with a strong understanding of it. It’s been a labour of love and it’s perfect for B honey Launch. . Loads of people have gotten unloved to help make it work.
It would be nice if it’s viewed with the integrity it deserves. Watch the Landline piece for more insight into how it works etc. thx for your comment.
Why have they made it look like a Cadbury ad?
It’s all purple as thats the colour of B honey…..and purple is the colour that bees are most attracted to (wow they really have thought this through). PS Cadbury doesn’t compete in honey.
So… neither Bega nor Thinkerbell had anything to do with the concept, development or funding of this hive… they’re just piggybacking it to sell honey that wasn’t even produced in it either? Righto.
“the 3d printed hive has integrated 360 degree camera and an AI algorithm”…
The irony is delicious:
https://cumminsandpartners.com/cre/worlds-first-crowd-sourced-3d-printed-qr-code-live-streamed-via-go-pro-to-a-smart-phone-or-tablet-device-drone-delivery-ticket-system-project/
The idea of using AI imagery for identification of bees/varroa has already been created by these fellow bee lovers: https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2019/11/27/beewise-tests-robo-hives/
So while Thinkerbell may not have conceived the idea, they’ve stretched the concept in a nice way and perhaps made it more accessible for existing bee keepers? Either way hopefully the concept gets adopted widely, as it’s an incredibly important issue and one that needs addressing.
This one goes straight to the advertising gizmo pool room with all the others- brain band, small world machines, clever buoy, the land cruiser beacon thing, and the list goes on. Not one of these things ever becomes real or useful. Invisible in the real world, famous in the ad world. We really must stop awarding this stuff ad trophies soon, for our collective integrity.
It’s nice, it seems very similar tech to what they use on the shark drones, identifying species etc. only repurposed for bees. Whoever thought of it first in beeland or sharkland or wherever, well done. But its hardly world-class advertising and we all seem too easily excited by all that sparkles.
I agree with @everyone
Let’s hope it works better than the CovidSafe app.
this idea is great. the visual link between the awesome idea and the clear and identifiable packaging is bang on. the only thing missing is an ad to connect the two together because that landline segment isn’t going to cut it. as it stands right now, there’s no reason anyone that anyone outside of this blog and a few landline viewers would reach for the purple honey on the self.
I really miss the days when we’d just try and sell a shitload of honey.
This is not a peg that tells the weather. Nor is it a pepper grinder that promotes conversation. Nor is it a speculative toy pretending to ward off sharks.
It’s seemingly a legit innovation with the company and industry fully behind its development. Our industry should be proud of such innovations.
And that’s the last we’ll ever see or hear of it again.
Is the Varroa Destructor (a type of Mite) similar to Vegemite?
Hi all, Thinkerbell came up with the idea and along with Bega oversaw the execution with some wonderful tech exact companies, they also worked hand in glove with Bega on all branding elements. The Purple Hive plays an important and enduring role for B honey.
and what of the documented proof of the harmful effects of 4g of the bees???
Great innovation now link it to a laser and shoot any mites off the bees if it kills that bee in the process so long as it gets the mite all is Good why use chemicals
The Varroa mite does not exist in Australia, according to agriculture.vic.gov.au
I hope you brilliant innovators and scientists, boards and regulators are across this. A similar, less ‘sophisticated’ device is / was used as pest and rodent detractor with varying success. A friend of mine recently took a very odd picture of a fly…
Put it on the block chain!!:-)
Where can I find out all the details for the purple hive project, how it works, availability & price , any info would be greatly appreciated, Thankyou.
Ken
Where can I get one of these, I can’t find them anywhere?