Honey Nut Cheerios is a top performing cereal brand for General Mills. However, in an increasingly competitive environment and changing consumer attitudes towards cereal in general, the brand was at risk of losing significant ground.

To reach millennials, the brand needed to find a way to show that it cares as much about the collective world as it does about selling cereal. The rapidly declining honey bee population, which is responsible for the pollination of one third of fruits and vegetables, became the cause in which the brand decided to position itself around.

As iconic as Honey Nut Cheerios' "Buzz the Bee" is, the brand decided he needed to disappear to make people feel the impact of a declining bee population. So Cossette removed Buzz from the cereal box, drawing attention to an important cause as well as to the Cheerios brand.

However, it wasn't enough to raise the issue without providing a constructive solution. So the brand invited consumers to #BringBackTheBees by registering online to have a wildflower seed pack (which also included a coupon for the cereal and a lawn sign) sent to their house. They could then plant the seeds to provide a food source for the honeybees.

To drive awareness, the agency created an online video, which featured popular clips of people saving animals, and asking the viewers to start thinking about saving the bees. The video launched at garden show Canada Blooms, and though not in the original plans, it also aired on TV based on the online success.

Several children created videos discussing the campaign while sometimes eating cereal. Adults also posted pictures of their cereal boxes, seed packs and flower gardens on Instagram.

Baseline sales increased 11.8% and the brand exceeded the initial goal of 35 million seeds in the first week, distributing a total of 115 million seeds. And the video garnered 10 million views online.