Only 25% of leadership roles in Brazilian companies are held by women. That figure drops to 10% when we look at the number of women who make it to CEO. Stella Artois has had many women on its Board, but one in particular features most prominently: Isabella Artois, the woman who became the CEO of the Artois brewery in 1726. Women in the corporate world don’t have it easy today, imagine what it was like in the 18th century!

We changed the name Stella Artois for Isabella Artois. And for the first time in 600 years we changed what is considered the world’s oldest logo. An effort to help inspire women through the story of Isabella Artois.

Our target audience was people over 18 living in large urban areas that hold more cosmopolitan and less conservative views on gender equality. Our strategy was straightforward and meaningful: to change the label of the product to honor the woman who played a crucial role in the history of the brand, and who was now present in our product to help inspire other women.

A week before Women’s Day, the special edition arrived at POS locations in São Paulo accompanied by a tag explaining the effort and telling the story of Isabella Artois. Soon afterwards, it was sold all over Brazil through AMBEV’s e-commerce (the brand that owns Stella Artois in Brazil). That week, several influencers received Isabella Artois bottles in a special pack with a personalized letter that also told her story. The influencers were female leaders with a clear position on gender equality and who talked about it on their social channels. Business executives, actresses, singers and TV show hosts, among others. On March 7, one day before Women’s Day, we launched a video showing the new label created by a female Brazilian artist. The video was spread on the social media while Stella Artois changed its name on the brand’s platforms and invited people to do the same and promote the

The idea impacted over 17 million people with more than 650,000,000 impressions. All content posted and generated by Isabella Artois consumers had 96% of positive mentions, a much higher rate than the average when it comes to a thorny issue in such a sexist country that Brazil still is. What’s more, we created an organic movement where thousands of consumers changed their names on their social channels for the name of a woman that inspires them. Just like we did with Isabella. A clear, quick response triggered by our idea, helping bringing a new behavior into Women’s Day. Although this was never about selling more beer, the special edition of Isabella Artois sold out in just one week, with more than 400,000 bottles sold at e-commerce stores all over Brazil.