The main challenge was to create an event that would involve all 30,000 different guests (employees and their families from all the German sites) into actively participating in the event. With the highest degree of guest involvement possible. Always putting the individual employee into the focus. While also showing the multitude of facets of “Bayer-ness”.

The event was thus to include several “choreographies” of people from different Bayer sports associations and social clubs. And always put people at Bayer into the focus, in personal stories as much as in grand activities. “We are Bayer”: a tangible, authentic and pervasive experience.

When Bayer wanted to celebrate its 150th anniversary together with its employees it was “appreciation the Bayer-way”, that the 30,000 Bayer employees and their families from all over Germany were to experience. Based on the Mission Statement “Science For A Better Life” this “better life” was to be in the focus, in a celebration that strengthened the sense of togetherness, of the “we”, and made this community tangible.

Thus, it could not be a mere “frontal show”, but instead this feeling of “we are Bayer” was to be experienced throughout the event, by every one of the 30,000 guests.

Three grand activations formed the core: all 30,000 guests 1) sang the Bayer Anniversary song 2) performed a percussion show of Bayer’s heartbeat 3) formed the largest “living” Bayer cross.

The unique “Bayer-ness” was taken up in interviews with Bayer sport stars, couples, who had met at Bayer, people at Bayer working for charities etc.

Furthermore, the integration of 1,500 volunteers from different Bayer clubs, as helpers, dancers, musicians and standard bearers made “we are Bayer” credible.

The message behind this was well received: the different stories behind the people at Bayer made everyone feel part of the Bayer community.

The many enthusiastic statements such as “Pure Adrenaline”, “an unforgettable moment”, speak for themselves. They were embedded in the intensive press coverage (German regional and national media, such as ARD, WDR, RTL, overall print coverage of 21,069,152), in internal Bayer media (world-wide print run of 165,000) and also left their impressions in the many postings by participants on the official Facebook site (with an impressive live coverage of 150,000) – which the Head of Corporate Communications referred to as “candy storm”.

The reactions show that concept achieved its goal: created a sense of belonging, and made “We are Bayer” tangible.