The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2025–2026
A fertilizer brand sent farmers on soil-matched farm stays
Tra Mongkut's Soil Stay takes soil samples as payment and matches farmers to model farms; Spikes Grand Prix, Cannes Gold.
Tra Mongkut Fertilizer
The solution
Thailand's 13 million farmers work land that years of intensive farming have depleted, and most lack access to soil knowledge. A fertilizer brand could respond by pushing more product; Tra Mongkut instead asked what the land itself needed.
For a decade the company built Thailand's largest soil database, covering over 300 soil types, plus model farms that test the best techniques on each profile. Soil Stay opened that infrastructure to farmers: they pay with a soil sample, are matched to a model farm with the same soil, and spend the off-season resting and learning methods proven for their exact land.
The program reframed the brand from supplier to partner in sustainable farming. More than 10,000 farmers registered for the next phase, and the idea won the Spikes Asia 2026 Grand Prix in Creative B2B plus Thailand's first Cannes Lions 2026 Gold in the same category.
Why it worked
- Soil samples as payment created a data flywheel that improved matching
- Learning was tailored to each farmer's soil, so advice was actionable
- The off-season stay respected farmers' time instead of asking for more of it
- Jury recognition showed the reframe from seller to partner was the idea
What can be applied
If your business depends on customers' assets, invest in the asset itself: teaching customers to be better makes them buy better — and stay.
Aftermath
More than 10,000 farmers registered for the program's next phase; VML Bangkok's work won Spikes Asia 2026 Grand Prix in Creative B2B and Thailand's first-ever Cannes Lions 2026 Gold Lion in Creative B2B.
Sources
- Tra Mongkut Fertilizer, VML launch 'Soil Stay,' Thailand's first data-driven farm-stay program
- Cannes Lions 2026: How VML Bangkok's 'Soil Stay' cultivated Thailand's first Creative B2B Gold Lion
- VML Thailand Named Thailand's Agency of the Year at Spikes Asia 2026 with Grand Prix Win
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