Building trust between an animal health company and the cattle producers it serves.

BEST OF LARGE ANIMAL CATEGORY & GOLD – NAVC VETTY AWARDS

3 FIRST PLACE AWARDS – REGIONAL BEST OF NAMA AWARDS

THE CHALLENGE

Today’s cattle producers are smart, savvy and well-versed in the products they use to keep their herds healthy. But they don’t always know who is behind the products they trust. They just know it’s one of those “big pharma” companies – and they all seem to blend together. We wanted to help producers associate their favorite brand names with Merck in order to create an infrastructure to drive overall loyalty initiatives and provide a halo effect for new product introductions.

THE HUMAN INSIGHT

An audit of competitor companies revealed they largely play in two areas – feeding the world and the science of animal production. But research also showed neither of these messages fully resonated with U.S. cattle producers. To be both differentiated from the competition’s position and also effective, we needed to connect on an emotional level that was supported by science.

THE IDEA

Rather than follow the lead of other animal health companies, we seized the opportunity to differentiate Merck by demonstrating empathy and understanding for the producers’ unique challenges, operations, lifestyle and legacy. Enter Merck Animal Health Works.

To generate internal buy-in, we created brochures and custom floor mats for each member of the sales force.

It wasn’t producers’ job to find us. We needed to be proactive and “rope them in” through an aggressive media plan.

THE RESULTS

While the numbers speak for themselves, it’s nice to hear it straight from our audience. Comments include: “They know the industry they are serving” and “They are trying to solve health problems that affect our bottom line.” True on both accounts.

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