Merck Animal Health: ZUPREVO BRD Challenge - Signal Theory

Merck Animal Health: ZUPREVO BRD Challenge

How harnessing humans’ competitive natures led to $5 million in potential additional sales.

Knowing that most humans have an inherent competitive drive, we harnessed the power of social comparison and created a custom digital experience to engage cattle producers that attracted a wealth of interactions with this highly targeted audience.

 

 

GOLD – B2C INTEGRATED MARKETING, KCDMA AMBIT AWARDS

FIRST PLACE – DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN, LIVESTOCK PUBLICATIONS COUNCIL AWARDS

THE CHALLENGE


Competition is fierce in the macrolide category of cattle antibiotics. It’s common in this category to show study data comparing efficacy and other claims. The market leader, Draxxin, has long used its position to “own” higher efficacy. Merck and Signal Theory saw an opportunity to change the conversation by connecting with producers through the problem. And, in doing so, expose the Zuprevo brand to more people and in a way that would create not only higher awareness but also consideration by moving them into a lead nurturing funnel.

THE HUMAN INSIGHT


Research shows that humans are hardwired to be competitive, originating as a survival tactic when resources were scarce. Today we see that manifest in the human need to obtain more – knowledge, profit, success. Stockers are particularly competitive as they work to turn high-risk calves into high-value calves, competing for reputation and profitability. We wanted to tap into this inherently competitive spirit through an experience that would challenge them while also providing valuable information about Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) that helps them manage better and achieve more value from their cattle.

Take the BRD Challenge text over stylized ranch landscape and a photo of Zuprevo branded cap.

THE STRATEGY


Merck and Signal Theory used this insight to create a knowledge challenge targeted primarily at stockers where they could test their understanding of BRD and its management. Additionally, as they learned more about BRD, we wanted to position ZUPREVO as the solution.

Screen shot of your quiz results and high scores overall.

Building a challenge offered several key benefits around which the final experience was strategically designed: 

  • Recurring visibility to the ZUPREVO brand over an extended period of time, strengthening its association with the issue of BRD 
  • Lead generation through incentivizing those who participated to exchange more detailed information for a branded hat; leads were then added to the CRM for further communications 
  • Greater understanding of producers’ knowledge of BRD and where there are knowledge gaps, which informed educational messaging for later communications 
  • Gamification of the experience to drive competitive spirit and repeat visits 
  • Flexibility of the design to allow updates and additions to encourage repeat participation as producers attempt to move up the leaderboard

At the onset of the project, we defined key performance indicators in order to guide the experience design. These KPIs were participation rate and completion rate/form fills based on audience size and vendor benchmark data. 

Illustration of a ranch landscape with fence, buildings and cattle.

THE RESULTS


In five months, the results from the promotion and quiz execution exceeded initial goals for participation.

CLICK THROUGH

140%

exceeded industry benchmarks by 40%

LEAD CONVERSION

44.5%

completed quiz and form

ESTIMATED SPENDING POTENTIAL

$4.97M

for ZUPREVO in new leads

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