Who knew a campaign centered around the word “SHhhhhhh!” would speak so loudly? Apparently, the judges at the Summit International Awards did. They awarded adHOME with the honour of Best of Category Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award, and we’re both proud and humbled to take home this coveted hardware for a campaign that yielded results beyond expectations.
Excellence and Prestige
The Summit International Awards are among the most prestigious awards that recognize excellence in the communications and marketing industry. Specifically, the Marketing Effectiveness Award is based on what the Summit judges call The Big Idea, which refers to the strength of the creative approach as it relates to the audience and the product. Other criteria include strategies to overcome barriers, whether the campaign moves the audience closer to action through creative execution and strategic planning, and also on how effectively the campaign influences, changes or reinforces the knowledge or beliefs of the audience. Earning the distinction of Best of Category is a special honour.
Lessons in Bovine Health
Our client, Boehringer Ingelheim, is a global organization in the business of animal health. They challenged us to create a campaign to raise awareness of a condition that occurs among dairy cows and to promote their product Bovikalc, which helps to mitigate symptoms. We learned that up to 78 percent of dairy cows are impacted by something called subclinical hypocalcemia (SH) after they calve. SH is caused by the loss of calcium through the consumption of milk and colostrum. SH is difficult to detect and often discovered late when cows are already suffering. Our job was to boost awareness of SH and to promote the routine use of Bovikalc as a preventative measure at the time of calving.
Our Custom Solution
We dug in. Through brainstorming and strategizing we came up with a creative plan that proved to be a winner. Our approach was to tell the story from the perspective of a cow. The visual would be a close-up of a cow’s head looking straight into the camera with a headline that read, “SHhhhhh”, playing on the acronym for the condition and the well-known sound we use to get people to stop talking. This strategy positions the cow as the victim and therefore has immediate appeal to the target audience—dairy producers—who see themselves as the caregivers of their cows. It underscores that cows cannot speak and if they are not attended to, they can suffer in silence. That silence could translate into not only illness for the animal but losses for the producer in the form of veterinarian bills and/or reduced milk production, which translates into decreased profitability.
Comprehensive Media Coverage
Our campaign covered multiple channels including, print, digital, direct mail, microsite and promotions. The digital plan covered pre-roll videos on YouTube, bumper ads, SEO and SEM tactics. We also launched a supporting promotion to drive sales. When a producer purchased a case of Bovikalc they received a prepaid gift card.
Impressive Results
The campaign helped to increase Bovikalc sales during the promotional period while significantly increasing market share in key provinces across the country. A total of 1,200 producers participated in the promotion—approximately 10 percent of the total audience.
We’re happy to give this Best of Category Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award pride of place among our other awards, and we’re especially pleased to have had the opportunity to partner with Boehringer Ingleheim on this successful campaign.
