Rugby star turns brand ambassador
Animal health company Virbac is teaming up with rugby star and farmer Scott Barrett.
The Choose Black marketing campaign was developed to showcase Virbac New Zealand’s locally made mastitis treatments.
At the start of the 2016-17 season Virbac targeted the lactating cow intramammary market where rival products had been used for many years.
By the end of the 2016-17 season, Virbac’s Penclox 1200 High Potency Milking Cow was the number-one lactating cow intramammary in NZ, in both tube and dollar terms1, rising from 14% market share in 2015 to 35% in 2016.
Virbac dairy product manager Travis Marsh says the title Choose Black was born out of the products being presented in black boxes, “which is synonymous with NZ-made, the All Blacks and all things Kiwi.
“ Kiwis are renowned for our love of rugby, so it was deemed important to appeal to our audience by using rugby connotations, a take on cartoon characters around in the 70’s & 80’s, and of course the dairy cow. These elements were used in print/digital/television advertising and print material aimed at both vets and farmers, to encourage the inclusion of Virbac mastitis products on prescriptions and to remind farmers to use the products throughout the season.”
Penclox 1200 High Potency Milking Cow is a world-first formulation combining the antibiotics pencillin and cloxacillin into one lactating cow intramammary treatment. These two antimicrobials are the first choice to tackle the two most common mastitis pathogens in NZ, Strep. uberis and Staph. aureus, meaning one product can be used throughout the entire lactation period.
Virbac was selected as finalist in the marketing category for Choose Black and the innovation category for Penclox 1200 High Potency Milking Cow.
At the awards night on November 3 the team were announced winners of the marketing category, missing out on the innovation award, but excited for Tag IT technologies, who took it out for their Halo farm system.
“This was a team effort, involving all 70 Virbac New Zealand staff, past and present, from sales, to logistics, to operations. This award solidifies our achievements and is proudly displayed in our office.
“We discovered in October this year that Penclox 1200 High Potency Milking Cow remains the number one lactating cow intramammary in both tube and dollar terms.
“Special thanks goes to the vets and dairy farmers that supported the Choose Black range of mastitis treatments, and continue to do so, we couldn’t do it without you.”
