• Zoetis
• Vanguard

The Challenge

In a highly commoditized and competitive market, Vanguard was losing market share

Canine vaccines are divided into two main categories: core vaccines, which are required, and lifestyle vaccines, which are opt-in based on a pet’s environment. Because the core vaccine market is so competitive, Vanguard needed a way to break through and promote interest for their industry-leading portfolio. The brand’s existing strength and breadth of lifestyle vaccine options posed the greatest opportunity for growth.

Because lifestyle vaccines are opt-in, we needed to shift brand positioning to include vets and pet owners by:

- Demonstrating to vets the positive impact of increasing lifestyle vaccine uptake
- Educating owners on disease risks and helping facilitate vet and client communication
- Focusing on alternative applications like combination and oral vaccines that make protecting pets easier

Project Snapshot

• Industry
  Animal health
• Category
  Brand Strategy and Integrated Marketing
• Services
  Brand Strategy and Development, Visual Identity (Brand Book, Photography, Iconography), Tone of Voice, Owner Education, Sales Enablement, Clinical Team Enablement, and Digital Outreach

FWD Thinking in Action

Developing a new Vanguard brand

We repositioned and evolved the brand away from the clinical and cold, to a new tone of warmth and connectivity that cut through the noise by being bold and straightforward. We introduced vibrant colors, bold fonts, and playful, humorous imagery focusing on the bond between pets and pet parents. We are now launching the rebrand across channels with special emphasis on pet-parent education and communications.

Why it works

- Focuses on where Vanguard is strong: Breaking through a competitive market to leverage Vanguard’s leading lifestyle vaccine portfolio
- Positions the brand to resonate with vets: Focusing on what matters most to vets, so they feel more confident while treating patients
- Creates connection with pet owners: A balance of empathy, warmth, and educational content builds trust
- Leverages the legacy of Zoetis: Tying Vanguard more closely with the authority and reputation of Zoetis

ABOUT THE WORK

Brand guide
Beginning with a brand activation workshop, we developed a robust brand book for Vanguard that provides guidelines for everything from strategy to photography to typography. In addition to ensuring consistency across assets, the brand book serves as a starting place for creativity and expression.

Owner education
Educational brochures provide detailed information about common diseases, including a breakdown of symptoms, risk factors, and reasons to vaccinate. Using approachable, owner-focused language, these brochures provide critical information that positions Vanguard as an authority in pet health—and helps facilitate vet and owner conversations about vaccination.

Sales enablement tactics
In collaboration with the salesforce, we designed an actionable playbook to support the brand strategy rollout focused on a common language for inside sales reps when speaking to vets about Vanguard’s lifestyle vaccine portfolio. The content fosters meaningful discussions with vets and improves their confidence when proposing lifestyle vaccines to patients.Working closely with the sales team, we developed an actionable playbook designed to support the brand strategy launch. The playbook provides inside sales representatives with a common language for discussing Vanguard's lifestyle vaccine portfolio with veterinarians. This content encourages more valuable conversations with vets and increases the reps' confidence in recommending lifestyle vaccines to clients.

Driving demands in clinic
Eye-catching posters speak directly to pet owners about common diseases that lifestyle vaccines can help protect against. Educational copy is paired with digestible icons to break down what behaviors or environments put some dogs at risk of exposure, and prompts owners to assess and ask their vet what vaccine may be right for their pet.

Clinical team enablement
Designed for clinical use, this sell sheet equips veterinary teams with disease information, evidence, statistics, and differentiating benefits of the vaccine. Calls to action include a nod to the full protection portfolio—and promotes interest for Vanguard’s breadth of vaccination options.

Digital outreach
Emails sent to pet health professionals featured the new brand prominently, speaking directly to their primary concern: protecting patients. Using warm, empathetic copy and charming photography, these emails provided support and solutions that helped vets feel confident, secure, and comforted that both their clients and their reputation are protected. Additionally, paid banner and distributor site ads, along with paid media, utilized the fresh branding to build interest in a new product launch. This content spoke directly to vets, highlighting a key benefit of Vanguard's extensive portfolio: its preparedness to treat any patient, regardless of need.