MSD Animal Health approached markettiers4dc to promote the announcement of the world’s first vaccine for Schmallenberg Virus across UK TV and radio news programming. The midge-borne disease, which causes lambs and calves to be stillborn or born with deformities requiring them to be put down, had been having an increasingly devastating effect on UK farmers for 18 months.
markettiers4dc had just 2 days to simultaneously develop an effective broadcast strategy and brief the media, and so worked closely with the client to develop the key assets to maximise UK-wide broadcast coverage. This included setting up affected farmers in each region to be available for interview, and filming at the Royal Veterinary College Farm, including interviewing the organisation's key spokesperson and MSD's Animal Health's Vet Manager, to produce B-Roll to supplement TV reporters' own filming.
MSD Animal Health made full use of markettiers4dc's studio facilities, doing interviews with Radio 4's Farming Today, Radio 5 Live Breakfast and a host of regional BBC and commercial stations. Farmers were also set up to talk direct to stations and specific farming websites.
13 BBC and ITV regional broadcasters covered the story at least 50 times between them. Eight filmed reports on location with case study farmers, while several used the soundbites and vaccination footage from the B-Roll, taking it by a feed from the markettiers4dc's studios or downloading it from a special ftp site.