Case study
An inside look into Bayer’s award-winning brand relaunch campaign
Business challenge
German pharmaceutical company Bayer is known across the globe for its healthcare and biomedical products. The brand has a vast product portfolio consisting of various brands, one of which is Talcid, an over the counter (OTC) antacid used to combat heartburn.
Most OTC drugs are advertised using generic graphics and storylines, which end up churning out the same cookie-cutter look and feel. Because of this homogenization, many ads face difficulties with differentiation.
Recognizing the power of creative excellence, Bayer decided to break with convention and revamp the Talcid brand.
The goal was to cut through the clutter and build awareness among younger audiences. After all, heartburn can happen to youngsters too. Bayer created two creative campaign concepts and leveraged MetrixLab’s creative testing solutions to test and optimize the most impactful concept and ultimately deliver maximum ROI.
Our approach
A structured test-and-learn culture was implemented throughout the development process. This began with identifying the strongest creative idea. For this, we used ACT Immerse, our AI-powered solution that uses early-stage stimuli like text, visuals, storyboards, and audio, to get real-time feedback. The winning concept was then refined, after which the ads were developed in line with the planned media placement.
The next step was to pre-test the ads within their respective media contexts. ACT Copy, our pre-testing solution for (near) finished assets, delivers a complete diagnostic of ad performance against platform-specific benchmarks and offers strong guidance on optimization.
The results of the ACT Copy study revealed that although the ads had high response rates, ad breakthrough was minimal. This was for a few reasons: the creative hook lacked clarity, the ad focused more heavily on the character than the brand, and some graphics were hard to follow. We wanted to air only the strongest ads, as they generate 3x more uplift than weaker ads. Therefore, further optimization was needed.
The finished creative was then tested with ACT Instant, our fastest pre-testing solution that combines AI-powered algorithms and human expertise to provide insights in less than 2 hours, without the need to interview respondents.
Results
Based on the results of the ACT Copy study, we provided Bayer with actionable insights on improving the ad, like leveraging the hook to capture attention and ensuring the value proposition is clearly expressed. Upon testing the finished creative with ACT Instant, we noted an increase in breakthrough across Instagram and connected TV (CTV).
Fast forward to a year later, and we see a significant uplift of Talcid compared to pre-campaign performance. While the campaign only effectively reached 19% of the target audience – as overlaps between channels reduce the campaign’s net reach – recognition of assets scored above expectation. The campaign was widely celebrated within the creative community and won multiple awards at the New York Festivals awards, Healthcare Advertising awards, and the ADC awards, to name a few.
The campaign’s success motivated Bayer to apply the same methodology to their future campaigns.
What Bayer told us
“To raise awareness among younger people for the Talcid brand, we have developed the concept idea ‘Talcid Acid Town’. Since this is a completely new communication approach for us, we have also completely redesigned the market research design. MetrixLab has perfectly supported us from the briefing phase with the communication agency, through the development of test stimuli, to the final implementation of the communication.”
Said Dr. Stephan Langer, Team Lead, Market Research Bayer Consumer Health.
