Client: Merial New Zealand
Entry: Eprinex Weather Station
Category: Consumer Programs

Merial New Zealand's challenge to August Dean Promotions was to come up with a value-added product that could be used as part of a promotion to drive sales of its premium-priced cattle drench, Exprinex, in a highly competitive market.

The product needed to have strong appeal and a practical use for the farming community. Merial wanted a product that was reliable, modern, easy to operate, functional, and small enough to be delivered nationally with minimum distribution costs.

The aim of the promotion was to increase sales in the peak winter sales period (June to July) by giving consumers an extra reason to buy its brand over its lower priced competitors.

 The product needed to emphasise the key benefits of the Exprinex brand including its unique all weather use.

August Dean recommended a weather station because of its practicality and its relevance to the target market for whom predicting the weather was vital.

The Model chosen was a highly innovative product. It had yet to be released to the market and actually ended up having its first trial via the Merial promotion

The client said....

"The success if this promotion and the impact of the value-add used was so successful to Merial and it's Exprinex brand that trying to convey this success in a few paragraphs doesn't fully do justice to it, as a result of this success, the use of this model and value-add is being considered by Merial offices in other parts of the world".

Alastair Nelson
Product Manager
Merial New Zealand