Fylde firm in £1m TV adverts campaign

Lytham-based VetPlus, is investing in the TV marketing campaign in what it describes as an industry first.

It focuses not only on their product Synoquin, which treats pets’ joints, but also on the importance of visiting local vet practice for advice.

It said with an estimated 20.7 million people expected to see the advert over an eight week period this month, it was an unprecedented level of investment for a nutraceutical company.

Phillipa Chadwick, Head of Marketing said:“We believe that not only is this the first time a nutraceutical company has invested in TV to this level, but it is certainly the first time that a manufacturer has directly promoted the concept of visiting your local vet to a national TV audience.

“At VetPlus we live and breathe our company philosophy of being “100 per cent dedicated to the independent veterinary practice” and as such it was critical that this formed a key part of our campaign.”

She added that a recent survey showed that in 2016, 42.9 million, equivalent to 87.9 per cent, of adults in the United Kingdom use the internet and 75 per cent go online for human health information.

"While precise numbers are not available for the animal health market, we know that similar trends are resulting in increased pressure on the vet practice as footfall moves to internet retailers.

“We have, and will always, help our vet partners in their fight against these online opportunists.

“The Synoquin campaign aims to readdress that balance, and to highlight to pet owners that the vet alone is best placed to offer advice.”

David Haythornthwaite, VetPlus chairman said: “This is a really exciting time for VetPlus and this campaign will take our support of the veterinary profession to the next level.

“We have worked tirelessly over the past 20 years to get to this milestone and I can’t wait for the campaign to start.”

VetPlus has 32 trading partners worldwide.