Bayer’s new corporate campaign—the largest in its history—turns science into a verb. The effort, “Why We Science,” launched recently with a series of TV ads along with digital and social media to show the value of Bayer products, from healthcare to agriculture, in consumer’s lives.
The campaign is scheduled to run through the next 18 to 24 months with new elements rolling out and work added throughout the run. Out-of-home ads are running in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York airports and in the Washington, D.C., train station, Union Station. Sponsored content partnerships with various media outlets are planned beginning next month.
Two 30-second TV commercials, along with several 15-second spots specific to conditions or services Bayer offers are airing now, including during Monday Night Football and the hit TV show “This is Us.” Commercials previously ran during the World Series’ games one and four. The therapy areas featured so far include heart disease, hemophilia and allergies.
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“People understand who we are and they understand the value of aspirin. What we’re trying to show folks is, let’s celebrate the value of that—it’s a terrific product and considered a halo product for us," said Raymond F. Kerins Jr., senior vice president of corporate affairs at Bayer.
"But let’s also take the opportunity to share all the other great scientific works and advances that we’re doing," he went on, "whether that’s in oncology or hemophilia or looking at what we do on the agricultural side.”
The new campaign follows a previous one that ran around the time of the Bayer and Monsanto merger last year. Called “By Your Side,” it limited airings to CNN and Fox. The success of that effort was part of the reason Bayer chose to go broader this time. In testing around the first campaign, for instance, Bayer found that 59% of respondents felt more favorably toward Bayer after watching the ad.
Bayer’s more than $60 billion merger with agriculture giant Monsanto was approved by the Justice Department in May 2018 and closed in June with the retirement of the Monsanto name.
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While the new corporate campaign highlights Bayer’s science and offerings, it purposefully does not name any products or brands.
“We wanted to show how Bayer understands how the true benefit of scientific advancements is to improve humanity. It’s a big task, so we do it in a way that is real and that is emotional without [mentioning specific products],” said Jorge Moya, executive creative director at Campbell Ewald, the agency behind the campaign.