Leptospirosis and Lyme disease were once primarily a risk for rural dogs, but with the effects of global climate change, both have spread from rural to suburban and urban areas. When assessing the risk for their patients, location and lifestyle as the two primary factors. However, with the increased propagation of these diseases, risk factors have changed. Veterinarians believe they are vaccinating the right dogs for lepto and Lyme, but compliance data shows they are under-vaccinating.

In a category inundated with traditional marketing and with two products that are nearly 20 years old, Elanco needed a truly disruptive idea to highlight the threat, inspire urgency about the spread of these two deadly diseases, and educate vets on how life-saving vaccines ULTRA Duramune® and Duramune Lyme®can help.

Our goal was to create powerful brand activation at the world’s largest gathering of pet experts - the Veterinary Meeting & Expo.

Due to the effects of global climate change, the deadly diseases leptospirosis and Lyme Disease were suddenly spreading faster than ever before. What was once only a problem for rural dogs was now spreading into urban centers. To help save canine lives around the world, Elanco needed to promote the use of their vaccines, ULTRA Duramune® and Duramune Lyme®. But capturing the attention of veterinarians who have been bombarded with traditional advertising messages for decades would take a truly disruptive idea.

So we asked vets to do the unthinkable — become a perilous disease and infect the dogs they are sworn to protect — in an 8-bit VR game called PET THREAT. By having vets play the game from the perspective of these deadly diseases, and take an active role infecting dogs, we educated them about the rapidly changing threat and helped them realize it’s much closer than they think.

Our primary audience was veterinarians with 15 years or more of experience, who own their practice and share their expertise with others.

These veterinarians are primarily female private practice owners. The people they hire in their clinics are dedicated to creating the most caring experience possible for every patient. Their primary motivation is doing what is best for each pet’s well-being and educating owners along the way.

For years, they’ve been bombarded with traditional advertising messages about leptospirosis and Lyme disease vaccines, and they are wary of reading yet another pamphlet with the same information.

We chose VMX for the concentration of our audience, knowing they make many planning decisions at the event. But to truly engage our target audience, we chose a VR execution for immersion and interactivity, giving us access to veterinarians’ undivided attention.

We brought Pet Threat to VMX with the goal of creating a truly disruptive idea that would capture veterinarians’ attention in a way traditional messaging could not. VR was selected for two primary reasons: Immersiveness and interactivity.

By immersing veterinarians in the fun and unique world of Pet Threat, we were able to change minds during 5 minutes of their undivided attention in a crowded trade show setting - something no pamphlet could ever do.

Through interactivity, vets were forced to play the role of a deadly disease. With an experience so antithetical to their profession, the message was incredibly memorable and drew further attention.

Pet Threat’s design took inspiration from classic 8-bit Nintendo titles. This aesthetic was chosen to evoke lighthearted nostalgia and to stand out among the more traditional look of other brands. We utilized Elanco’s existing color palette to merge the game world with its brand standards.

Through an interactive intro sequence, we educated vets about our message and placed them in the role of the diseases. Gameplay featured three-pixel art worlds representing places the risk has spread - a suburban pond, a backyard and an urban dog park. For each, we designed and animated every pixel, including six dog breeds, flora, fauna, and the arms of the diseases from the player’s perspective. Choosing a pixel-art style allowed us to physically replicate Pet Threat’s game world to scale in a 100-square-foot trade show booth using game graphics. Sound design, music and voice took inspiration from classic video games and was digitally treated to evoke 1980s gaming experiences.

The game was programmed, designed and executed on Oculus Quest using the Unity Game Engine in three months. We utilized three consecutive VR stations over five days at VMX. The experience is now being scaled for 22 clinics nationwide.

Veterinarians left the Pet Threat experience with smiles on their faces, new facts and new attitudes about compliance - revitalizing curiosity around two 20-year-old vaccine brands.

At the end of VMX, 574 games were played, translating to 2,870 minutes of uninterrupted, undivided brand engagement with our target audience, generating an incredible number of email sign-ups and huge lead generation opportunities.

Over the course of five days, 47,691 8-bit dogs were infected. But 3,391 were protected by ULTRA Duramune® and Duramune Lyme® in the game, emphasizing Elanco’s life-saving message.

Following the event, Elanco sales representatives immediately requested copies of the game for in-clinic use. In the subsequent weeks, 3,720 Pet Threat emails were delivered, with an incredible average open rate of 26%.