Despite a raging pandemic, IFF Health and its recently acquired HOWARU® Probiotics brand wanted to reach emerging direct-to-consumer ("DTC") dietary supplement brands and co-manufacturers with a story of innovation and hope. Many of these companies were new to the market and not aware of HOWARU® or the full health and wellness portfolio available from IFF Health. IFF Health thought it could inspire the audience to succeed and innovate in a competitive market with its futuristic vision of microbiome health and wellness.
RIVET helped IFF Health capitalize on the home field advantage that virtual engagement provides, designing an immersive, seven‐hour virtual event that created an unrivaled brand experience. The event helped bring the HOWARU® brand portfolio to life, using live moderation, gamification and content filmed from 11 unique, global locations. More importantly, attendees connected with the approach because it was educational, not promotional. Sessions focused on trends and challenges as well as future innovation, addressing challenges and providing a road map the emerging brands could follow to launch a successful microbiome health and wellness business.
The clear draw was the 12 speakers – not just IFF’s internal SMEs, but industry icons like Brenda Watson, CEO of Vital Planet; Alan Murray, former CEO of GoodBelly Probiotics; and numerous other prominent scientists and innovators in microbiome health and wellness. The event also emphasized brain health and women’s health, two trending categories that have huge potential for growth. IFF Health also unveiled Calm – a recently published clinical solution to combat perceived stress and brain health.
The company promoted the virtual summit with a campaign that described the powerhouse agenda and transfixed the audience with stunning microbiome images using an electric color palette. It challenged prospects to “UNLOCK THE POWER OF EMERGING MICROBIOME WELLNESS,” through a package of weekly emails (four before, three after), targeted LinkedIn ads, a press release, social media, text, phone, and sales outreach. IFF Health’s goal was to secure 100 attendees.
The event shattered previous expectations, exceeding the goal by more than a third, with 287 registered prospects and 137 unique visitors actually attending. And while there were no sales metrics, the lively discussions and probing questions from the audience indicated a level of engagement the company felt was truly epic. Plus, new prospects continue to engage with the virtual summit on-demand, prolonging the shelf life of the content (and its ROI). Press buzz helped position IFF Health and HOWARU Probiotics as a thought leader in the health and wellness space. The program was so successful, in fact, that multiple virtual events are planned as part of HOWARU’s continued brand awareness strategy.
