White Cross Vets, a group with 11 surgeries in the Midlands and the North of England, has picked up two Veterinary Marketing Association awards at an event usually dominated entirely by big pharma.

The group was joint winner of Public Relations Award, alongside Bayer Animal Health.

White Cross Marketing Manager Justin Phillips also walked off with the Young Marketeer of the Year award, fighting off competition from Elizabeth Rawlings from Dechra and Beverly Hammond from Animalcare Ltd.

The practice group won the PR Award for a campaign in which it managed to generate a massive amount of media coverage for the business primarily by spotting a good opportunity, and acting quickly to make the most of it.

The story began last July, when a man spotted an exotic-looking bird walking around Guisely, near Leeds. When he tried to capture the bird, it told him to 'bugger off'. Undeterred, he picked it up and took it to White Cross Vets. Once the vets had examined the bird to make sure it was in good health, White Cross instructed its PR agency to begin a media campaign to reunite the animal with its owner. The resultant story generated over £145,000 worth of branded coverage in local and national media, including the Daily Mirror, Metro, the Yorkshire Post and ITV.

By contrast, Bayer Animal Health's winning campaign, which ingeniously used LED lights strapped to snails to bring the lungworm story to life, was nevertheless the product of month's of planning and what would have been a considerable budget.

The judges felt both entries were impressive in completely different ways, so a draw was the only option.

Picture shows, left to right: Heidi Bruckland (Pegasus), Emma Swain (Pegasus), Helen Moore (Markettiers4DC), Marcus Edingloh (Bayer), Luke Hopkins (Pegasus), Caroline Braidwood (Bayer); Jane Manning (Splash); Tim Harrison (White Cross Vets); Justin Phillips (White Cross Vets)

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