Marketecture Podcast Summary

Episode: Bayer’s Alexis Gossard & Lisa Perez Reveal the One A Day Brand Transformation at Marketecture Live
Host: Ari Paparo
Date: November 24, 2025

Overview

This dynamic Marketecture Live episode offers a deep dive into the recent transformation of Bayer’s One A Day multivitamin brand, featuring insights from Lisa Perez and Alexis Gossard of Bayer Consumer Health. The discussion focuses on the end-to-end rebranding effort, strategic pivots in media and messaging, the challenges of maintaining salience in a cluttered wellness market, and using cutting-edge data analytics and AI for targeting and measurement. The tone is candid, detailed, and pragmatic—showcasing behind-the-scenes thinking and practical examples of organizational change.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Brand Challenge & Market Backdrop (00:58–07:23)

• Legacy & Challenge

  • One A Day is the #1 US multivitamin brand but faces declining sales due to:
    • Rapidly evolving wellness landscape and DTC competition
    • Brand messaging inconsistencies
    • Over-reliance on lower-funnel media, hampering brand salience
    • Broad target audience making precise marketing difficult

• Brand Fundamentals Reset

  • Bayer revisited its “brand hive”—core principles rooted in consumer perception.
    • “Made for you, for life” became the guiding brand essence.
    • Focus shifted back to what consumers value: suitability for every stage of life.
  • Transitioned from science-heavy, generic messaging to:
    • Demonstrating emotional, functional, and experiential value
    • Streamlined, cohesive visual identity and packaging for easier consumer choice
    • Emphasis on simplicity and clarity at-shelf and in media

"Our messaging strategy was kind of all over the place... What makes this brand great is that we have a product for everybody—but that makes this brand difficult to market if we’re marketing to everybody when people want to be marketed to specifically."
— Lisa Perez (02:35)

Integrated, In-House Media Pivot (07:23–14:49)

• Full Cross-Functional Involvement

  • Integrated teams including media, insights, analytics, finance, and commercial strategy
  • Each business line (e.g., Women Under 50, Prenatal, Over 50, Kids) now gets a distinct creative brief aligning with the overall strategy

• Consumer & Data-Driven Insights

  • Consumer focus groups and data analytics led to key media and messaging insights
  • Example: Discovered One A Day shoppers over-index on watching football, leading to targeted Sunday Night Football ad buys

• Evolving Media Strategy

  • Balanced mass awareness (TV, CTV) with granular targeting (social, programmatic, geo-clustering)
  • Strategic expansion beyond the prior focus on women under 50 and kids to include all core business lines

• Emphasis on Measured Outcomes

  • Shifted focus to “new-to-brand” KPIs and household penetration as primary success metrics

"As a big brand, video is still a massive part of our strategy... but also you can be more specific."
— Alexis Gossard (10:15)

"Bayer Consumer Health’s mission as a company is the road to billions. So we want to be in more households across the country."
— Alexis Gossard (12:30)

• AI-Powered Targeting
  • Partnered with Chalice for AI-driven pilots to optimize “new-to-brand” reach
  • Geo-clustering used to concentrate spend where growth potential is highest based on advanced analytics

Creative Execution & Media Mix Innovation (14:49–19:20)

• Balancing Existing and Prospective Customers

  • Media plans are designed to introduce One A Day to new users while smoothing transitions for current customers (e.g., new packaging)
  • In-store media (retail media) key to reinforcing changes at the point of purchase

• Channel Experimentation & Testing

  • Emphasized need to test channel shifts before larger rollouts
  • Social and video assets are purpose-built for their platforms, with successful creative migrated from organic to paid when appropriate

• Unexpected Creatives

  • Noted an authentic, less-polished social asset outperformed more traditional creative—a testament to the need for continual testing

"Sometimes you just don't know what's going to work well in social. And that goes back to testing it out. And if it is terrible, you can always pause it."
— Alexis Gossard (18:47)

Looking Ahead: Extending the Transformation (19:20–21:05)

• Platform & Audience-Specific Content

  • Continued expansion of content tailored to both age group and media channel (e.g., more for 50+ in Q1)
  • OOH advertising (e.g., Penn Station takeovers) and healthcare professional KOLs added to the mix

• Tentpole Moments & Brand Salience

  • Timed campaigns for “New Year, New You” and Back to School seek to maximize relevancy
  • Multi-pronged channel approach fosters both acquisition and retention

Notable Audience Q&A (21:05–24:30)

Deciding When to Pivot on the Fly (21:10–22:42)

"It's always art and science... But I also think you've got to be courageous to pivot if you need to."
— Lisa Perez (21:47)

• Be clear on KPIs—don’t chase every trend, but be ready to capitalize on evidence-backed opportunities
• Let results “marinate”; most key marketing ROI is only available monthly or quarterly, not real-time

Prenatal Targeting and Media Choices (24:11–24:30)

• Question on why TV/CTV wasn’t used for new prenatal creative despite advanced targeting capabilities
• Response: Historically aligned with broader, upfront TV buys but open to future CTV experimentation

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Lisa Perez on the brand’s key essence:

  "…When we talked to consumers, they always said, ‘This is the brand for me.’ …We really leaned into that… which is made for you, for life." (05:37)

• Alexis Gossard on integrated teams:

  "…I get to sit in on meetings about financial forecasting, commercial strategy, promotion retailer, you name it, I’m part of the conversation… you can bring ideas to the table that are outside your roles and responsibilities." (07:32)

• On unexpected social wins:

  "I hated this… What is that noise?… But they insisted that we run it and now it’s the top performing asset." – Alexis Gossard (18:15)

• On organizational change:

  "…For large brands and a company like Bayer, I’m quite impressed at how we’ve become more nimble." – Lisa Perez (16:51)

Important Timestamps

• 00:58–07:23: Lisa Perez outlines the One A Day brand challenge & repositioning
• 07:23–14:49: Alexis Gossard details execution, analytics, and media strategy shifts
• 14:49–16:51: Integration of customer retention and acquisition in the media plan
• 16:51–19:20: Creative testing and early campaign performance
• 19:20–21:05: Future plans, new content pipelines, and OOH initiatives
• 21:05–24:30: Audience Q&A on decision-making for pivots and prenatal targeting

Summary Takeaways

• Brand transformation at scale demands ruthless clarity on the brand’s essence and value across all touchpoints.
• Integrated, agile teams—especially with in-house media—enable speed and accountability.
• Smart use of data, technology, and continual pragmatic testing are replacing outdated “one-size-fits-all” approaches.
• Even legacy brands must blend traditional and dynamic tactics to remain salient and grow household penetration.

This episode is a playbook for marketers on strategic consistency, cross-team collaboration, and the balance between big-picture branding and real-time media optimization.