ANA Winners Series: Bader Rutter's David Jordan
What does it take for modern marketers to challenge convention and elevate how brands connect?
In the rapidly evolving world of marketing, bold ideas and brave execution are what separate the memorable from the forgettable. As we gear up for the 2026 ANA B2 Awards, we're taking a moment to celebrate the campaigns that didn't just win trophies — they set the bar on what the best B2B marketing looks like — work that blends strategy, creativity, and results to drive meaningful impact.
This special Q&A series shines a light on select winners from the 2025 ANA Awards, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the creative risks, strategic pivots, and unexpected moments that made their work stand out.
In this segment, Denise McDevitt, SVP of award programmes at the ANA, connects with Bader Rutter's CEO, David Jordan, to spotlight their award winning work for Zoetis – notably, the brand's ‘Born of the Bond,’ the emotional, documentary-driven brand platform that moved Zoetis from product claims to storytelling rooted in lineage, legacy, and community.
Q> Can you describe the challenges Zoetis was facing that prompted the decision to develop a unified brand platform that sits above its individual product lines?
David> Zoetis was well known for vaccines and medicines, but the master brand wasn't top of mind with US cattle producers. With several cattle portfolio patents nearing expiration, we faced real risk of share erosion to low-cost generics and equivalence claims. A unifying above-brand platform was the only way to build preference that price alone couldn't erode — anchored in a human truth rather than a product feature.
Q> How did you uncover the emotional tension between tradition and innovation in the cattle industry — and why did that insight matter?
David> Our foundational human truth was that producers measure success in lineage and stewardship, not just outputs — creating a daily tension between honouring traditions and adopting innovations to protect that legacy. We got there through ranch visits, producer interviews and stakeholder listening. Bader Rutter also employs farmers and ranchers, so for our team, this is a truth about themselves and their real-life experiences. All that research and insight reframed our task from "promote products" to "champion the people," giving us a human centre for the platform.
Q> What inspired the shift from product marketing to storytelling about generational legacy and community?
David> We codified a simple strategy ladder — human truth to shared purpose to portfolio proof — so every asset connected values to outcomes, not the other way around. ’Born of the Bond’ elevates the producer's role as caretaker and positions Zoetis as part of the generational story of animal agriculture, moving from transactional claims to shared values and community.
Q> How did you ensure authenticity in the docuseries format, especially with such a stoic audience?
David> We let producers speak in their own words, on their own land, with unvarnished moments captured cinematically — a deliberate counter to overt marketing. To signal respect, we set casting and field guidelines: no scripts, real chores at real hours, and subjects who were open to telling their whole story. Each season profiles a multigenerational operation, balancing craft with realism to earn trust with a reserved audience.
Q> What were the biggest challenges in sustaining engagement across a multiyear campaign?
David> Keeping momentum meant building an ecosystem, not a one-off. We planned long-form episodes with short-form cutdowns; toolkits for the field; and event-based premieres that created new entry points each year. Each season introduced a new thematic chapter and KPI set, preventing creative fatigue and letting us test content lengths, episode arcs and call-to-action timing. We also found ways to share up results to leadership and connect the dots from the campaign to the sales trajectory.
Q> How did you measure success beyond impressions — what metrics told you the brand was truly resonating?
David> We used a tiered measurement plan that told a story with data:
Diagnostic (leading) indicators: brand affinity; qualitative sentiment shifts; and Net Promoter Score (NPS) measurements, including Zoetis team satisfaction.
Behavioural signals: episode play-throughs (six million with a 72 percent completion rate on long-form), paid social engagement (80 percent), site pathways, time on content and field tool adoption.
Commercial (lagging) outcomes: cattle portfolio share growth (three percent) and revenue performance, including reads during promo-dark windows.
Just as important, trade coverage and audience feedback described the series as human, respectful and "a love letter to the cattle industry"— evidence of resonance, not just reach.
Q> What role did events like the World Dairy Expo premiere play in deepening brand connection?
David> They turned branded content into cultural moments. Debuting a season on the World Dairy Expo jumbotron in a packed coliseum made producers feel seen; the shared in-person experience sparked pride, social sharing and earned media that no pre-roll could match. We treated premieres as brand-lift accelerators.
Q> How did this campaign impact internal culture and team engagement at Zoetis?
David> It became a rallying cry. With 95 percent internal engagement, teams embraced Born of the Bond as more than a campaign — it informed sales enablement, training and how we talk about purpose. Sales tool usage and message-consistency scores increased year over year, and customer-facing NPS rose in lockstep with external affinity.
Q> What is your proudest achievement related to this marketing effort?
David> Reversing decline during patent cliffs while earning the industry's heart. The platform defended share (three percent cattle portfolio) and gave producers language they now use themselves — Born of the Bond — to describe shared pride and purpose. That's a brand moving culture.
Q> Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently — or something you learned that will shape how you evolve the Born of the Bond platform?
David> We wish we would have done it sooner, but you can't outpace team and company culture. Sometimes movements like this take time and they start inch by inch as you bring teams along, test and learn, and optimise. But, if you get started small, and you find the truth and tap into what your brand already stands for, it can take off like a spark.
Q> What advice would you give to other B2B marketers facing commoditisation or generic competition?
David> Stop treating brand and demand as silos. Build an above-brand platform that creates memory and meaning — and let every touchpoint serve both equity and conversion. Design your measurement like a narrative arc: define leading belief metrics and lagging behaviour metrics so you can credibly claim impact. Finally, embrace selective risks: the unexpected format, the live moment, the longer story — because playing it safe won't break through a category racing to the lowest price.
The ANA B2 Awards celebrate the best of business-to-business marketing — work that demonstrates the power of strategy, creativity, and results to drive meaningful growth. Recognised as the industry's premier B2B marketing honour, the programme spans categories including brand building, demand generation, account-based marketing, and digital transformation. Winners represent the highest standard of excellence, as judged by a distinguished panel of industry peers.
The final deadline to submit work into the 2026 B2 Awards is March 6, 2026.
The B2 Awards Gala and celebration of the best brand marketing will take place at a special evening dinner event on June 4, 2026, at the 2026 ANA Masters of B2B Marketing Conference, in Chicago, IL.. Awards will be presented to top brands and agencies for the top brand marketing campaigns of 2025 across 40 different categories. The event culminates with B2B Marketing Team of the Year, B2B Agencies of the Year, and the Best in Show Award announcement.
To view the full portfolio of ANA Awards, visit here.
