Before the pandemic, FrieslandCampina flew 25 Mexican infant nutrition specialists to the Netherlands each year. These exclusive tours through farms, production facilities and research centres built deep trust in the brand. When travel became impossible, FrieslandCampina faced a challenge: how do you give healthcare professionals the same 'grass to glass' experience without leaving Mexico? Together, we created a virtual factory tour that did not just replace the physical events, it multiplied their reach by 60.
Virtual factory tour as b2b marketing tool replacing costly international travel
360° video experience bringing supply chain storytelling to life remotely
Reaching healthcare professionals without events through digital and physical touchpoints
Full-service delivery: from strategy and creative concept to production and rollout
Proven scalable concept ready for adaptation to other markets
The challenge
How do you give healthcare professionals a meaningful impression of your brand, product quality and supply chain values when international travel is no longer possible?
The solution
A virtual nature and science tour combining 360° videos with a high-quality coffee table book, delivered as a complete b2b marketing campaign from strategy to production.
FrieslandCampina x iO: bringing the supply chain story to a global audience
FrieslandCampina is one of the world's largest dairy companies, providing millions of consumers with valuable nutrition from milk, including infant formula. The quality of their products is guaranteed because they own and control the entire supply and production chain. Their products are widely prescribed and recommended by healthcare professionals around the world.
Our collaboration with FrieslandCampina began in 2021 when the pandemic disrupted their established approach to b2b engagement. This case highlights how we helped them turn a constraint into an opportunity: reaching far more healthcare professionals than ever before, while creating a sustainable, scalable marketing asset that continues to deliver value.
Why physical events were essential to FrieslandCampina's b2b strategy
For FrieslandCampina, trust is everything. Healthcare professionals who recommend infant formula to parents need absolute confidence in the product's quality and the company behind it. The annual tours to the Netherlands gave 25 carefully selected Mexican specialists a complete picture of the supply chain: from the farms where the cows graze, to the state-of-the-art production facilities, to the research centres where nutritional science happens.
These immersive experiences created deep brand advocates. But they were also expensive, time-consuming and limited in reach. When travel restrictions made them impossible, FrieslandCampina needed an alternative that could deliver the same impact at scale.
360° video as b2b engagement: bringing supply chain storytelling to life
We created four high-definition 360° videos, each presenting a different pillar of the FrieslandCampina story:
The farm: where the journey beginsThe infant formula production facility: where science meets quality controlThe research centre: where nutritional innovation happensThe Netherlands: the context and heritage behind the brand
These immersive videos allow healthcare professionals to explore each location as if they were there. They can look around, focus on details that interest them, and experience the full 'grass to glass' journey at their own pace. The format turns passive viewers into active participants.
A coffee table book as lasting b2b touchpoint
Digital content is powerful, but it can also be fleeting. To give the campaign lasting presence in the offices and homes of healthcare professionals, we produced a high-quality coffee table book. This was not a brochure. It was a carefully designed physical object with aesthetic appeal and pleasant proportions, something professionals would want to keep and share.
The book contains QR codes linking to the 360° videos, bridging the physical and digital experience. Local FrieslandCampina representatives in Mexico distributed 2,000 copies to healthcare professionals, each book becoming an ongoing touchpoint for the brand.
Full-service delivery: from strategy to production
The entire concept was conceived and developed by iO, covering every aspect of the campaign:
Concept creation and strategic directionArt direction and project managementCopywritingBook design and productionVideo and photography across four locations, including post-productionLivestock management on set
This end-to-end approach ensured consistency across every touchpoint and allowed FrieslandCampina to focus on their core business while we delivered a complete solution.
The numbers
1
healthcare professionals reached (vs. 25 pre-pandemic)
1x
increase in reach vs. traditional events
1%
gave the campaign the highest score (5 out of 5)
1%
more likely to recommend Friso Gold
1
coffee table books produced and distributed
From travel constraint to scalable b2b engagement
What began as a pandemic workaround became a strategic advantage. By replacing costly international travel with a virtual factory tour, FrieslandCampina achieved something the physical events never could: reaching 60 times more healthcare professionals while creating a sustainable, reusable marketing asset.
The impact goes beyond numbers. Healthcare professionals now have a richer, more flexible way to experience the FrieslandCampina story. They can revisit the 360° videos whenever they want, share the coffee table book with colleagues, and build confidence in a brand they recommend to parents. For FrieslandCampina, the virtual tour has become a proven model for b2b engagement that can scale across markets without the environmental and financial cost of international travel.
