STREET-VET

Short List
TitleSTREET-VET
BrandPURINA
Product/ServiceVETERINARY DIET
Category A04. Early-stage Technology
Entrant McCANN PARIS, FRANCE
Idea Creation McCANN PARIS, FRANCE
Production CRAFT PARIS, FRANCE
Production 2 EDDY Paris, FRANCE
Additional Company AFG EUROPE London, UNITED KINGDOM
Credits
Name Company Position
Riccardo Fregoso McCann Paris Executive Creative Director, Creative President
Julien Chiapolini McCann Paris Executive Creative Director
Cedric Astrella McCann Paris Creative Director
Sebastien Boutebel McCann Paris Creative Director
Philippe Puech McCann Paris Senior Art Director
Lauren Haberfield McCann Paris Art Director
Adriana Luzzatto McCann Paris Art Director
Clément Le Bars McCann Paris Copywriter
Bruno Tallent McCann Paris CEO
Cédric Vanhoutte McCann Paris VP, Global Business Leader
Erik Bertin McCann Paris Deputy General Manager in charge of Strategy
Caitlin Bishop McCann Paris Strategic Planner
Valentin Audubon McCann Paris Motion designer
Karim Victorin McCann Paris Motion designer
Jefferson Lellouche Craft Director
Yannis Cullaz Craft Head of production
Arnaud Lemens Craft TV Producer
Yaël Guetta Craft TV Producer
Caroline De Génis Craft Post Producer
Juliette Paille Craft Assistant producer
Charlotte Goguet Craft Assistant producer
Isabelle Crechet Craft Sound producer
Mario Schiniotakis Eddy Director
Jean-François Bourrel Eddy Executive Producer
Maud Folléa Eddy Line producer
Didier Le Fouet DIgital District Post Producer
Aline Bernard The Hot Line Producer
Adrien Le Blond The Hot Line Sound Engineer
Eloi Asseline Weber Shandwick Paris CEO
Jean Paoli Weber Shandwick Paris Strategic Planner
Emilie Barrail Weber Shandwick Paris Account Director
Claire Rénier Weber Shandwick Paris Senior Associate
Dominique Laureau Weber Shandwick Paris Integrated media relations
Gérard Jousset Group Yncréa-Schools HEI, ISEN, ISA Président
Thibaut Defever Group Yncréa – Schools HEI, ISEN, ISA R&D engineer, Project manager
Pierre Durand Nestlé Purina Pet Care Business Unit Manager Specialist
Veronique Herman Nestlé Purina Pet Care Marketing Manager Specialist

Why is this work relevant for Innovation?

Digital billboards are becoming more advanced, they react to weather, touch, time, and motion, but they’ve never reacted to dogs’ urine… which they often come in contact with. We elevated this medium by integrating the technology to analyze dogs’ urine and made a health-check available where they naturally pee, in the street. Street-Vet is a condensed laboratory which collects a sample, analyzes it, and reports the results in a process that feels as easy as a walk in the park. This innovative technology allows dog owners to get ahead of diseases and reminds them about the importance of regular check-ups.

Background

In France, more than a million dogs don’t get their annual visit to the veterinarian, because their owners assume there is nothing wrong with their pet. As a part of their survival tactics, dogs don’t show signs of their disease, so by the time those signs become symptoms, it’s sometimes too late to provide treatment. Many pets have a condition that could be improved with proper nutritional therapy. If analysis were run more often, just adapting their diet could be enough to fix the problem before it becomes serious. Purina wanted to come up with a way for the dogs to be tested early. The technology to test urine for disease is accessible with urinary strips, but the difficulty comes with getting dogs to actually pee on it. Our challenge, was to automate the collection and analysis, and make it fit into a digital billboard, within 50,000€.

Describe the idea

It’s sometimes necessary to remind dog’s owners to regularly check their pets’ health. To make this medical necessity a part of their regular habit we turned dogs’ natural behavior, peeing on poles, into a seamless health test. Introducing Street-Vet, the first digital billboard which collects and analyses dogs urine, transforming their daily “business“ into a routine check-up. First, the dog pees on the pole, then the urine is tested, and the analysis is displayed. If a disease is detected, Street-Vet suggests a specific product from the Purina ProPlan line, clinically designed to prevent the development of disease. Dog owners can also download the result and bring it to the vet.

What were the key dates in the development process?

March 2017 - Project Kick-off May 2017 - Client Presentation and approval by Purina Veterinary Institute June 2017 - January 2018 - Internal studies, and research of potential technology partners, budget confirmation February - May 2018 First scientific approach with Veterinary Clinic, VetParis7 June 2018 - Discussion with leadership engineers at YNCREA September 2018 - Brief students and engineers at YNCREA + Veterinary Clinic, VetParis7 September - December 2018 - Feasibility Study • Partner with vet to identify existing technology to be used to test the urine • Automation of analysis to replace human intervention (observation and conclusion) • Coding of the software • Design and development of the hardware (billboard) January 2018 - Launch and Test of Street-Vet 1 January - February 2018 Study of the Learnings and Development of Street-Vet 2 • Implemented more testing units (from 5 to 10) • Optimized the base unit to be lower and more accessible for dogs February 2018 - Test of Street-Vet 2 Test and Optimizations • Improved sanitary system • Optimized coding for faster data analysis March 2019 - Live Test of Street-Vet 3 with the public in Paris for a month

Describe the innovation / technology

First, a pheromone diffuser attracts dogs to urinate on Street-Vet. Hydrophobic film covers the entire collection and testing site so that the urine is seamlessly directed to a controlled environment in which the analysis is performed. Then we use 4 reagents identical to those in UriVet-100 (KITVIA) urinary strips. Using a micro-camera, Raspberry Pi3, Street-Vet then identifies how the reagents react through the color they take on when they contact the urine. The analysis appears on screen indicating if the urine shows signs of diabetes (glucose > 2mmol/L), kidney failure (protein level > 0.12-0.15 g/l), urinary infection (leukocytes > 10 - 15 WBC/mm3), or dietary imbalance (pH < 5.0 or > 9.0). Street-Vet then suggests an appropriate Purina ProPlan product and encourages owners to download the results and bring it to the vet. The hydrophobic film covers the collection and testing site, so rinsing it with water kills 99.9% of bacteria and any other elements which could distort the analysis. Purina Street-Vet is equipped with a water nozzle which rinses the system, and a pump which evacuates the sewage between each use. Watch the tech-video in the annex for more information.

Describe the expectations / outcome

Street after street, Purina Street-Vet has reminded dog owners in France about the importance of regular health checks for their pets, performing over 2,500, which revealed 1,024 health issues: alimentary imbalance (596), urinary infection (367), diabetes (42), and kidney failure (19). Dog owners were convinced they needed to visit the vet more regularly at a rate of 74%, and 94% changed their attitude about the importance of their dogs nutrition. 77% said Street-Vet improved the way they thought about Purina as a brand, and 83% increased their intent to purchase Purina products. (1) Conversation and news coverage spread across France, and in many other countries. The industry has reacted with requests from vendors and other markets (Canada, Japan, Brazil). Purina is now exploring ways to scale production and reduce the costs so this technology can travel around the world. 1. Source: SurveyMonkey Audience, quantitative study on 200 dog owners