My name is Alexander Torba, I am a veterinarian and a PhD in Biological Sciences. I have been associated with Hill's since June 1, 2011, and continue to work with the company to this day. From June 1, 2011, to March 15, 2024, I headed the company's Veterinary Affairs Department (Professional Vet Affairs) in the Russian Federation.

During this time, I was fully responsible for the company’s interaction with the professional veterinary community, as our product range belongs to the line of professional pet food for companion animals such as cats and dogs. Professional veterinarian recommendations are a cornerstone for the company, as market access and interaction with the end consumer depend heavily on the specialist's advice, which is trusted by pet owners.

In this context, we are talking about veterinarians, of which there are approximately 20,000 practicing professionals in Russia, working in around 4,500 veterinary clinics, as well as students in veterinary universities across the Russian Federation. All of the company’s efforts, as well as those of the Veterinary Affairs Department, which I led for 13 years, were focused on establishing direct communication with veterinarians and achieving their loyalty through the organization of educational events in various formats.

These events included physical conferences, congresses, symposia, round tables, and seminars, as well as online training in the format of webinars. Since 2011, Hill's has been a pioneer in Russia in organizing online educational events, while also developing a professional communication channel through social media under the unified name Hill's Vet Russia, a name consistently used in all types of communication with veterinarians.

The Planet Hill's project was the next step, aiming to create a single platform for a contactless system of interaction with the professional veterinary community. The prerequisites for this project in the Russian market stemmed from the need to adapt Hill's global principles, such as consistency and sustainability, to local conditions. It’s important to note that for multinational corporations, the implementation of projects in regions far from the corporate center can be challenging, often resulting in delays and inefficiencies.
For instance, when Hill's launches a new initiative on its parent website, the timeline for its implementation in local markets, such as Russia, can be uncertain. Adapting and localizing pages often requires significant waiting periods, which do not always align with the needs of the local market. As a result, there was a need to implement the project at a local level. This project, codenamed Planet Hill's, was brought to life through the creation of the domain planetahills.ru, which became a unified information hub for interaction with veterinarians.

The goal of the project was to create a local, user-friendly, and accessible interface available to veterinarians regardless of their location or time zone. Planet Hill's became a dynamic resource for fast and direct communication with veterinarians across the Russian Federation. Within the project, we implemented the ability to upload all materials deemed useful for veterinarians, including an anatomical atlas, a unique publication, and a prescription sheet. The latter helped veterinarians prescribe the appropriate diet for animals, improving their condition and accelerating recovery times.

An additional feature of Planet Hill's was the creation of a library where veterinarians could download articles, publications, and research reports from Hill's, providing evidence of the clinical efficacy of the products offered. A significant role in the project was played by the educational events calendar, implemented with the assistance of the Automatica company. Integrating the calendar was a challenging task, as there were numerous events held across different regions of Russia, each with distinct topics. Previously, information about these events was sent to veterinarians via hyperlinks, QR codes, and social media posts, which was inconvenient.

Through the Automatica project, we automated the process, enabling veterinarians to access a unified calendar of events on Planet Hill's. They could see highlighted dates for scheduled events, and by clicking on a specific date, they could open details about the venue, time, and a link to the registration form. Veterinarians could also review the agenda, event plan, and list of speakers. A significant achievement was the integration of regional blocks: each supervisor had their own account, and information from these local accounts was automatically pulled into Planet Hill's, creating a comprehensive master calendar of events.

Planet Hill's also offered a wealth of materials for self-education for veterinarians. They could download anatomical atlases, posters, and scientific articles. The website was integrated with social media and the Hill's Vet Russia YouTube channel, allowing veterinarians to become part of a large database of 17,000 accounts. This integration made the project a convenient and effective tool for engaging with the veterinary community.

The primary idea behind the Planet Hill's project was to increase the loyalty of veterinarians to the company's products. To achieve this, it was necessary to provide veterinarians with the opportunity to try the products themselves. For this purpose, a discount system was developed, enabling veterinarians to receive direct discounts on pet food. The Staff Feeding program was initially integrated into the Planet Hill's platform, allowing veterinarians to register their pets and order products at significant discounts.

Planet Hill's also allowed the company to monitor product leakage through veterinary clinics. It was clear that many clinics were reselling products obtained at discounted prices, which led to abuse of the system. Through the platform, the company was able to track which pets belonged to the veterinarians, their breeds, and ages, how often orders were placed, and the feedback provided. As a result, the Planet Hill's project not only created a streamlined platform for ordering pet food but also established a system for statistical tracking, enabling more effective interaction with veterinarians and improving the quality of service.