2014 Winners & Shortlists

TODAY IT ENDS. THE SUICIDE LETTERS THAT GAVE LIFE BACK.

Short List
BrandABBVIE
Product/ServiceHUMIRA
EntrantMEMAC OGILVY Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryAmbient Media: Small Scale
Entrant Company MEMAC OGILVY Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency MEMAC OGILVY Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Results and Effectiveness

Even though this hard-hitting personal campaign has just launched it’s had a big impact. We have seen a 75% response rate so far and dermatologist’s attitudes around the region are starting to change.

Creative Execution

We knew that pharmaceutical drugs couldn't be advertised in the traditional media in the region. So we developed an innovative strategy to get around the serious restrictions by targeting the doctors directly. This led to the highly targeted direct mail idea. After interviewing sufferers and 400 hand writing these letters, we delivered them directly to the dermatologists offices across the region to catch them off guard and help them realise that the power to change and even save their patients lives was in their hands.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Psoriasis is a disease that makes your immune system attack your body. More than a million sufferers have it covering over 75% of their body. Over 60% of these sufferers also live with serious depression and think seriously about killing themselves. Humira is a drug that can dramatically reduce the symptoms and help people live normal lives, but dermatologists don’t prescribe it, because they often don’t realise the depth of the psychological trauma caused by Psoriasis. We aren’t allowed to advertise pharmaceuticals, so we personally interviewed Psoriasis sufferers, then hand wrote over 400 letters based on their true stories, and sent them to dermatologists across the region so they could hear the stories of suffering straight from patients themselves. At the end of the letter dermatologists were directed to our website, where they could see how Humira has changed lives and how it could improve the lives of their patients.

Credits

Name Company Role
Ben Knight Memac Ogilvy Creative Director
Logan Allanson Memac Ogilvy Snr Art Director
Elizabeth Dewar Memac Ogilvy Art Director
Lina Safstrom Memac Ogilvy Copywriter
Abeer Elyan Memac Ogilvy Account Manager
Dylan Kidson Memac Ogilvy Scriptwriter
Roy Armale Memac Ogilvy Planning Director
Amin Soltani Memac Ogilvy Agency Producer
Ralph Van Dijk Eardrum Australia Director
Lesley Chambers Eardum Australia Producer