2016 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

CHALLENGE: Antibiotic consumption has been on the rise around the world as well as around the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Self-medicating has given rise to superbugs that are rendering antibiotics ineffective and are claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide every day. BRAND: Daman, a leading health insurance company in the UAE, wanted to raise awareness and help slow down antibiotic resistance. INSIGHT & STRATEGY: Since antibiotics are still easily available over the counter in the UAE, we wanted people to think twice about popping pills like candy. IDEA: Don’t 'treat' yourself to antibiotics.  EXECUTION: We created parodies of world-famous confectionary brands, by subverting their packaging look and feel. And launched the faux packaging from the brand Daman that we distributed through print, direct contact, B-to-B marketing and on-ground activations. M&Ms became Pencillin. Skittles became Ceftriaxone. TicTac became Oxacillin. Smarties became Moxifloxacin. RESULTS: In its impact, given the context of millions of claims per month, the campaign was very significant and effective. 1) Claims / member decreased for the first time, by 18%. 2) Decrease in overall claims by 20%. 3) Medical cost / person / month decreased by 17%; and in the context of millions of claims / month it was a major decrease. 4) Medical costs decreased by -0.5% in 2015 vs. 3.1% in 2014.

1) Daman’s website witnessed 219,811 visitors and 35% active users; considerably higher than average rates of 5% to 10% witnessed by most websites in UAE. 2) All the faux product packs were distributed in 1 day across the UAE influencing over 6000 people live. 3) The number of claims per member decreased for the first time in one year - decreasing by 18% (vs. the target of 7% to 10%) - depicting better health awareness, lower visits to doctors, lower prescriptions, better health and reduced costs. 4) Costs per claim for Daman, decreased -0.5% in 2015 vs. a +3.1% increase in 2014. Our target was for costs to increase by not more than +1%. In the context of over 2 million claims per month, this is a significant decrease. 5) Overall the cost per member decreased by 17% i.e. AED 60 decreasing from AED 350 TO AED 290; again in the context of over 2 million claims per month, this is a significant decrease. In the context of the number of claims, the enormity of the challenge and the results achieved, the campaign can be deemed a disruptive strategy that was simple and effective.