2019 Winners & Shortlists

Describe any restrictions or regulations regarding Healthcare communications in your country/region (imposed by healthcare regulatory bodies, government, TV stations, etc.)

No mention of drug name. Client wanted limited mention of Novartis too.

Describe the target audience

Heart failure (HF) patients and caregivers across the MENA region. General public, particularly those presenting high risk HF symptoms.

Background

MENA has one of the youngest heart failure (HF) patient populations worldwide. HF drug manufacturer, Novartis, is passionate about addressing HF in the region and providing for communities. With a soaring Heart Failure (HF) prevalence of 60 million worldwide, largely attributed to the significant lack of awareness and understanding of HF causes and symptoms, it is no longer enough to only provide a treatment-based remedy. Novartis wanted to be part of a long-term solution and help reduce MENA HF prevalence, where the population develops HF on average 10 years younger than in the West. To aid prevention, identification and management of HF we developed a strategy centred on three objectives: 1) Broaden regional awareness of HF and its symptoms 2) Encourage communities to live a more heart-friendly life and for those with high-risk symptoms to visit their doctor 3) Build a regional online HF support community

Describe the creative idea

Enter Keep It Pumping MENA (KIP), a MENA-wide digital campaign. Our strategy was to make a real social impact through educating the public on preventing and identifying HF and supporting HF patients/carers. We launched KIP social media channels with year-round edutainment content, a website, symptoms calculator and a disruptive video. Symptoms calculator: To help combat the lack of understanding of HF symptoms, an easy-to-use symptoms calculator was developed and housed on the website. People inputted basic personal information and discovered if they're at risk and needed to visit the doctor. Disruptive hero video: to heighten people’s sense of urgency and get them to make better lifestyle changes we confronted people with the shocking MENA HF statistics, which flashed on public bathroom mirrors, forcing them to look at them and themselves closely. Reactions were filmed along with post-stunt interviews to capture what they felt as reality set in.

Describe the strategy

64% of people in MENA know someone suffering from HF, yet public awareness of symptoms is very low and only 37% seek medical advice if experiencing symptoms. There was no online MENA community providing support to patients year-round; noise centred around World Heart Day. Social media source is an important source of health-related information here and 80% of the target community favoured video content. So, our approach was to build an online community focused on educating the public to identify, manage and reduce the risk of HF through: • Launching, developing and growing social platforms, enabling people to connect and build a supportive MENA HF community • Providing a platform for sharing bilingual, eyeopening content driving urgency, behavioural change and waking people up to the alarming truth around HF • Provide an easy way for the public to identify whether they were at risk and needed to visit the doctor

Describe the execution

In October 2017, we launched the KIP website, symptoms calculator, social media channels and its supporting PPC and SEO campaign, integrating the lot for maximum impact. We created a series of year round compelling content to increase awareness of HF and promote HF prevention. Covering everything from diet and exercise to encouragement for carers and HF patients, caring community management, a clever boosting plan and compelling creatives, created impact and brought KIP platforms to life. In March we launched the hero video content through a 19 second teaser video and then, one week later, the two-minute disruptive video was launched in April on KIP platforms. Content was boosted across all platforms to KIP target audiences. The video focused on representing the key markets and sharing regional HF statistics in an original way to inspire people to take a more proactive approach to their heart health and get diagnosed early.

List the results

Delivering on our objectives, we have successfully grown an online HF community in the Middle East and created platforms and tools that have driven awareness of symptoms and encouraged prevention • More than 500 potential lifesaving visits have been made to the symptoms calculator • Followers to the Keep It Pumping social media platforms have grown 1266% on average per month with an online KIP community of over 43,000 users (HF patients, carers and concerned public) • Average of 50 comments per post from people seeking support • The campaign hero video has generated more than 2.5 million views, 180 comments and 800+ shares. The video campaign alone led to more than 10,000 website visits and attracted almost 13,000 new followers to the KIP platforms • We aimed to increase average monthly website visits by 150%; we actually increased visits by 357% per month