GSK Consumer Healthcare: The Debate Headache

Excedrin, an OTC headache medicine, used the headache of the 2016 US general election to get involved in the cultural conversation on social media, in order to increase brand sales in the US.

Advertiser: GlaxoSmithKlineBrand: ExcedrinAgency: Weber Shandwick New YorkCountry: United States

Objectives

The #DebateHeadache campaign sought to

  • Increase sales of Excedrin
  • Drive relevance in the low-engagement headache category
  • Showcase Excedrin's expertise in all things headache-related
  • Unite people seeking headache relief
  • Catapult Excedrin into the cultural conversation surrounding the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

Creative work

During the Republican primary campaign, Excedrin's social media team began to notice consumers tweeting about the crowded debates, stating that comments from politicians were giving them a headache. This finding sparked the idea for #DebateHeadache.

To validate these social listening observations,...

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