Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

What’s working in DTC and prescription products

Article • WARC Category Intelligence, May 2018

Global strategies, campaign updates and trends in the DTC and prescription products category.

Using technology to drive behavioural change in healthcare

Article • D'Arcy King, WARC Best Practice, February 2018

Looks at how new technologies are affecting the healthcare profession and suggests ways that health data can be used to change consumer behaviour.

Dispelling the myths of pollution to help people protect themselves

Case Study • MRS Awards, Finalist, MRS Award for Applications of Research, 2019

Reckitt Benckiser, a consumer goods company, investigated the reasons for disappointing face mask sales and how it could empower consumers to take responsibility for their health in India.

GSK: Targeting persistent pain sufferers

Case Study • MRS Awards, Finalist, MRS Award for New Consumer Insights, 2019

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a pharmaceutical company, used deep ethnographic research to uncover what it is like to live with persistent pain, increasing empathy among clinical and market research professionals in the UK and Germany.

Bayer: The Patient Empathy Workshop

Case Study • MRS Awards, Finalist, MRS Award for Healthcare Research, 2019

Bayer, a pharmaceutical company, increased understanding of chronic pain sufferers in the UK by launching a Virtual Reality study and a Patient Empathy Workshop.

Incite: Changing how we gather insight to understand the true drivers of decision-making

Case Study • MRS Awards, Finalist, MRS Award for Healthcare Research, 2019

Measuring decision-making solely based on explicit feedback is no longer effective market research and brands must change how they gather insight to understand the true drivers of decision-making.

Canesten: Thrush, The Musical

Case Study • Amy Francis, WARC Media Awards, Shortlisted, Effective Channel Integration, 2019

Thrush cream brand Canesten broke category conventions to make its name synonymous with thrush, getting women to recall and ask for the brand by name.

Children's Panadol: First Timers

Case Study • WARC Media Awards, Shortlisted, Best Use of Data, 2019

Children's Panadol created a custom algorithm to drive sales and deliver outstanding results in Australia.

Otrivin: Cold and Flu Predictor

Case Study • Tangrams Strategy & Effectiveness Awards, Bronze, 2019

Otrivin, a decongestant spray brand, increased market share and engagement in India by creating a model that predicts cold and flu searches to allow for targeted marketing.

GSK: Abreva - Reaching a Younger Audience through Mobile Video

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Silver, X (Global), 2019

Abreva, a cold sore medicine brand, launched an optimised digital video campaign on YouTube to successfully increase purchase intent among younger consumers in North America.

Excedrin: Universal Pain

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Finalist, North America, 2019

Headache-relief brand Excedrin created three limited editions, promoted via targeted mobile, influencers, digital OOH and on-ground sampling, to bring its new creative strategy to life among audiences in the US.

TUMS: TummerTime

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Silver, North America, 2019

Antacid TUMS used branded and influencer co-created social content to drive awareness of its TUMS Chewy Bites with Gas Relief derivative among millennials in the US.

Gas-X Would You Rather?: Hacking the IG Stories Platform

Case Study • MMA Smarties, Bronze, North America, 2019

Over-the-counter brand Gas-X used a social and digital campaign rooted in Instagram Stories to change its brand message and appeal to female consumers in the US.

Optrex: From dry eye to screen eyes

Case Study • Account Planning Group - (UK), Silver, 2019

Optrex, an eyecare brand, grew its market in the UK by launching a campaign showing a series of characters with screens for eyes, turning dry eyes into Screen Eyes.

Viagra: Sharks, goldfish and the biggest problem no one ever talks about

Case Study • Account Planning Group - (UK), Entrant, 2019

Viagra, a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction, promoted its product to help suffering men in the UK through a TV ad that sensitively showed the craving of feeling, compared to the usual aggressive ad techniques.

HS Awareness: Making the invisible visible

Case Study • Account Planning Group - (UK), Entrant, 2019

AbbVie, a biopharmaceutical company, launched a campaign to increase awareness of hidradenitis suppurativa globally, which blended a sufferer into a bespoke wallpaper, distributed across print and digital.

Gaviscon: Go on

Case Study • Account Planning Group - (UK), Entrant, 2019

Gaviscon, the heartburn relief brand, transformed its approach to engage a younger audience and drive affinity for the brand in the UK.

ellaOne: How role-play transformed the morning after

Case Study • Account Planning Group - (UK), Bronze, 2019

ellaOne, an emergency contraception brand, inspired women across Europe to kick-start a movement, which transformed sales and even broken LINK test records.

Breath of Life – COPD Disease Awareness Program

Case Study • Grand Prix at Cannes Lions, Regulated Creative Data: Data Visualisation in Disease Awareness & Understanding, Case Studies on WARC

McCann Health turned the mobile phone into a self-testing tool for the underdiagnosed and undertreated Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in China, generating interest from more than 10,000 WeChat users.

CHANTIX: Ray Liotta Celebrity Testimonial

Case Study • ARF Ogilvy Awards, Gold, 2019

CHANTIX®, a medication brand to help smokers quit, used celebrity success story Ray Liotta as a champion for its video campaign to help encourage people in the US to stop smoking.

Tylenol: #HowWeCare

Case Study • ARF Ogilvy Awards, Gold, 2019

Tylenol, a brand of paracetamol, drove awareness in the US by launching a support platform that encouraged people to thank a caregiver in their life or offer to do a chore for them.

Acuvue: Restart – Johnson & Johnson Vision

Case Study • ARF Ogilvy Awards, Silver, 2019

Acuvue, a contact lens brand, launched an ad copy and digital banner campaign to reconnect with consumers in Japan, and encourage them to restart with Acuvue contact lenses.

GSK/Advil PM: The Bedtime Dance

Case Study • ARF Ogilvy Awards, Gold, 2019

Advil PM, a sleeping aid, encouraged an uplift in US sales by creating an online video that encouraged people to stop doing the bedtime dance of pain by taking Advil PM.

Pneumovax®/Merck: Chronic Fighter

Case Study • ARF Ogilvy Awards, Bronze, 2019

Pneumovax®23/Merck, a vaccine to protect against pneumococcal disease, increased awareness of Pneumococcal Disease (PD) by launching a branded video and delivering messages to healthcare providers in the US.

Entyvio: Hyper-Focus on the Patient Journey

Case Study • ARF Ogilvy Awards, Silver, 2019

Takeda Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company, increased registrations for its Entyvio Connect program in the US by creating new datasets to inform a programmatic display and video outreach.

Pharma & healthcare