Finalist
Erivedge launch
Summary of work
In August of last year, a new once-daily pill for the advanced form of the most common skin cancer – basal cell carcinoma – was launched into a media environment saturated with optimistic stories on early stage, curable cancers.
As one of the first markets to launch in Europe, it was important we set the standard for generating interest in this rare form of cancer, a condition affecting less than 1,000 people in the UK. However, with patients afflicted with unsightly tumours, and given that it was deemed highly unusual that in today’s society a patient would allow a growth to develop to such an extent that it would be inoperable, obstacles to achieving coverage were not insignificant. Furthermore, outreach was due to be conducted during the summer holidays (with key spokespeople out of the country) and the success of previous media outreach support for the client’s oncology franchise meant there were high internal expectations set.
Despite these challenges, through our flexibility and individualised approach we achieved a fantastic volume of quality print and broadcast coverage, exceeding all expectations. Against a target of 10-15 pieces, the campaign resulted in 74 pieces of message-rich coverage, generating over 24 million opportunities to see (OTS).
Judges’ comments
This is a solid entry in a difficult market. It got excellent mainstream media results despite the difficult subject matter and small patient population. It was a smart idea to identify and leverage the British-based innovation angle.
