Helping save lives with an UNBRANDED DISEASE AWARENESS campaign
CLIENT: Novartis Pharmaceuticals
GOAL: Increase number of patient tests for Iron Overload, a potentially life-threatening condition that is a by-product of chronic blood transfusions.
BACKGROUND & CHALLENGE: Many recipients of these transfusions are sickle cell disease (SCD) patients, very often young Black children or teens. Their caregivers are naturally focused on the primary disease, making sure their child receives a transfusion when a pain crisis occurs from the SCD. Hence they have little awareness of Iron Overload, a secondary but potentially fatal condition.
WHY FATAL? Iron is deposited permanently in the body with each transfusion. After 10 transfusions over a lifetime, this excess iron can damage internal organs and become fatal. A serum ferritin level of 1000 mg/dL is a signal that Iron Overload has begun. EXJADE is the Novartis drug which, taken orally with juice, binds with the excess iron and flushes it out in urine. A positive test typically leads to prescription of EXJADE.
Solution: Create an integrated disease awareness program to engage the interest and opt-in of caregivers and adult patients. The program was to be educational and inspirational, with clear calls to action for Iron Overload testing.
GOAL: Increase number of patient tests for Iron Overload, a potentially life-threatening condition that is a by-product of chronic blood transfusions.
BACKGROUND & CHALLENGE: Many recipients of these transfusions are sickle cell disease (SCD) patients, very often young Black children or teens. Their caregivers are naturally focused on the primary disease, making sure their child receives a transfusion when a pain crisis occurs from the SCD. Hence they have little awareness of Iron Overload, a secondary but potentially fatal condition.
WHY FATAL? Iron is deposited permanently in the body with each transfusion. After 10 transfusions over a lifetime, this excess iron can damage internal organs and become fatal. A serum ferritin level of 1000 mg/dL is a signal that Iron Overload has begun. EXJADE is the Novartis drug which, taken orally with juice, binds with the excess iron and flushes it out in urine. A positive test typically leads to prescription of EXJADE.
Solution: Create an integrated disease awareness program to engage the interest and opt-in of caregivers and adult patients. The program was to be educational and inspirational, with clear calls to action for Iron Overload testing.
creative development phase
Our team developed multiple creative approaches to share with our clients. We pitched them with Manifestos and mood board imagery. One was entitled "Strength in Numbers," to highlight the importance of social support from family and friends, and to help drive home messaging about the 1000mg/dL serum ferritin number — and what that meant.
While "Strength in Numbers" was not chosen as the overall campaign direction, the clients liked the 1000 Reasons concept; we later used it to wrap a message in broadcast radio to drive people to pop-up testing sites at shopping malls.
"It's Within Me" was meant to encourage patients to realize that they had within them the strength and will to persist in fighting their disease and take appropriate action.
"Living with Transfusions" - a life-affirming, aspirational approach, meant to associate blood transfusions with all the good that they do to enhance quality of life - and then gently turn the corner to talk about Iron Overload.
SAMPLE COPY FROM ABOVE
HEADLINE: There's nothing like a transfusion to make you feel like a kid again. Especially if you are a kid.
COPY:
To see the look on your child's face when she gets a blood transfusion. Suddenly she's herself again. She's got more energy, more life in her.
We want you to know, transfusions alone aren't the key. There are important things you and your child can do every day to make living with sickle cell and transfusions better. Join us at LivingWithTransfusions.com. Where the focus is all about living.
HEADLINE: There's nothing like a transfusion to make you feel like a kid again. Especially if you are a kid.
COPY:
To see the look on your child's face when she gets a blood transfusion. Suddenly she's herself again. She's got more energy, more life in her.
We want you to know, transfusions alone aren't the key. There are important things you and your child can do every day to make living with sickle cell and transfusions better. Join us at LivingWithTransfusions.com. Where the focus is all about living.
and the winner is...
After focus-testing a number of approaches, this simple, bold, typographical solution, with the program title Be Transfusion Smart, was chosen to move forward.
The idea was to take the letters IO from key words such as ACTION, COMMUNICATION, and TRANSFUSION, and replace them with the number 10 — the number of blood transfusions after which you are at risk for Iron Overload. This is THE number that we wanted sickle cell patients and their caregivers to remember: After you've had 10 transfusions, talk to your doctor about risk for Iron Overload and how to treat it.
Below is a sample of the patient education program our team created. I was the creative director for the project. This is the final communication from the program in which we gave a re-cap of the information delivered throughout the program. Some of it contains games because we wanted teen patients to have engaging material to work with.
The idea was to take the letters IO from key words such as ACTION, COMMUNICATION, and TRANSFUSION, and replace them with the number 10 — the number of blood transfusions after which you are at risk for Iron Overload. This is THE number that we wanted sickle cell patients and their caregivers to remember: After you've had 10 transfusions, talk to your doctor about risk for Iron Overload and how to treat it.
Below is a sample of the patient education program our team created. I was the creative director for the project. This is the final communication from the program in which we gave a re-cap of the information delivered throughout the program. Some of it contains games because we wanted teen patients to have engaging material to work with.
