A campaign against pain

The campaign to introduce a new painkiller for Pfizer had poetry at its heart. The tight international reins only challenged us to think creatively.

From a global campaign concept to a successful Danish launch

Getting through to doctors is becoming increasingly difficult for pharmaceutical companies, and at Brandhouse® we meet many marketing executives who are becoming more and more frustrated by the number of rules and restrictions they have to learn and observe. These can take the form of a slew of requirements from the authorities, but also strict demands from parent companies for international harmonization. However, as the launch of the painkiller Lyrica® exemplifies, it is possible to successfully adapt an international campaign to the Danish market – through a distinctive, carefully prepared campaign process.

We divided the process into three steps:

Step 1: An archetype workshop, in which we established Lyrica's® brand 'personality' and developed a branding vision. You can read more about archetypes as communication tools here.
Step 2: Development of strategy and messages, and preparation of timing and action plans.
Step 3: Development of the creative concept and a targeted marketing and communication package that adapted the international guidelines to the Danish market.

Elements

In the Danish health sector's newspaper Dagens Medicin, the launch of Lyrica® was persistent and attention-grabbing. It was massively advertised through various untraditional means, such as a triangular belt around the paper and a triangular popup in the centre pages, where Lyrica® was introduced onto the Danish market for the first time.

Lyrica® treats neurogenic pain and its related symptoms. Two of these are sleeplessness and depression. We called this the 'pain triad', and introduced the concept to the doctors. As a visual aid, we made much of the material triangular.

As another visual aid, we used a so-called wave machine to remind doctors of the bubbling, seething, boiling nature of neurogenic pain – a visualization that runs through all the campaign elements.