Bayer Aspirin® "HeroSmiths"
Bayer Consumer Health
Issue 44 | September 2017
Agency
Energy BBDO
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Andrés Ordóñez Executive Creative Director Alistair Robertson Creative Directors Josh Gross, Pedro Pérez Associate Creative Directors Agustin Ballerio, Alejandro Juli, Fernando Passos Art Director Chris Cavalieri Lead Designer Hung Vinh
Production Team
Head of Integrated Production Rowley Samuel Executive Director of Content & Delivery Brian Cooper Executive Producer Jeff Drooger Senior Integrated Producer Elena Robinson Production Company Maverick NYC Digital Agency iCrossing Senior Account Director Al DeDona Senior Strategy Director Catherine Mevs Account Manager Amanda Neil
Other Credits
Media Agency MediaCom Communications Planning Director Matthew Gunther Strategy Director Charlie Singer Director, Paid Social Aaron Welch Global Client Service Director David Goring-Morris Client Service Director Katie Clow Account Director Trish von Rein Account Executive Kristen Schumacker Project Manager Gabrielle Granados Group Planning Director Catrina McAuliffe Planning Director Brian Stout Senior Planner Jesse Unger
Date
January 2017
Background
In the U.S., there is a heart attack every 42 seconds and they are unpredictable. You never think you or someone near you is going to have a heart attack. During a suspected heart attack, chewing aspirin can help increase the chances of survival. The HeroSmiths program educates people everywhere to carry aspirin and help save a life.
Idea
The creative idea behind the program was to feature people with the last name Smith, the most common last name in America, as a personal way to prove that anyone who carries Bayer Aspirin® can be a hero. An insight that was uncovered as the idea was researched with Google is that nearly half of the most popular search queries on heart attacks were focused on heart attacks in the moment. As the list of searches was reviewed, there was a realization that it wasn't just about what to do if you are having a heart attack; it was also about what to do if somebody else was having one.
The educational campaign was launched during American Heart Month (February) in Fort Smith, Arkansas, a city with one of the highest heart attack rates in the country. A HeroSmith toolkit was created to arm every Smith with aspirin. A two-minute film was also created that featured eight Smiths with a personal connection to heart attacks and the life-savings power of aspirin. Facebook continued the momentum with additional profiles of individual Smiths' stories and educational content on surviving heart attacks. This content directed consumers to the HeroSmiths landing page (www. HeroSmiths.com) and asked them to take a pledge to carry aspirin. When users pledged, they received a Bayer Aspirin® keychain with a carrying case. The idea was also to go to public events where people are more likely to have heart attacks to spread awareness. From there, people took it upon themselves to recruit more Smiths, spreading the message and growing the network of aspirin-carrying HeroSmiths
Results
Smiths in America have embraced the campaign. On Facebook, the campaign delivered over 74 million impressions, reaching 20 million unique users. A study together with Google showed that people are 233% more likely (vs. the control group) to agree that Bayer Aspirin® is a brand they love after viewing the video. They are also 387% more likely to strongly agree that Bayer Aspirin® is a brand they can trust to help save lives. Behaviour-wise, the intent to carry aspirin has also increased 67.4% nationwide, with over 88,000 pledges to carry aspirin.
Our Thoughts
Innovation wears many clothes. The word is most used in connection with tech. New apps, new platforms, new ways of engaging mostly powered by Moore's Law. But innovation can be finding a new use for an old product and devising new strategies to make that product relevant again.
Which is exactly what Energy BBDO have come up with here, a completely new reason for aspirin to exist.
I tell you what. Being of a certain age, I'm now taking an aspirin a day.
On top of that, the creative idea of turning people with the most boring name in the world into the lifeguards of the streets, that's brilliant.