We work hard for our clients, and we get results.  Allow us pat ourselves on the back just a bit, and show you some of our most successful campaigns. 

It's Not just a colon...

Most Americans don’t understand how their bodies work, and the Prevent Cancer Foundation knew that the Colossal Colon needed a theme to draw people in and the colon itself needed to be put into context.  Check Your Insides Out for Colorectal Cancer was the theme and was tested with two focus groups: one men, one women. Each group understood what the theme and logo wanted them to do: find out more about their “insides.”

Next, we created nine educational “stations” that teach visitors about their digestive systems, the symptoms of colorectal cancer, the importance of family history, screening and treatment options and how to live a healthy lifestyle, all presented in a fun, interactive way.

The Tour

In order to reach as many people as possible, we chose large metropolitan areas and sites within those cities that have naturally high foot traffic. These media markets have the potential to reach as much as 80 percent of the American public through the mass media.

Traditionally, the media had not been receptive to stories about colorectal cancer. It occurs in a part of the body that people don’t want to hear about or talk about. However, the Colossal Colon Tour provided a unique visual and the main ingredient for a successful news story: a local angle. In each city, a local survivor and physician were identified to provide a human interest, local story.

the results

After visiting 20 cities, the results were phenomenal. On the launch day, CNN and Headline News aired stories 22 times. Humor columnist Dave Barry visited the tour in Miami and wrote about it in his column, which appears in more than 500 newspapers nationwide. In each city, all three major network affiliates and the major daily newspaper wrote or broadcast stories about the tour. Thanks to a partnership with Clear Channel Communications and their drive time coverage in all the cities, the tour has garnered more than one billion media impressions.

But, the tour’s success is not only measured by media interest. About 30,000 people visited the exhibit, and about 2,400 volunteers donated their time to making the tour a success. In addition, hits to the Foundation’s Web site more than doubled – to nearly 200,000 per month – and time spent on the Web site also more than doubled.

The strategy

We designed strategies specific to each assignment to reach members of Congress, policy makers, regulators, patient organizations, community activists and others about key medical issues and developments through Congressional briefings, presentations at influential international conferences, and meetings with patient and advocacy groups, regulators and others.  

We created materials for policy makers and elected officials as well as media briefings and campaigns.  The companies were positioned as leaders in their fields and we trained key spokepeople to better articulate their organization’s views with clear, concise messages. 

the results

Our clients addressed a broad range of intricate and sometimes controversial issues including HIV/AIDS, the effects of resistance to anti-retorviral medicines, product safety, personalized medicine, available treatments and new classes of promising treatments in development.  The messaging and campaigns transcended the boundaries of geography, occupation, education and socio-economics to inform the public about the importance of medical research and innovation.

The solution

Our team developed a comprehensive campaign to:

• Increase awareness about health literacy issues
• Promote tools that improve patient-provider communications
• Promote the development of easy-to-read patient education information
• Develop and promote partnerships among industry, non profit organizations and government around health literacy
• Develop the Partnership for Clear Health Communications, a coalition of national organizations to work together to promote awareness and solutions around low health literacy and its effect on health outcomes

Materials included a solution-based initiative, Ask Me 3, a quick, effective tool designed to improved health communication between patients and providers.  The program promotes three simple, but essential questions that patients can ask their providers in every health care interaction:  1) What is my main problem?; 2) What do I need to do?; and 3) Why is it important for me to do this?  This program helps patients better understand their health care status and how they can better manage their condition.

Pfizer developed a variety of tools and resrouces to assist physicians and other health care providers in understanding the impact of low health literacy and identifying changes they can make in their own practices.  They were made available in both print and electronic versions and created especially for the medical community.  Materials included prevalence calculators and fact sheets, resource guidelines, white papers, best practicies, etc.

Finally, Pfizer created a series of trainings for those who prepare patient education materials to help them assess the health literacy level of those materials, to keep the information clear and simple, and evaluate patient education materials.  We organized the training events, secured speakers and identified organizations that would benefit from the trainings.

the results

Twenty organizations joined the steering committee for the Partnership for Clear Health Communications and more than 100 organizational representatives attended each of the trainings provided by the Partnership.  

Media covered the launch of the program and on-air (radio and television) doctors discussed the importance of health literacy and the impact low health literacy has on health outcomes.  Health educators reported they had better interactions with their patients and saw increased compliance with treatment plans.

The program has evolved as the science of health literacy has grown, and information is still available online to patients, nonprofit organizations and providers.  Health literacy has received much more awareness as an integral part of health care delivery.

Military/veterans pain initiative

Working with Endo Health Solutions and the American Pain Foundation, our team launched the Military/Veterans Pain Initiative to support members of the military who are living with pain and their caregivers.

The program:

• Provided free educational materials and monitored online peer-to-peer support for veterans and their family members (e.g., veteran-focused online chats, resources, expert-led forums on such topics as amputations and pain, the culture of pain in the military, battlefield medicine, etc.)
• Reduced feelings of isolation
• Ensured the unique needs of returning and retired soldiers are begin addressed
• Empowered those living with pain to seek appropriate pain care for themselves and others to achieve a better quality of life

Working with the American Pain Foundation and other Veterans Service Organizations, we created an advocacy program for the passage of the Military and Veterans Pain Care Act to improve pain care services, research, education and training in the Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  The campaign featured substance abuse expert Dr. Drew Pinsky as a spokesperson to help address concerns about substance abuse among those being treated for pain.

the results

After launching the program on Capitol Hill with a series of briefings for Congressional staff, the program was a tremendous success.  Media profiled several veterans who described their personal stories from the battlefield to their personal journies home.  National newspapers including USA Today, The New York Times and others covered the story.

Ultimately, several thousand veterans took advantage of the educational materials and peer-to-peer support, and Congress passed the Military and Veterans Pain Care Act so that medical professionals receive the training they need to make pain care a priority and a right for all veterans.