How do you link heavy health topics to different audiences
Like it or not, communicating products or services in the health area is a whole different species of advertising: besides the fact that the field is heavily legislated, the public tends to be much more critical and analytical about your campaign. It may be that you are offering a large amount of information, a new product that has not yet been introduced to the market, or even that you are addressing the sensitivities of your audience, whether large or small. It’s complex communication with heavy topics.
So how do you tackle any of these angles in a way that takes you out of the clutter of cliché-drowned communication and gets you closer to your target audience?
One of the most powerful and important things to understand relates to your consumers, who are more than just user personas or audience segments that don’t exist outside of our brief. They are real people who navigate throughout their day between moods, feelings, emotions and changing impressions. Real people who sometimes need humour, sometimes need a break or a little help coping with everything else.
We at Minio have realised that any topic can be tackled, no matter how complex it is for the audience or even what their sensibilities are. And it’s the projects that propose medical products or services that challenge us, but also confirm this every time. In our 7 years in the market we have had everything from digitally integrated campaigns to tactical and here’s what we have learned from our projects.
If the subject is too sensitive, make it lighter with humour – Durex: Stilul potrivit pentru fiecare bărbat
Durex was launching a new range that proposed a new approach to the market: condoms in different sizes with the clear aim of getting Romanian men to buy the most suitable type. Basically, we had to have a discussion about penis size in a rather conservative society, where sex is not talked about enough either.
Because men are quite sensitive to topics about sizes, but also because they are big consumers of stand-up, we called upon a group of comedians, Ceva Mărunt, to relax the atmosphere and create a space for conversation.
Our solution was an integrated multichannel approach. We developed a 16-city tour of Romania with Ceva Mărunt, a TVC and a series of 6 digital spots inspired by the most successful jokes from the tour and the campaign landing page. On the campaign page you could find a video experience to help you discover the correct size of the condom with the help of one of the comedians, as well as other educational materials.
If the topic is complex and new, appeal to things the audience already knows – Samas: Fiecare pui cu lăpticul lui
SAMAS is an NGO that informs and educates about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding over animal milk. It’s a thick subject that we, Romanians, know little about: nutritional deficiencies, long-term effects on baby’s development, difficulties in breastfeeding and ways to overcome them – all elements that in a classic industry communication would only confuse young mothers.
Our solution was to build a digital space where mothers could receive quality information about breastfeeding. Very important for us was to make sure that the messages only came from a positive area, in contrast to the way other campaigns chose to do information on the benefits and potential dangers. Everything was creatively tied together by drawing inspiration from the audience’s world: the world of allurements and illustrated pets to convey a simple, focused message – every type of baby, from human to animal, needs its mother’s milk, because it has everything it needs.
We invite you to watch the campaign’s digital spot, as well as the digital campaign materials that involved a Facebook instant experience instead of a traditional landing page, and a series of educational materials.
If the subject is a source of frustration, turn it positively into a moment of glorification. Casa CeraVe
CeraVe needed a solution to inform and educate young people with acne-prone skin about their skincare routine. It was a source of great tension for them because the more pronounced the tendencies, the more their self-esteem and self-love were affected.
Our solution was to create a physical anti-shaming museum about acne-prone skin, where consumers could enjoy a safe place to talk to both specialists and a place to meet others who share their interest in the subject.
If you have everything for everyone, bet on what they got in common. SECOM: alege să fii în formă
SECOM needed a national campaign for the entire portfolio, highlighting each SKU, each positioned for a specific target segment.
Our solution, in order not to communicate too generalistically, was to find the common denominator of all target categories and create an umbrella concept that supported the entire portfolio based on the unique need of each.
Therefore, we mapped each need and connected it to one of the products in the portfolio, creating a collection of visuals that focused on the need they had: for energy, mobility, concentration or good mood. The campaign’s headline “get fit” was supported both literally and figuratively in the visuals and by the shape of the product which, regardless of the range, put the focus on the consumer.
We invite you to explore more of our projects for healthcare and medical businesses. And the next time you need to run a campaign for a brand in this area, we recommend that however big the challenge, you take a step back and explore a little further than the rational benefits. Communication in this segment needs more emotion than we see in the market.
