Every 40 seconds, an American has a heart attack or stroke and about 1 in 4 of these potentially fatal events happen to people who’ve already had one.

Taking a daily aspirin plays an important role in preventing cardiovascular events, but many are either not taking one or have experienced pill fatigue and have put themselves at greater risk by stopping their routine.

As the leading aspirin brand, Bayer’s mission was to inspire more people to make their cardiovascular health a priority and to increase aspirin adherence for those on doctor-directed regimens.

We came up with a new creative idea that amplified an existing brand-related insight: Your heart isn’t just yours; it also belongs to the people who love and need you most –your family and friends. When you neglect the health of your heart, you also put their hearts at risk.

Scare tactics and fear paralyze people, so we needed a different approach. To motivate people who downplay their cardiovascular risk to feel differently about their condition and create lasting change, we needed to forge an emotional connection to their family with a compelling story.

Our idea was to create a song based around the beat of a heart attack survivor, as an emotional and approachable way to have a difficult discussion.

While we knew the song would be impactful, it wouldn’t work without the right partner who truly understands the impact of a Second Chance. Research led us to renowned musician Leslie Odom Jr. and wife Nicolette Robinson, whose father, Stuart, had suffered a heart attack at the beginning of their relationship and was taking a doctor-prescribed daily aspirin.

“Second Chance,” became a duet, celebrating his father-in-law’s second chance, and The Most Meaningful Melody Campaign was born.

Survivors are more likely to stick to an aspirin regimen for their family and loved ones versus themselves. We also learned that a heartbeat can change after a cardiac event, and while that can be scary, it is also a sign of hope and optimism for a Second Chance.

So we made it the centerpiece of our storytelling.

Beyond his personal connection, Leslie was the ideal partner because he had broad appeal to multicultural audiences who are at higher risk of cardiovascular events. Without this selective and strategic approach, we knew we could not achieve the full breadth of this project.

The aspirin target is a post-cardiac event survivor found on Facebook (72%) and YouTube (54%). The target is split (51% male and 49% female), age 40+, with higher risk health factors (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol) or lifestyle factors that elevate their risk for another cardiovascular event.

While we knew the song would be impactful, it wouldn’t work without the right partner who truly understands the impact of a Second Chance. Micro-influencers or consumer testimonials wouldn’t be enough. It had to be someone culturally relevant and with a personal connection.

Research led us to Leslie Odom Jr. and wife Nicolette Robinson, whose father, Stuart, had suffered a heart attack at the beginning of their relationship and was taking a doctor-prescribed daily aspirin. Leslie, a renowned musician, had recently been nominated for an Oscar, putting him at the cross-section of purpose, relevancy and timing.

The campaign spread this emotional story through many touchpoints:

:60, :30 and :15 across Facebook/Instagram paid

Organic social content

Pandora partnership

Influencers

Press

IG Live & celebrity content

All touchpoints drove to the Bayer Aspirin Most Meaningful Melody dedicated

website to learn more about heart health. The campaign ran June - December of 2021.

The results were deafening:

Sales were up nearly 10% the week the campaign launched and up nearly 4% vs. year ago after four weeks.

A Facebook brand lift study showed a consideration lift by 1.5 points above average.

1.8M+ organic Views Across Bayer, Odom’s and Nicolette Social with 30k+ engagements.

306M+ earned impressions with 97% of coverage including at least one message.

Bayer Aspirin’s following on Instagram and Twitter increased by 12% and engagement on Instagram grew by 300%.

Unique page views on the campaign website increased about 50% one month following launch.

But the best results one can hope for in healthcare is saving a life. A consumer shared her father was having similar symptoms to Stuart and encouraged him to go to the doctor. He found out he had multiple blockages in his heart that needed urgent attention. Our campaign got him to the doctor just in time.