88% of the 9.7MM asthma sufferers in the US believe they have their condition under control. Unfortunately, they do not. GSK, knowing that they would not find these sufferers in condition-endemic content, took on the challenging task of locating them and convincing them to rethink their treatment. Partnering with the agency, GSK sought to learn more about who this patient is outside of their condition. By understanding their affinities, daily routine and media consumption habits we were able to develop a tactical media strategy that would not only connect with this target but also produce results that led to new patient-doctor dialogue, and ultimately new treatment options.

At the center of the campaign was the digitally based Asthma Control Test (ACT). Activated through an unbranded, multi-channel campaign placed in lifestyle content that tied back to the target’s affinities- GSK succeeded at making a connection with its target. Over the course of the 6-month campaign, ACT completions surged as asthma sufferers were quickly coming to realize that there was more that they could do to improve their condition. This realization, hopefully, in turn led to doctor conversations and better treatment plans!

The campaign ran mid-June through December, 2013. Sticking to our strategy of intercepting our target when they normally wouldn’t think about their asthma, we used high impact creative executions in lifestyle content to disrupt their daily routine. The multi-channel plan, inclusive of TV, online video, search, display and mobile, had the common goal of driving to the ACT on asthma.com.

At any point in their day, our target was exposed to impactful placements such as Yahoo’s Mail login takeover and video spots across online (e.g. Yume) and TV (e.g. early AM, cable, prime & late night) including a high profile sponsorship of A&E’s “Bonnie & Clyde” (1st simulcast over 3 networks!). Whether they were checking news, scores, or playing games on major portals Yahoo and AOL we found a way to get their attention. We even used weather triggering tactics on Weather.com to alert when symptoms might be particularly bad.

As we sorted through the final results, we learned that the response to the ACT was staggering. Total site visits by the end of the campaign were 10 times higher than they had been at the start, and the average number of ACT completions during the campaign was 595% higher than in the 6 months prior.

“Coping Isn’t Controlling” was successful in that it engaged the asthma sufferer and led them to take action. By completing the ACT, responders chose to learn more about their condition and what they could do to make living with asthma a little bit easier.