Japan is where stigma of PSORIASIS, a skin condition that causes painful raised plaques, is one of the most critical in the world. The word for psoriasis (kansen) sounds exactly same as the word for contagious in Japanese, which has led to the common misconception that the condition is contagious. This social stigma has a devastating impact, leading patients to isolate themselves and avoid social interactions. It also limits patients’ access to optimal treatment, as many do not continue to seek support following diagnosis and first-line treatment while new and improved biological treatments are becoming available. Issues around awareness and understanding are compounded by a lack of accurate public information about psoriasis, and by low media interest. At the launch of TREMFYA® (guselkumab), a new biologic therapy, Janssen identified an opportunity to disrupt the landscape, change the way psoriasis is perceived, and demonstrate Janssen’s leadership and commitment to patients.

To remove the stigma associated with psoriasis, we wanted the general public to really understand what it means to live with this disease. Experiential activities were central to fostering deep understanding and empathy for those with psoriasis. Because the condition is vivid in physical appearance, we especially incorporated immersive visual elements throughout the campaign to ensure high engagement and to act as a powerful educational tool. Such meaningful actions included offering temporary tattoos of psoriasis plaques to media, holding an art exhibition where beautiful artworks revealed hidden physical and emotional burden, and VR to experience the struggled daily life with psoriasis. We also assigned a well-known model who revealed to be living with psoriasis as campaign Ambassador, hoping that her beautiful appearance with unknown struggles would change the way psoriasis is perceived by media and the general public and motivate patients to seek support and live their best lives.

Our approach was to change the way the general public and patients think about psoriasis by challenging their bias that its problems were misleading name and the physical appearance. Beyond terminology and skin condition, there were ignorant disabilities of social isolation and limiting opportunities to get treated.We presented its true cost was ironically INVISIBLE although the symptom was visibly exposed. This explains why experiential and visual elements played important roles in the initiative.

Strategy built on three pillars: Educate – Engage – Empower

Educate: Increase media and public understanding of psoriasis by providing comprehensive information about the condition and its burden.

Engage: Create immersive experiences to help the public visualize, empathize and truly engage with the devastating impact of these diseases on people’s lives.

Empower: Motivate those living with psoriasis to seek support and live their best life by providing inspiration and improving knowledge of the current treatment options available.

In October 2018, a psoriasis awareness initiative was launched via The Invisible Museum art exhibition to showcase the daily struggles of patients through beautiful artworks that reveal their hidden messages when photographed with a flash. The initiative was supported by a comprehensive media relations campaign featuring well-known Japanese model, Angelica Michibata who has a strong profile with the public and patient community, having recently revealed on social media she is living with psoriasis. Janssen also supported a range of education initiatives to improve psoriasis awareness and understanding amongst media and the general public, including a media seminar in collaboration with eight other pharmaceutical companies and a public awareness event on World Psoriasis Day. To support the initiative, a dedicated public website was launched featuring comprehensive information about psoriasis and inspirational personal stories. Meanwhile, an educational event series was held where Angelica, expert dermatologists and a leading patient organization were involved.

•USD 8.5m in earned media including >500 articles with potential reach of 2.5bn views, exceeding target by 2,500%

•12m social media engagements

•Psoriasis was the 4th most searched term on Google on 6 October, exceeding expectations of a 50% increase in searches

•15.4% increase in awareness of psoriasis (from 24.7% to 40.1%), exceeding campaign target of 10%

•12.9% increase in public understanding that psoriasis is not contagious (from 17.2% to 30.1%), more than double the 5% target

•Market for biologic treatments grew by 28%

•A qualitative survey showed that almost a third of patients were less concerned about their appearance following the art exhibition

•Received positive feedback from a leading patient organization, which described the campaign as ‘first-of-its-kind’ and ‘critical to empowering people with psoriasis’ to seek better treatment options

•The head of Japan Society of Psoriasis Research publicly recognized this campaign’s contribution to improving understanding of psoriasis