Voltaren Arthritis Pain Gel is the world’s #1 topical pain reliever. However, it was only available in the U.S. as a prescription until May 2020, when it became available over the counter. Our challenge: How do we come up with our own idea to launch a brand with limited awareness in a highly competitive category with well-established players like Tylenol and Aleve—during a global pandemic, no less? And how do we create the category of a differentiated OTC topical medication while also building an emotional connection?

To show older women that Voltaren can help them move the way they used to, we got someone known for her moves in 1990 to show that she can still move like that in 2020: Paula Abdul. We inserted present-day Paula—dancer, singer, arthritis sufferer—into her classic “Forever Your Girl” music video to dance side-by-side with her younger self to prove that, with the help of Voltaren’s arthritis pain relief, she can move as effortlessly and amazingly at fifty-seven as she did at twenty-seven.

Living with arthritis can be a pain, in every sense of the word. Enter Voltaren—the first full prescription strength gel for powerful arthritis pain relief. When you suffer from arthritis, it hurts to move. But here’s the thing: movement actually helps relieve your joint pain. With people spending more time at home due to COVID-19, keeping spirits up and finding arthritis pain relief had never been more important. In a 2020 study of 1,000 U.S. adults aged 35+ suffering from joint pain, 82% of respondents said their physical activity had decreased due more time at home, and 92% reported that their joint pain was the same or more severe during this time. With those results in mind, Voltaren set out to inspire arthritis sufferers to rediscover the joy of movement—and who better to encourage movement and spread joy than dancer, singer, and arthritis sufferer Paula Abdul?

Alongside media interviews, the TVC and OLV featuring present-day Paula dancing with her younger self (proving she can move as effortlessly and amazingly at 57 as she did at 27, with help from Voltaren) launched Voltaren’s May 2020 switch from Rx to OTC. To complement this work, Voltaren also developed best-in-class social assets, which uniquely leveraged Paula’s music and dance moves to further reinforce Voltaren’s RTBs in a fun and engaging manner, all while adhering to social platform best practices. Additionally, the video was part of a YouTube Masthead takeover, reaching everyone who logged on to YouTube over a 24-hour time period. The :30 video and related article content were also hosted on VoltarenGel.com, the first arthritis-friendly, mobile-first website experience—tested and validated by real arthritis patients, built with unique arthritis-friendly features, and offering holistic support.

Increased brand awareness, consideration, and sales growth data demonstrate that the Paula spot helped Voltaren, a new brand with little awareness, break through a crowded category filled with established players. Voltaren was the only brand in the category with significant growth in aided and unaided awareness—reaching 72% brand awareness post launch (unprecedented for a new OTC product), while also increasing consideration and usage, making Voltaren the topical treatment brand with the strongest aware-to-consider ratio. The Paula spot drove 684% growth in sales. The YouTube Masthead received massive reach of 615MM total impressions—leading to a +230% lift in visits to the brand’s website. Additionally, the Masthead drove +29 search lift for Voltaren post-video release. During the week of the YouTube Masthead and Latin Grammys, when Paula creative ran at scale, there was a 10.3% lift in consumption. Overall media coverage of the Paula spot garnered 255,419,232 impressions.