We decided the best person to navigate this tricky path would be an actor. Actors are trained to laugh and cry on cue, which makes them uniquely qualified to address people with PBA who have no control over their emotional outbursts. In our spot, Danny Glover demonstrates his ability to switch laughter and tears on and off on command and explains the neurologic disconnect that causes frequent outbursts in people with PBA.

As a distinguished film and stage actor, Mr. Glover lends recognition, dignity and credibility to a condition many people find embarrassing. He encourages viewers to get the facts at pbafacts.com, a robust site with educational content, physician videos, patient stories, and the opportunity to request the “PBA Facts” information kit. Mr. Glover also appears in the print ads, point-of-care brochures, and digital media all designed to recall the TV imagery.

TV is the primary media channel due to its broad impact and over-development among the target. The DRTV :60 was in-market tested (A:B creative test) starting late-January, 2015. Full media weight against PBA Facts-Actor launched in March, running across national cable and select national networks. By leveraging response from 50+ phone-numbers within the :60, media is aggressively buy-managed on the national and local level based on Cost/Qualified- Lead and response-rate for each show/station/daypart. The supporting :30 awareness spot is intended to broaden reach/frequency of the core PBA message. Search was the next important channel to capitalize on TV awareness and web synergies. Targeted unbranded disease-specific print, with awareness as primary goal--not response--ran in neurologic condition advocacy journals. In all communication vehicles, including in-office brochures at specialists’ offices, Mr. Glover consistently provides a powerful, compassionate presence designed to leverage recognition of the TV imagery and reinforce the same message.

In less than a year PBA-Actor is translating to increased PBA unaided awareness (+12 percentage points or +35%) among PBA symptomatic. Further, the campaign is driving action, with +14 PP (+50%) of symptomatic patients having spoken with a HCP about PBA.

The direct response mechanism offers proof that this campaign is an effective/efficient means of capturing qualified leads. In year 1, 80K+ called to request a kit plus 550,000 visited pbafacts.com, of which 53K+ listened to the educational videos. Additionally, Cost/Qualified Lead came in better than goal, resulting in 30k opt-in highly ‘qualified’ leads requesting a kit and enabling follow-on communications. While Mr. Glover’s stage presence and recognition is a tremendous, attention-getting bonus, using a celebrity to highlight how they can turn intense emotions on/off at will is importantly showing people living with PBA outbursts that they’re not crazy or depressed, but have a neurologic condition that’s actually treatable