Generics entering the market. Regulators battling with one another - creating confusing rules and an uncertain future. Uninformed consumers who didn't believe that accidents could happen to them. This was the scenario Plan B One-Step found itself in at the start of 2013. But when the FDA declared midway through the year that emergency contraception could be sold over the counter, it was time to act fast. A two-part strategy was devised to announce the new rules while building awareness that Plan B One-Step was the answer women needed to have in advance of unprotected sex or failed birth control. The Get a Real Plan viral video series hit YouTube and immediately started changing minds. On it's heels followed a web series shot by Academy Award winning director Errol Morris that empowered women to go to the store aisle and take charge of the situation. Web, mobile and on-line advertising bolstered the campaign, making the "take-charge" message impossible to ignore. By the end of the year, Plan B One-Step had doubled its market share, taking over 68% of the market, generics were on the run, and most important, women knew they had a plan they could count on.

The creative executions fit the Plan B strategy to a tee. Get a Real Plan was a series of YouTube videos using broad wit to comically dramatize personal insights about how women might tackle birth control failure without Plan B One-Step. The series took off, informing women to Get a Real Plan before they actually needed one. The other half of the digital strategy came to life in a web video shot by Academy Award winner Errol Morris, depicting real women speaking to camera about their new found empowerment. The video was bold and in-your-face. It was women telling women that the time had come to take charge, leave embarrassment in the closet and tell those who might try to judge you to "speak to the hand." It was a roaring success that was backed up by robust web and mobile sites and on-line banner ads.

The campaign saw immediate results, spreading awareness through the power of viral video. Get a Real Plan doubled the click through rate for YouTube banners driving to video content and firmly planted the idea that there's no time when it's safe to have no plan. This success was just the beginning as the Errol Morris shot Empowerment web videos were viewed over 7 million times. Their reception far exceeded expectations, increasing website visits by 85%. Of course, the true test of a campaign is its ability to change the market. Where women may once have been timid about asking their pharmacist about Plan B, they were now empowered. The campaign allowed them to speak up at the most important moment, when they needed it, and it was reflected in the numbers - Plan B market share doubled, increasing to 68% of the market.