“RESISTANCE” INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN: Spreading the word on bacterial resistance.

To mark European Antibiotic Awareness Day on November 18 2013, we collaborated with the University of London's Royal Holloway College on a very unusual project. The aim was to raise awareness of the global problem of bacterial antibiotic resistance, and in particular how it is affecting treatment of acne. The campaign was funded by Galderma, a dermatology company that produces Epiduo, an antibiotic-free medicine for acne.

The campaign message was spread by live acne bacteria, which were grown on culture dishes to spell out the words: RESISTANCE IS GROWING.

The process was shown 'live' on a dedicated microsite, and the campaign was supported by printed mailers, leaflets and posters (with an Augmented Reality element), plus video and social media.

RESISTANCE was a fully integrated campaign utilising multiple channels which generated a huge amount of buzz and contagious interest. It delivered the client's objective of highlighting resistance as a threat to effective use of antibiotics, and focussing attention its own non-antibiotic treatment for acne.

The bacterial growth (and reactions of students) was filmed and streamed to a microsite set up for the campaign: www.fight-bac.com

The microsite contained information about acne and antibiotic use, how resistance arises, and (for HCPs), information about antibiotic-free treatment for acne.

A teaser video was produced to publicise the campaign.

Posters were put up in the College to inform students about the initiative.

HCPs received:

A Resistance “Combat Kit” mailer containing:

A webcard with QR code for the microsite.

A campaign leaflet with a link to the microsite and an AR link to the teaser video.

Post-launch mailers on the brand and the Resistance campaign, with an AR link to a video of the growing bacteria.

Social media posts (on Twitter, Facebook and the University intranet) to encourage sharing by a web-savvy audience.

The timeframe for the campaign was short, commencing 2 weeks before EAAD and finishing 2 weeks after.

Client feedback confirmed that the RESISTANCE campaign succeeded in its aims.

This was the client's first foray into ambient/experiential media, and the company's verdict was that it enhanced their reputation for innovation and forward thinking. The use of growing bacteria was particularly appropriate to the brand, and the infectious nature of the campaign dovetailed perfectly with EAAD.

A significant uplift in brand sales and customer interactions was seen immediately after the campaign.

From a narrow target list of 2000 HCPs, the AR media attracted 658 interactions and 1976 pageviews, and the microsite received 937 visits and 2,164 pageviews.

The campaign attracted widespread coverage in the pharmaceutical press, including a feature in Advertising Health.

Although originally restricted to the UK, the client asked for the 'Resistance is Growing' bacterial growth message to be duplicated in 4 different languages, and they are planning to repeat and extend the campaign globally in 2015.