Situation: Crafting the right kinds of advertisement for pharmaceutical advertising is tough. The industry is highly conservative and comes with a vast set of restrictions that make innovation and creative brand campaigns incredibly difficult.

Brief: Augmented Reality, or AR, presents a unique situation for pharmaceutical companies looking to make waves in 21st century advertising. Utilizing AR technology allows for a highly interactive experience where users can personally interact with a campaign, creating a more personalized experience.

Objectives: Adapt existing campaign materials from Sanofi to create a cutting-edge, interactive campaign, where users become part of the ad in real time. This new frontier revolutionizes the way businesses think about what makes a good campaign and how AR can be used to enhance and inform the user experience.

Educating consumers while formulating an interactive experience for them can be a balancing act. Our goal was to find the right balance—and keep things fun and creative, too. We focused on informing consumers how Allegra (Sanofi’s leading allergy drug in Brazil) could be used to target and manage allergy symptoms. Our big idea: utilize AR tech for a mobile experience that puts consumers front and center. And what better way than a front “facing” application? This ad used facial recognition to demonstrate the product’s allergy relief power: users see allergy symptoms like sneezing, itchy eyes, and congestion reflected on their own faces. By interacting with the ad and “using” Allegra, they get immediate relief. A quick refresh of the user’s facial profile shows clear eyes, a healthy complexion, and not a sneeze or stuffed nose in sight.

Data gathering and insights: AR’s innovative properties have long been discussed, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of its potential in advertising. According to AR Insider, AR ad revenue is anticipated to grow from $167 million to $2.6 billion by 2022. AR presents an opportunity to explore formats that excite consumers and evoke reactions—while also remaining compliant with pharmaceutical-marketing regulations.

Target audience (consumer demographic/individuals/organizations): For this campaign, we targeted Millennials and Gen Zs.

Approach: We identified the most common symptoms relatable to consumers with allergies. Then, we fine-tuned our creative concept for an engaging mobile experience: we leveraged facial recognition and overlaid illustrations of the symptoms on the consumer’s face: red, itchy eyes; an enlarged and congested nose; an interactive sneeze on the phone screen. We wanted users to see the uncomfortable symptoms of allergies animated on their faces, then provide the promised relief.

Implementation: Implementing the campaign took several phases. First, we created the concept, along with mock-ups of the planned user experience. This enabled us to develop and fine-tune a creative experience for users. Next, we developed a functional demo in lockstep with the client, so we could make final adjustments to tailor things to perfection.

Timeline: The timeline from conception to go-live was three weeks. This included just two working days for conception, five working days for functional demos, and two more weeks for final approval.

Placement: The ads were placed on publisher partners site throughout Brazil on premium and brand-safe inventory that includes leading publishers in Brazil such as RG, O Globo, Esetadao, Vice, and Editora Abril.

Scale: Our reach in Brazil exceeds 90% of Brazilian internet users.

Reach: 5.5 million unique users

Engagement: Dwell times ranged from 38 seconds up to three minutes, exceeding goal of 25-second dwell time by up to 600+%.

Achievements against business targets: Vinícius Santos, Sanofi Customer Healthcare Marketing Director: “We were looking for a way to speak directly with the final consumer. Teads’ augmented-reality solution effectively and innovatively addressed Brand Awareness and Engagement goals. With Teads, it was possible to solve different challenges while talking to each target in an extremely targeted and effective way.”