Social listening found a spike in conversations around headaches related to the U.S. presidential primary debates in spring 2016. Excedrin validated this insight by conducting custom research which revealed that nearly 7 out of 10 Americans believed the 2016 U.S. presidential election caused more headaches than any other election year.

Although the golden rule of brand marketing is to avoid politics, as the leader in headache relief we approached the final U.S. presidential debate as we do everything else: head on.

Rooted in brand-owned research, we developed a 360º program – anchored with a Twitter Promoted Trend – which allowed us to tap into a national conversation. In doing so, we garnered maximum visibility and resonance for Excedrin’s head pain specialist positioning with everyone from general consumers to media.

In the days leading up to the third and final presidential debate, we delivered custom head pain relief kits to top consumer, health and political journalists. We teased that a big headache was coming and that Excedrin would be there to provide relief.

The morning of the final debate, we began our social takeover on Twitter with a simple, singular message, grounded in our brand-owned research: “The possibility of a #DebateHeadache is high. Be prepared with Excedrin.”

By the start of the debate, #DebateHeadache was trending. Reporters and consumers shared their commentary and applauded Excedrin for finding a way to deliver bipartisan relief. It was clear that Excedrin was the new third-party who entered the final presidential debate and many consumers, and top-tier media and influencers, declared us the winner.

#DebateHeadache became one of the most far-reaching and authentic brand engagements during the election season. Within hours of the first tweet in the series, media coverage appeared in consumer/lifestyle, business and marketing publications, national and local broadcast.

400 earned media placements (350MM+ impressions) in the most-read, most-watched, most-influential media including the New York Times, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and even Saturday Night Live – often cited as the ultimate validation of pop culture presence. CNN named Excedrin the “Debate Winner before it even began.”

Additionally, #DebateHeadache saw more than 180,000 engagements across social platforms.

• During the 4-week post-campaign period, sales were +9.7% vs. the year prior; +7.6% vs. prior 4 weeks. The total category was -1.3% vs. prior 4 weeks during the same period.

• Generated an incremental sales lift +10% vs. the year prior.

• Two weeks post-launch, captured highest market share of the year