MAKING STI DATA SEXY

Every year the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) publishes academic data on the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Australia. Yet, despite these data being made widely available, STIs such as syphilis and chlamydia have more than doubled in the past decade. With many condom brands in the category focusing on pleasure and performance, we saw an opportunity to visualize STI data in a way that builds engagement around the product's health and safety benefits.

THE INTIMACY OF 1:1

In 2020, one of the most effective ways to deploy targeted, cross-platform advertising is through third-party cookies. However, by 2022 Google will no longer be supporting these cookies, leaving brands to find new ways of creating 1:1 relationships with their consumers. At the heart of this challenge is creating a value exchange that keeps LifeStyles customers coming back, building engagement and loyalty.

OUR OBJECTIVE

Getting people to engage with LifeStyles on a 1:1 level, as measured by:

? First-party data (emails, phone numbers)

? Email engagement (Unique CTR, Unique Open Rates)

? Organic social growth

OUR BRIEF

Reinforce LifeStyles’ position as a leading sexual health and wellness brand by creating a lasting relationship with consumers outside of the bedroom.

HEALTH DATA MEETS WEALTH DATA

Similar to stocks, STI searches can be highly volatile, and can swing from highs to lows at any moment. With these fluctuations in mind, we saw an opportunity to activate STI data in a way that engages young Australians and incentivizes them to practice safer sex through upside potential.

INNOVATION

A stock-market inspired, e-commerce platform for LifeStyles Condoms that uses compelling data visualization and an engaging discounting mechanic to create 1:1 relationships with consumers. Because STIs, like stocks, are Publicly Traded.

ORIGINAL USE OF DATA

Instead of distributing a digital coupon, Publicly Traded uses live STI search data via the Google Trends API to drive the price of LifeStyles Condoms – incentivizing consumers to start a 1:1 relationship with the brand.

UNLOCKING THE POWER OF HEALTH SEARCH

According to Google Health, 7% of Google’s daily searches are health-related. This is of particular interest to a condom brand, since web-searches have a demonstrated value in predicting the spread of infectious diseases by region. This includes searches for STIs (e.g. “gonorrhoea”), their key symptoms (e.g. “painful urination”), and adjacent search terms (e.g. “pus-like discharge”).

GLOBAL DATA, LOCAL INSIGHTS

We started by tapping into Google Trends, which allowed us to monitor search interest for any STI over time, where it’s most searched, and what was searched in connection with it. We then created an algorithm that pulls real-time search data on Australia’s six top STIs, and used compelling data visualization to bring it to life.

OUR TARGET

Sex is like stocks. Both have similar risk-to-reward profiles that appeal to young men aged 18-35, who informed the overall purpose, tone and direction of the campaign.

DATA JOURNEY & IMPLEMENTATION

• Google Trends API gathers real-time search data on Australia’s six top STIs.

• Custom-built algorithm collects and visualizes data every 15 minutes.

• STI search data powers data-driven pricing with inverse pricing mechanic.

• Acoustic sends triggered Price Alerts via email or SMS for 1:1 engagement.

REACTING IN REAL-TIME

As we monitored our platform, we noticed STI-related searches spiked late at night across the country. We activated against these trends by deploying hyper-targeted ads on Instagram and Facebook when and where STIs were trending. So if Chlamydia searches surged in Darwin at 2AM, or in Adelaide at 4AM – LifeStyles was there with relevant, contextual messages.

DATA-DRIVEN PRICING

Publicly Traded uses live STI search data via the Google Trends API to drive inverse pricing for LifeStyles Condoms. So when the need for protection is the greatest, accessibility for LifeStyles is the highest.

BRAND BUILDING

931% increase in social lift across Instagram and Facebook.

1.64 million earned media hits in the first month.

CREATING ENGAGEMENT

207% increase in repeat visits vs. LifeStyles’ previous sexual health awareness campaign.

47.37% Unique Open Rate – Beat the retail/e-commerce industry benchmark by 72%.

21.05% Unique CTR – Beat the retail/e-commerce industry benchmark by 150%.

LONG-TERM VALUE

100% increase in monthly CRM sign-ups, including email addresses and phone numbers.

PR

“A dramatically different, fresh era of condom advertising.” – PENTHOUSE

“The D2C brand war is on.” – STRATEGY

“This is as sexy as stocks get.” – THE HUSTLE

Top 25 Contagious Ad Campaigns of 2020 – contagious.com