Every 37 seconds a Westerner dies from a venous blood clot known as thrombosis, the underlying cause of the world’s top-three cardiovascular killers. It’s a condition made for our time as people sit long stages in office jobs…on planes, trains, in cars…and in front of screens. Most don’t know that sitting for 90 minutes reduces blood flow in the legs by 50 percent, dramatically increasing the risk of a potentially killer clot.

In the countdown to the first-ever World Thrombosis Day October 13, 2014, Berlin-based Bayer HealthCare – an innovator in blood clot management – wanted to get people to stop, think and make time to move. Bayer launched Time2Move – the first global campaign to urge individuals to get up and move to reduce the risk of a potentially deadly clot. The campaign moved the message through the bloodstream of culture. At Berlin’s Alexanderplatz Station, a “Thrombo-Coach” rallied commuters to “shake-a-leg” up stairways instead of using escalators. At Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, a flash-mob dressed as red blood cells “clotted” the Gate in a narrative about a young man’s incident. We issued a Time2Move Challenge, gave away pedometers, and then invited people to digitally track and compare their daily steps to others around the world.

Scores of media events and activities across 23 countries got people moving to reduce the risk of thrombosis. Earned media reached 208+ million people and healthcare providers, while social reached 4 million, and Bayer’s Time2Move Challenge was adopted by people in 45 countries.

Bayer HealthCare wanted to cast a spotlight on World Thrombosis Day as an opportunity to raise awareness of the risk and global burden of thrombosis and to drive discussion among target audiences – patients, healthcare professionals and the general public. At the same time, it was important for Bayer to demonstrate its long-term commitment and leadership in blood clot management.

Time2Move moved a world farther away from the threat of thrombosis, shaking up awareness through 684 stories that reached 208+ million people across the globe. In addition:

- More than 34 WTD Bayer-sponsored activities/events took place across 23 countries, including press and public awareness events, internal and external educational lectures and activities targeting healthcare providers

- Social media campaigns across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube reached more than 4 million users

- The campaign engaged 150,000+ healthcare providers and 7,200 Bayer HealthCare employees

- 45 countries participated in the Time2Move Challenge

- Videos – What Could Happen in the Next 37 Seconds?, Flash Mob at the Brandenburg Gate, and Thrombo Coach at Berlin Alexanderplatz achieved more than 87,000 views

- Over 2,000 digital ads appeared on trains and billboards throughout Berlin

Kicking off the campaign was the release of findings of the Global Blood Clot Awareness Survey and infographic along with three short videos exposing the impact of deadly blood clots. At Berlin’s Alexanderplatz Station, a passionate Thrombo-Coach trained commuters to take the stairs, and a flash-mob dressed as red blood cells “clotted” the Brandenburg Gate in a dramatic portrayal of a young man who dies of a clot while watching the performance.

Bayer issued a Time2Move Challenge to encourage long-sitters to learn about the risks of thrombosis and start moving, and gave away Time2Move pedometers. People signed-up at www.WTDTime2Move.com to create their own ‘My Step’ profile, record their daily steps and see how their distances compared to others around the world.

Bayer also created a Twitter trivia series via @BayerHealthCare and an internal campaign tapped the power of Bayer’s 7,200 employees to spread the word.

To mark the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis’ (ISTH) launch of the first-ever World Thrombosis Day (WTD) on October 13, 2014, Bayer HealthCare became a driving force in a campaign to prevent potentially deadly venous blood clots. In a culture of static activity where most of the Western world sits for prolonged periods, only 49% claim to be aware of the dangers of not moving.

Lack of awareness has been a complicit partner as deadly as the condition itself. As an innovator in blood clot management and healthcare-provider partner, Bayer decided to help get the world moving against thrombosis.

Bayer HealthCare conducted a Global Blood Clot Awareness Survey of 20 countries to study the world’s understanding of venous blood clots, particularly related to deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). From the study, we gleaned this insight into awareness around the risks of DVT and PE: nearly 1 in 4 people were unaware that sitting at a desk increases the risk of DVT, and half (49%) were not even aware of DVT.

We built an integrated PR campaign around the number 37 – the seconds between one death and the next from venous blood clots – launching daily events and activities in a 37-day countdown leading up to WTD. With the insight that most people are innocent by-sitters, we focused on the inherent dangers of what seems like the most risk-averse activity of all – just sitting there, using animation to get the world’s blood flowing.