Quick fixes for migraine headaches are the Holy Grail for those who suffer from them. But while a new initiative from Biohaven may not offer a full-on panacea, it nonetheless attacks the problem with cleverness and flair.
#RelieveYourFeed leads Twitter users through some common migraine triggers — including light levels, lack of sleep and stress — then immediately diverts them to their Twitter settings page, where changes can be effected. “Empowerment” ranks right up there with “authenticity” among common marketing buzzwords — but by leading customers directly to a positive change that can be made instantly, Biohaven actually empowers users.
(The company is the maker of migraine medication Nurtec ODT, approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year for both the prevention and treatment of migraines.)
“It’s a basic and simple construct of empowerment,” said Biohaven CEO and director Dr. Vlad Coric. “Giving somebody the tools to improve their condition and identifying stressors and other triggers like volume and light, and then putting them right into their Twitter feed and allowing them to change those things — that is part of the empowerment, as is learning about our drug. Those things go in concert.”
Coric views #RelieveYourFeed as a particularly good tool for the broader patient market, predominantly women who tend to first experience migraine headaches between adolescence and age 50. “They’re all plugged in; they’re online,” he added.
#RelieveYourFeed overlaps with other Biohaven initiatives, many of them influencer-centric. Khloe Kardashian, for ones, has been a Biohaven spokesperson since the launch of “Take Back Today” in 2020. Whether they come from a Kardashian or a less famous spokesperson, however, Coric sees patient testimonials as an especially powerful tactic.
“Khloe is one of our mega-influencers, but so is Greg Peterman, who was on seven tours of duty in the Middle East veteran and who had severe migraines,” Coric noted. “When someone hears the story of these individuals, they feel empowered. That’s what the whole campaign’s about.”
Not surprisingly, Biohaven supported a number of initiatives around Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, which concluded last Thursday. In addition to #RelieveYourFeed, Biohaven partnered with the National Headache Foundation to launch Operation Brainstorm, focused on veterans and active-duty military. The “Migraine Perspectives” video raised awareness of migraines among men — and especially Black men, who are less likely to receive adequate migraine care.
“We reached an all-time high on weekly prescriptions: 37,000 in one week,” Coric reported. He added that early returns on #RelieveYourFeed are strong, with more than 40,000 website clicks.
While Biohaven’s campaign is migraine-focused, Coric believes its approach — serving up a slate of changes that are immediately actionable — may have broader relevance in other areas of mental health.
“Mental health is about how you function, how you keep an appropriate outlook in life and sustain optimism and get through challenges,” he explained, “We can control how much we let stress and needless negative inputs, which we essentially receive 24 hours a day, impact our lives.”
