Category10.pdfGOLD AWARD
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide and BioMarin Pharmaceuticals
PKU Awareness Month

Only 50,000 patients worldwide have Phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare genetic metabolic disorder, so BioMarin Pharmaceuticals needed to find a way to reach as many of them as possible. Given that BioMarin’s Kuvan, is the first and only FDA-approved product for the condition, the company didn’t have to worry about brand differentiation; that helped to bypass regulatory concerns associated with branded messaging online.

With just $3,000 in the total budget, BioMarin and Waggener Edstrom Worldwide launched PKU Awareness Month on Facebook. BioMarin hoped the campaign would help unite PKU patients on the site, where over 100 PKU groups already existed.

Rather than erecting yet another placeholder group on Facebook, BioMarin brought energy to the execution through active management of the site, including daily posts and more than 30 status updates reflecting statistics and facts about the disorder. “This is how Facebook should be used,” one judge said of the campaign.When the page launched on May 4, 2009, there were zero “fans,” or Facebook members belonging to the new group. By the end of the month, the group had brought in over 1,000 fans, with more than 400 unique interactions in response to the status updates.

“For a small amount of money, [BioMarin] did an excellent job engaging with their audience,” one judge commented.

SILVER AWARD
Group DCA and Alkermes
Vivitrol Touchpoints Recovery Support Website

Alkermes’ and Group DCA’s interactive Touchpoints website was built to help patients on Vivitrol—a vaccine for alcohol dependence—remember their monthly injections. Judges admired the site’s crisp creative and “authentic, comprehensive and easy-to-use” format. The program went live on May 1, and in just 22 days had enrolled nearly 40% of new Vivitrol patients. Sharp color and images enhanced the $350,000-budget customized program. One judge called it a “beautiful and engaging creative execution.”

From the November 02, 2009 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media