Bristol-Myers Squibb used an integrated campaign that included banner ads, e-mails and an online sweepstakes to help launch a new prescription product for women.

A recent report by E-centives notes that in 1965, marketers could reach 80% of 18- to 49-year-old-women in the United States with only three TV commercials, and by the year 2000, they would need almost 100 commercials to reach the same group. The evolving fractured state of media consumption in the United States clearly poses a challenge for marketers trying to reach a broad audience with a new product. But the kaleidoscope of possibilities can come into focus through smart integrated marketing, as the team from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Tribal DDB demonstrated with the launch of VANIQA.

Roughly 41 million women suffer from the physical and self-esteem issues related to unwanted facial hair (UFH). Prior to 2000, prescription treatments for women were virtually non-existent, and UFH was a seldom-discussed health issue. Bristol-Myers Squibb was about to introduce a prescription-based product to market for this condition and with it came several marketing challenges:

• Motivate women to ask doctors about VANIQA
  
• Fill a prescription
  
• Use the product for at least eight weeks.

“Brands have to earn the loyalty of a consumer,” says Ed Kim, interactive media manager of Unilever U.S. The Tribal team set out to create an information resource for UFH to help normalize the condition and serve as credible proof of VANIQA’s efficacy. Detailed product information, along with interactive tools and content, and success stories via testimonials would all become part of the interactive offering. In addition, there was a mandate to collect information about users for future compliance efforts. That information could then be used to foster continued usage through an integrated online/offline retention program.

The interactive marketing elements included:

• Wedding Day Sweepstakes – prizes included a Napa Valley bed & breakfast getaway weekend, a day at a spa, or fragrant flowers from 1-800-Flowers
  
• Send-to-a-Friend – Along with passing along product information, for every valid e-mail address a consumer used, she would automatically receive an extra entry into the promotion
  
• Targeted e-mail lists
  
• Multi-sized banners for site advertising.

Supporting offline elements of the campaign included TV spots, print collateral (e.g. FAQ answers brochure), direct response business-reply mailers, package inserts and sample packs.

The combined efforts of this marketing initiative yielded terrific results for VANIQA. Dynamic Logic performed a study to see if the interactive advertising elements provided a lift in brand awareness. VANIQA started with 23% brand awareness, and upon a single exposure to a skyscraper (120x600) ad, brand awareness rose to 30%. A rectangular ad (360x300) fared even better, by increasing brand awareness from 23% to 33% (a 43% lift), and increasing the consumer connection to the brand message—Now Close is Up to You—from 14% to 28%.

The Web site was the most successful medium for closing a sale, wherein 85% of Web visitors who asked for a prescription filled it, compared with 77% for the business reply card and 60% for print. Through the sweepstakes promotion, e-mail acquisition also proved successful, with an 8% unique click-through rate, and nearly 50% of people who clicked on the e-mail responding to the call to action to register for the sweepstakes. The e-mail was passed along to over 16,000 new prospects, resulting in a pass-along rate of 11%.

An integrated online/offline loyalty program continues to foster sustained use and repeat purchase. The combination of tactics and metrics from above clearly demonstrates that interactive marketing is a vital component for planning and executing new product launches.