Campaign type
Budget consumer health media relations – making a big bang for virtually no bucks!
Campaign title
Even celebrities get morning sickness!
Brief
Pregnant women with morning sickness are restricted in their options for relief. Drugs dominate the wider nausea market, including travel sickness, but are not usually recommended as a treatment for morning sickness. Sea-Band®, a non-invasive acupressure wrist-band, offers pregnant women a safer alternative. With a very modest budget, Say’s brief was to promote Sea-Band in this relatively untapped market.
Solution
The only way to deploy a ‘big bang for virtually no bucks’ consumer media campaign was to get ‘opportunistic’. Say piggybacked on the seemingly insatiable public appetite to learn about the lives of famous mums. Setting up a ‘media watch’ system, Say tracked stories of expectant stars and their experiences of morning sickness as soon as they became known. These stories were compiled into a dossier for use in media briefings.
Say then sent each mum a congratulatory letter and a Sea-Band pack to help them stave off morning sickness. Feedback from celebrity mums served as a hook to pitch a ‘real life’ case study, illustrating the benefits to the mother and baby media.
Result
A big hit media success and a boost in sales. The celebrity stories were carried in the top maternity, and selected celebrity press titles and websites. Overall product sales increased even though the market is static thanks to growth in the non-travel ‘off’ period, suggesting a direct campaign impact on sales.
Client verdict
“Say’s approach has helped Sea-Band establish its competitive claim in the non-invasive, morning sickness management market. For a product that is traditionally associated with travel nausea, this represents a major strategic move that has already positively impacted sales.". Sea-Band Ltd