Bayer Pharmaceutical
Living with Hemophilia GTM Campaign
Bringing a new drug to market with humor and empathy
2016-2019
Bayer's first new hemophilia drug in 20 years faced two problems: the key differentiator triggered negative associations, and patients were jaded by generic, pandering pharmaceutical advertising. As Creative Director, I led a research-backed campaign that broke every pharma marketing convention, using humor and empathy to educate and build an authentic brand connection as they prepared to go to market.
Roles, Tasks
Creative Direction, Copywriting, Design, Strategic Research & Insights, Campaign Strategy, Multi-Channel Execution, Team Leadership
The Challenge
Educate the market about pharmaceutical terminology before product launch, reposition Bayer as the brand that understands patients as people (not just conditions), and drive informed treatment conversations through unprecedented differentiation in pharmaceutical advertising.
A research-driven campaign that rejected pharmaceutical marketing conventions to speak to patients like regular people—using humor and "edutainment" to transform market literacy before launch.
The hemophilia treatment landscape had become oversaturated, creating decision paralysis for patients and caregivers. Our research revealed two critical insights that shaped the strategy. First: the terminology problem. "Modified" (Bayer's differentiator) carried unconscious negative bias that would undermine product messaging without pre-launch education. Second: the tone problem. Patients—predominantly young males—consistently said "I'm not a hemophiliac. I'm a guy who happens to have hemophilia." They were exhausted by pharmaceutical advertising treating them like fragile patients rather than regular people. Meanwhile, their mothers (primary caregivers) carried complex guilt about passing on the genetic condition, making them defensive about traditional medical education materials.
Strategic Approach
Extensive user research informed the entire campaign strategy
After leveraging 30+ years of community relationships and conducting intensive research with my agency team, I developed an approach so radically different from pharmaceutical norms it would cut through the noise entirely.
Deep audience immersion through panel interviews, advisory boards, and focus groups revealed patients craved humor, authenticity, and respect for their intelligence. They wanted to be treated like people, not medical conditions.
This insight demanded we break every pharmaceutical advertising convention. No stock imagery of patients in beige sweaters. No hollow, pandering tone. No treating a predominantly male teenage audience like they're fragile.
The strategic decision: speak to them like the regular guys they are. Use humor that would feel at home on social media. Create educational content so engaging it wouldn't feel like a lecture. Make mother-caregivers laugh instead of putting them on the defensive. In a pharmaceutical category drowning in sameness, Bayer would be the brand that actually got them.
Process
The campaign balanced educational rigor with unprecedented humor for pharmaceutical advertising—creating content patients would actually want to engage with.
The "Living With Hemophilia On Your Own Terms" video series tackled pharmaceutical science through playful animation and over-the-top voiceover that felt more Schoolhouse Rock than healthcare marketing. Each video explained different hemophilia terms, packaging the critical "modified vs. unmodified" education within an FDA-compliant series.
But the real differentiation came from surrounding content—social media posts, website copy, and educational materials written with tongue-in-cheek humor completely unprecedented in pharmaceutical advertising. From Halloween costume ideas for people named Minton to "Gettin' Wiggy With It" puns; the copy (which I personally wrote) acknowledged that people with hemophilia still have personalities and senses of humor beyond their medical condition.
This wasn't humor for humor's sake. It was strategic empathy—treating patients like complete human beings rather than walking diagnoses. For the teenage male demographic who would increasingly make their own treatment decisions, this approach built genuine affinity.
The content lived on LivingWithHemophilia.com, designed mobile-first with practical guides for pivotal moments like switching medications or moving to college. We activated through targeted Facebook advertising, reaching both patients and their Millennial/Gen X parents. Bayer's nurse advisory board enthusiastically endorsed the initiative, offering to promote it directly; powerful third-party validation.
Respect people's intelligence. Acknowledge their full humanity. Make pharmaceutical education genuinely enjoyable. Break conventions when conventions aren't serving the audience. And above all: speak to people like people, not people with a disease.
Final Design
A cohesive ecosystem spanning animated videos, irreverent social content, mobile-optimized resources, and strategic paid campaigns—sustained over multiple years to shift market perceptions.
The visual system balanced pharmaceutical credibility with contemporary energy. Bold, flat design aesthetics with bright colors and kinetic typography created an approachable style that stood apart from typical medical content while maintaining professional standards for Bayer's heavily regulated environment. LivingWithHemophilia.com prioritized mobile experience with clean navigation, digestible content, and prominent video embedding. The site included patient guides, caregiver resources, and practical tools—all organized around the Learn. Live. Lead. framework and written in the campaign's distinctive voice. Social media strategy focused on Facebook, developing channel-specific content showcasing the campaign's irreverent personality—posts patients would actually share rather than scroll past. Paid campaigns targeted specific demographics related to hemophilia, rare diseases, and caregiver communities. The campaign maintained momentum over multiple years with ongoing content development supporting both pre-launch education and post-launch product awareness. This sustained activation proved critical—changing deeply held perceptions required repeated exposure, and building genuine brand affinity couldn't happen overnight.
This campaign proved pharmaceutical advertising doesn't have to be boring, patronizing, or generic. By understanding what patients actually wanted—to be treated like complete human beings with personalities beyond their diagnosis—we created genuine connection rather than just marketing. The humor wasn't frivolous; it was strategic empathy in action.
Achievements
"Feedback from Bayer's nurse advisory board has reinforced the need for Bayer to take such a stand in the community, and they have offered to promote the initiative to the community."
— Bayer Nurse Advisory Board Panelist
The campaign exceeded all engagement targets ahead of schedule while successfully repositioning Bayer as the pharmaceutical brand that genuinely understands patients.
Facebook presence grew more than 1000% in 2018, exceeding the primary KPI by 30% three months ahead of deadline. The Facebook page drove nearly 20% of all website traffic, with over 40% of followers within target demographics. Website engagement showed 156% session increase and 146% unique visitor growth by February 2019. Video content drove strong organic discovery through Google search, validating our SEO and content strategy. The campaign earned a Silver ADDY Award in 2017 for the integrated execution. More significantly, it achieved its strategic objective: successfully educating the market about pharmaceutical terminology before product launch while building genuine brand affinity through unprecedented humor and empathy. The campaign's multi-year expansion demonstrates measurable business impact, evolving from pre-launch education into an ongoing community resource—validation that we created something genuinely valuable beyond marketing objectives.
KPI Over-Performance
Facebook Growth
