Merck: 3 LITTLE LETTERS

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Magazines

Advertiser: MERCK & CO.

Product/Service: HPV & CERVICAL CANCER AWARENESS

Agency: DRAFTFCB

Date of First Appearance: Jul 1 2009 12:00AM

Entrant Company: DRAFTFCB, New York, USA

Vice President/Associate Media Director: Nicole Coletti (Draftfcb)

Media Supervisor: Katie McCarthy (Draftfcb)

Senior Manager, Global Marketing Communications: Joe McLane (Merck & Co.)

Health Category Director: Jen Geller (Cosmopolitan)

Senior Promotion Manager: Marianne Civiletto (Cosmopolitan)

Senior Manager, HPV Franchise: Karen Lindquist (Merck & Co.)

Senior Director, Global Marketing Communications: Babak Bazmi (Merck & Co.)

Media placement: Magazine Advertorial - Cosmopolitan - 1 July 2009

Media placement: Magazine Booklet (Summer Theme) - Cosmopolitan - 1 August 2009

Media placement: Magazine Advertorial - Cosmopolitan - 1 September 2009

Media placement: Magazine Booklet (Fall theme) - Cosmopolitan - 1 October 2009



Results and Effectiveness

The “Three Little Letters” campaign was measured by two 3rd-party vendors and all results surpassed expectations.

Programme goals established for the VISTA Print Effectiveness research were exceeded:
 70% “Total Recall”
 85% “Engaged with unit”
 57% “Saved Ad”

- In a campaign effectiveness study conducted by Marketing Evolution, “Three Little Letters” outperformed regular magazine units that were in market at the same time.

- Recipient of 2010 Best Disease Education Campaign at DTC National Advertising Awards Washington, DC. This campaign competed against other “CREATIVE CAMPAIGNS” and received the “Gold” award.



Creative Execution

The creative solution was “Three Little Letters can change your life: BFF (Best Friend Forever), LOL (Laugh Out Loud) & LUV (Love). Don’t let these little letters (HPV) change your life.”

Advertorials (5-page series - July & September) introduced the “Three Little Letters” concept and booklets (8-page 5x7 Educational Booklet backed by ROB Ad- August & October) mimicked popular COSMOPOLITAN editorial features.

Execution included a number of category innovations:
 Broke through normal page/spread unit and utilised a less-traditional unit in the pharmaceutical category
 Spoke in her voice to establish a connection through a trusted source.
 Focused on classic COSMOPOLITAN editorial features (COSMO quiz, horoscopes, etc.) and used it within the advertorial series/booklet to bring the readers what they have come to expect from the magazine.
 Re-purposed content to use beyond the pages of the magazine at events and college campuses.



Insights, Strategy & the Idea

For the past 3 years, we’ve made young adult females (YAFs) aware of human papillomavirus (HPV). However, motivating her to talk to her doctor about HPV often falls behind other parts of her busy calendar… like school, socialising and boyfriends. We sought a strategic partner with equity with YAFs to help us gobeyond traditional advertising and increase the relevancy of this virus. That partner was COSMOPOLITAN.

YAFs' everyday language consists of acronyms and abbreviations. Through a seamless partnership with COSMOSPOLITAN, we created a magazine-based communication platform that used "Three Little Letters" as inspiration to connect with YAFs. We created original content that linked the “Three Little Letters” of HPV to other popular YAF phrases.