The biopharmaceutical industry faces a need to strengthen trust and respect from society. Pfizer sought to design a program to build trust and respect by introducing the approachable personality of its Chief Medical Officer, Freda Lewis-Hall, M.D. Pfizer collaborated with CBS Television Distribution (CTD) to develop a first of its kind campaign to reach millions of consumers with important health information.

The program was launched with a pilot discussing critical health topics on the daytime television show, “The Doctors,” featuring Dr. Lewis-Hall as a guest expert. It expanded to the shows “Rachael Ray” and “Dr. Phil” and the websites GetHealthyStayHealthy.com and StartswithYou.com.

Pfizer is the only company to have a senior executive appearing on daytime television as a recurring expert. This achievement came with challenges, which included balancing Pfizer’s goals and legal and regulatory boundaries with the creative objectives of CTD.

The public relations program continues to run successfully: As of April 2014, Dr. Lewis-Hall has made 74 appearances on four CTD programs, reaching 98 million views via broadcast alone. In 2013, more than one million consumers engaged with Pfizer health and medical content online. The program has resulted in a nearly 20 percent improvement in perception of Pfizer post-viewing.

In late 2011, Pfizer began working with CTD on a platform to present health information to U.S. consumers. The initiative launched with Pfizer’s Freda Lewis-Hall, M.D. making appearances on the television show “The Doctors.” A website, GetHealthyStayHealthy.com was launched to help consumers take the next step.

The program expanded in 2012 to “The Rachael Ray Show” as an opportunity to share health and wellness information with a largely female viewing audience. The “Dr. Phil Show,” added in 2013, highlights the emotional and behavioral elements of health decisions.

Segments are co-developed by show producers and Pfizer. They are supported by scientific references and reviewed by Pfizer regulatory and legal before taping.

In 2012, a CBS website, StartsWithYou.com, was created to amplify Pfizer’s online presence through syndication. The site features Starts with You: Health Studio, a web series where Dr. Lewis-Hall interviews celebrities on critical health topics.

The program has been regularly measured against the initial objectives using the metrics of broadcast reach, online traffic, video streams and survey research.

•Positioned Pfizer as a credible source of health information through placement in 74 educational segments across broadcast and online vehicles, reaching 98 million broadcast views.

•Survey and dial testing showed an established, genuine and meaningful connection with consumers. Dr. Lewis-Hall’s discussions improved people’s perception of Pfizer’s nearly 20%.

•Optimized markets for priority businesses and research functions through broadcast integrations and related online content covering health topics in which Pfizer has a presence and resources.

•Drove traffic to GetHealthyStayHealthy.com, showed consumers were motivated to take action. The site had approximately 100,000 unique visitors in 2013, with 10% of those visitors following links provided on the site to Pfizer unbranded resources or third-party partner resources.