HE is a complication of liver disease with mental and physical symptoms that can mirror Alzheimer’s disease. It is a notoriously recurrent condition, but most physicians believe that it is entirely reversible. They weren’t aware that new treatment guidelines from experts warn of the potential for permanent cognitive damage. So we needed to show them that, with each episode, these patients are losing a bit more of who they once were.

We needed an arresting and memorable way to change physicians’ perception of the condition. So we created a hard-hitting campaign that visualized the notion of a patient disintegrating bit by bit, and a website experience to remind physicians that the fate of their patients’ cognitive ability lay in their taking action.

Every aspect of the Xifaxan website—from messaging to design to user experience—was created to make physicians immediately understand the irreversible nature of HE-related damage, and their ability to stop it from happening. To create the campaign’s visual effect, we built a rig that set off a series of explosions, blasting particles at high speed. Cameras captured the particles’ movement, which we then slowed down in post to create a visual depiction of continuous of disintegration.

On the site, we brought physicians face-to-face with a typical patient, using a cinemagraph effect to hint at the action about to unfold. As physicians scroll through the site, they experience the disintegration of the patient. Messages describe the permanent damage episodes of HE can cause, the typography deconstructing and animating off screen as they scroll. When physicians try to scroll back up, a message blocks them from doing so, reminding them that “With HE, there may be no going back.” Then, they are given the option of requesting samples to prevent this damage from happening to their patients.

This campaign and accompanying site launched in Q2 2015, and was live for roughly a year.

The innovative campaign and web execution led to a jump in site engagement and traffic, and helped spread understanding that HE needed to be treated differently than in the past. Compared to the same time last year, the updated website increased conversions in physician engagement, visits, and unique visitors. Site conversions (physicians seeking further information after landing on the site) increased by 56%, site visits increased by 12%, and unique visitors increased by 6%. Ultimately, this led to an increase in use of Xifaxan 550 mg as well—sales grew by more than 10% in 2015 when the site was live.