Advertising prescription-only brands to healthcare professionals in Europe is governed by the ABPI (UK), the EFPIA (Europe), the FDA (US) and various regional or country guidelines across Asia Pacific and Latin America. In Europe, the guidelines stipulate that no prescription brand may advertise directly to the general public. Every ‘claim’ must be substantiated by published clinical evidence and must be done so with ‘fair balance’. Claims cannot be created using hanging comparators (e.g. ‘better’ without qualifying what better means and in relation to what) and vague unqualified superlatives e.g. ‘best’. Every claim must go through regional (European) and then local (country) medical, regulatory, legal and marketing approval before being published. The guidelines also stipulate that you cannot directly disparage competitor brands, and when making explicit comparisons, only head-to-head clinical trial evidence must be used, with few exceptions. Promotional material cannot advertise the brand for conditions outside of its indicated use e.g. essential hypertension, not stress-induced hypertension. Promotional media at conferences are also governed by local regulations within the host country. All the above guidelines are usually used as a benchmark for the absolute minimum level of stringency meaning clients often exercise even greater restrictions on themselves to avoid their contravention.

The objective: to demonstrate a clear positioning for Edarbi, a new ARB (angiotensin receptor blocker) for managing hypertension.

The challenges: externally, as the eighth entry in its class into a crowded and satisfied market, established competitors also had outcome data which we couldn’t compete with as a new brand. Internally, the campaign needed to be implemented across a range of core TPEU markets, where there was initially resistance to a single strategic and creative approach.

We knew we had to find a unique voice for Edarbi and maintain consistency in communication. Edarbi has superior efficacy in BP lowering shown in head-to-head studies against three competitors, and it was immediately clear that we could own a simple, single-minded approach of being the most efficacious ARB.

Execution: We differentiated ourselves purely through a collusive and conspiratorial tone-of-voice, giving the brand an attitude previously unheard of in the category, because we could.

The campaign needed to work across the core TPEU markets between November 2011 and June 2013, so it was vital to have full buy-in from Takeda affiliates to ensure consistency.

Outcome: As a result, Edarbi has now made its way onto a number of formularies, for use by GPs

The goals were to make a noise in the market and behave in a no-nonsense collusive way as opposed to a promotional way. The strategy was to behave as a peer as opposed to a supplier and talk in a way that not only understands what is required from an ARB but also understands the daily pressures a GP, or even a cardiologist are under.

Another busy day’ was used to close the first day of the European launch event and the anecdotal feedback from the delegates was very positive.

"The majority seem to have gone away, fully-prepared to be ambassadors for the Edarbi brand and also for thinking differently and embracing change in their areas" TPEU Brand Manager

Anecdotally the campaign has been well-received and despite being yet another ARB is being given time and not being looked over by GPs and Cardiologists. Its approach is now seen as being a do'er as opposed to being an also ran.

The campaign has been adopted by the European markets as well as interest for use - being requested by Canada – which sits outside of the original internal remit.

As a result of the campaign, Edarbi is now on a number of formularies for the treatment of essential hypertension by GPs.

The campaign set out a "tone" of communication that not only was reflected in the way the campaign's copy worked but also the style of the campaign. It took on a conversational, competent approach that had no embellishment. The way the brand spoke was the way the drug worked. The typography had no serifs and was utilitarian, the idea was almost anti-marketing in all of its material but the way it spoke to the audience was in a self-deprecating but self-confident way. Thus aligning itself to the mind set of the prescriber in a more educated self-aware way.

‘Another Busy Day’ is designed for use across different media and markets. Based on insight from our core customer - GPs, it gives the viewer a true insight into the need for a brand that cuts through the noise to offer a simple solution for treating hypertension. It's mostly explained in the film but it is a late entrant into a mostly satisfied market, the opportunity was to find a new way of talking to a bored, time-poor audience.