This campaign was aimed at GPs.

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

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 challenges were twofold - from an external perspective, this was the 8th 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. Based on our challenges, we knew that 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. We differentiated ourselves purely through a collusive and conspiratorial tone of voice, providing the product with a perceived attitude previously unheard of within the category. The campaign has been successfully adopted by the European markets as well as interest for use - being requested by Canada – which sits outside of the original internal remit.