Supervision for over-the-counter medication advertising is under the jurisdiction of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is highly regulated. All claims and statements must be factual, proven and "on label." In addition, the atmosphere surrounding the marketing of OTC medication is highly litigious. Marketers are often sued for claims they make, rightly or wrongly, and must be able to defend statements in their advertising. Hyperbole, exaggeration and metaphor can be difficult to defend.

Who Do Allergy Sufferers Trust?

People with allergies are stubborn. Some stick with brands that don't give them full relief. Some don't even know they have allergies, and just stay inside to avoid sneezing and scratching their eyes out. So how do we reach these people? By getting their best friends to talk some sense into them.

The Gift of Speech.

When allergy sufferers are stuck inside, who suffers most? Their dogs. So we gave them the gift of speech using Motion Portrait technology. Furtec is a Facebook app that lets dogs and their allergy prone owners take a virtual walk in a virtual park. The experience lets users create a personalized video where their Dog, and other pets, come to life to convince their owners to try Zyrtec and get outside for real.

Capturing the Imagination

Furtec was a huge hit. We saw our average daily Facebook likes increase 200%. We added 86,000 new fans. More than 60% of visitors who started a video, watched it through to completion. And in the Fall allergy season when Furtec was live, Zyrtec captured #1 share of market.

Zyrtec had recently launched a campaign that holds a mirror up to Claritin allergy users, showing them the silly things they do to compensate for sub-par relief. Like stashing tissues in their pockets like a squirrel stashes nuts. We wanted to bring this campaign to life online. Particularly on Facebook, where we were starting to get some real traction in the category. While we are outspent on television, our website and mobile site get nearly 50% of all allergy category traffic. We could leverage this audience, deliver a unique digital experience and breakthrough online.

When allergy sufferers are stuck inside, who suffers most? Their dogs. So we gave their furry friends the gift of speech. Furtec lets allergy prone owners take their best friends on a virtual walk in a virtual park. Dogs, and other pets, can convince their owners to try Zyrtec and finally get outside for real.

We chose to make a Facebook app to help build our community online. And gave it the wow factor by using Motion Portrait to bring our visitors' own pets to life; while pulling personal information in using Facebook connect. The result was a custom video featuring the user's adventuresome pet talking to them, teasing them by name, and reminding them how wonderful it is to get outside. There was even a virtual photo booth in the park where users could take a photo with their virtual pet to remind them of their wonderful day "outside."

Furtec was a huge hit. We saw our average daily Facebook likes increase 200%, and added 86,000 new fans. The app was incredibly engaging, with 60% of all visitors who started a video, finishing their video and watching it through to completion. More than 25% of users returned at least once. Among returning visitors, 30% came back six or more times. And in the Fall allergy season when Furtec was live, Zyrtec captured #1 share of market.

Allergy sufferers who are not getting full relief stay inside to avoid sneezing and itching their eyes out. What are they doing inside? Like most people, they're online. By creating an engaging digital experience, we could have some fun with them. Show them how silly they are for not getting the allergy relief they need. And gently tease them for being so closed minded. We know allergy sufferers like to commiserate with other allergy sufferers. So we made it personal, social and easy to share. They could laugh at themselves, and invite friends to laugh along with them. To make sure the experience would get shared, it had to have a wow factor and be something they hadn't seen before. Finally, it had to be silly to break through in a serious, claims driven category.

Zyrtec allergy medicine is outspent on television 2-to-1 by the category leader, Claritin. Further, people who take Claritin think they're getting the best relief possible. This simply isn't true. They often have symptoms peeking through, and don't get full relief. But since they think Claritin is the gold standard, they aren't open to hearing our competitive message. To capture share of market, we had to find a way to break through the complacency that prevents some allergy sufferers from trying Zyrtec.