For years, Breathe Right struggled to get people to understand how to use their nasal strips. Harder still, was making nasal strips culturally relevant.

All of a sudden came California Chrome – a rare Triple Crown contender, and the first horse to run the Belmont Stakes with a controversial equine nasal strip. It sparked an unlikely media frenzy, and a rare opportunity to put Breathe Right at the center of a conversation.

Our strategy was to use California Chrome’s quest for Belmont to shift the conversation from horse to human. We did it by championing an unlikely ambassador for human nasal strips….a nasal strip wearing horse.

We executed this strategy by using PR (supported by media integrations, and social activation) to insert Breathe Right into the conversation people cared about most, when it mattered most. In a matter of weeks, our PR efforts managed to get 14 of America’s top rating television show hosts to wear Breathe Right nasal strips live on air. We also activated trackside. Our Mascot, Stuffy, passed out 50,000 samples that enlisted race goers to “wear and share” nasal strips in a show of support for California Chrome. Over 2 million fans shared selfies wearing Breathe Right nasal strips. When all was said and done, a lot of talk drove a lot of sales. Breathe Right experienced a massive 37% increase in annual sales.

Our goal was to shift the conversation from horse to human; and turn a lot of talk about nasal strips into a lot of sales for Breathe Right.

To measure our success against these goals, we set up a campaign dashboard to track social and PR mentions and simultaneously observe impact on sales.

Taking a gamble on an unlikely brand ambassador paid off. We put the spotlight on equine nasal strips and successfully shifted the product conversation from horse to humans.

Our sponsorship of California Chrome delivered over $3 million in earned media value, representing a paid to earned ratio of 1:11.

Search interest for Breathe Right grew 51% from the previous year, our true measure of product awareness.

Engagement rates on Twitter and Facebook blitzed industry norms by up to 34%. Over 2 million Americans shared selfies wearing our nasal strips.

When all was said and done, a lot of talk drove a lot of sales. Breathe Right experienced a massive 37% increase in annual sales.

We sponsored California Chrome, as the official Breathe Right ambassador.

In a matter of weeks, we activated a full scale PR effort across broadcast, social, and events. We sent nasal strips to America’s top pop culture commentators resulting in 14 of America’s top rated television hosts wearing Breathe Right nasal strips live on air. We also activated trackside. Our Mascot, Stuffy, passed out 50,000 samples that enlisted race goers to “wear and share” nasal strips in a show of support for California Chrome.

For years, Breathe Right struggled to get people to understand how to use their nasal strips. Harder still, was making nasal strips culturally relevant.

All of a sudden came California Chrome – the first racehorse in years to contend for the Triple Crown, and the first horse to run the Belmont Stakes with an equine nasal strip. It sparked an unlikely media frenzy around equine nasal strips and a rare opportunity to put Breathe Right at the center of a conversation people really cared about.

We knew our audience wasn’t naturally interested in conversations about nasal strips (except when America’s favorite horse was wearing one.)

One thing they were always following was the latest buzz. Our strategy was to use PR (supported by media integrations and social activation) to turn love for California Chrome into love for Breathe Right. We created a campaign architecture designed to surround the California Chrome’s bid for the Belmont -- using a combination of PR, media and social to rally people behind the “nasally-challenged” horse (and Breathe Right nasal strips) on-air, on-site and online.