The communication speaks directly to friends, family and co-workers of people who suffer with migraine. The call-to-action that asks people to ‘Open More Eyes to Migraine’ demonstrates Excedrin’s ultimate goal of raising awareness about head pain and building a greater understanding of a recurring and often chronic condition.

Although there is a wealth of educational and awareness materials available, the majority of the sufferers still describe their condition as ‘misunderstood’ by those around them and most importantly, those close to them.

While the head pain market in Poland and around the world is highly competitive, most competitors only build awareness of their products using ATL channels. Very few are increasing awareness about migraine as a condition and educating those who do not sufferer.

Alongside each symptom depiction being signed off by medical, restrictions that also incorporated were disclaimers, disabling all ‘comments’ online and including a standardised legal.

Virtual reality is often used to transport people into imaginary worlds, but never before has it been used to transport people into someone else’s head to experience a very personal condition, through their eyes. Excedrin, the head pain medication, are the first brand within their category to explore this.

One in five people suffer from migraine, but most people still think they’re ‘just a strong headache’. How could you understand what a migraine is like unless you’ve actually experienced one yourself? Excedrin wanted to help sufferers show the world how debilitating migraine can be.

We developed the world’s first migraine simulator using Oculus Rift. Combining the UK’s leading virtual reality developers with migraine sufferers, we built a custom-made rig that we used in an experiment and online film; allowing friends, family and co-workers to see the otherwise hidden world, through the eyes of migraine sufferers.

We wanted to make the experiment as realistic as possible, so one of our biggest technical challenges was to overcome the inherent problem of virtual reality – ‘lag’. However, by building bespoke drivers that fed our video footage into the headset in real time, we were able to create the most authentic user experience possible.

We set out to create a piece of communication that our prime audience (migraine sufferers, female, age 25yo+) can use to truly show others what they go through, whilst continuing to position Excedrin the brand as the ‘The Head Pain Expert’, the empathetic expert that truly understands migraine sufferers.

Our goal was to create global digital content that would raise awareness about this misjudged condition and open the world’s eyes to migraine. The experiment and film targets those who suffer from migraine, becoming a tool that sufferers can use to share and educate their friends, family and co-workers.

Understanding that every migraine is personal, we teamed real-life sufferers with VR developers to recreate migraine symptoms that mirrored the sufferers’ own experiences. Friends, family members and co-workers of migraine sufferers, who volunteered to be part of the experiment, were challenged to take on their partner’s migraine for just 30 minutes in a regular day.

The experiment was filmed and uploaded to the brand’s YouTube channel, with traffic driven to the videos using paid media including pre-rolls and display advertising, as well as a dedicated page on the brand’s website. The campaign launched in Poland on 24th April 2015 with a global roll out to follow. The campaign is set to be live in Poland until 31st July.

Every volunteer that took part in the experiment said that the experience showed them how severe migraine really is and they felt better equipped to support the migraine sufferer.

We surveyed a cross-section of 475 people who saw the finished video:

-89% of respondents said it increased their understanding of migraine. More surprisingly, 81% of migraine sufferers themselves said it increased their understanding too.

-93% of people felt more sympathetic to migraine sufferers after watching the video and 63% of migraine sufferers said that the video made them more likely to recommend Excedrin to another migraine sufferer.

In the first 2 weeks after launching in Poland, the campaign reached 1.6 million people. The experiment was so successful Excedrin is streamlining the technology to be used at press launches and trade shows. Excedrin also plans to take the kit on the road, allowing the public to experience it for themselves.

As a global digital campaign, we decided to take a very different approach to Excedrin’s above-the-line strategy and previous tone-of-voice. We aimed to create a truly authentic and honest piece of communication so sufferers would feel they were understood and would want to share.

Unlike the brand’s competitors, Excedrin aims to demonstrate empathy for migraine sufferers, showing their unique understanding what it’s like ‘through their eyes’.

As ‘The Head Pain’ experts, Excedrin have successfully embraced and customised new technology to create a much-needed tool that, for the first time ever, helps sufferers show the world what they actually go through.

Not only has it benefited sufferers, the new technology has allowed Excedrin to communicate a distinctive and ownable message that proves they truly understand migraine sufferers.