More than 50m Americans suffer from frequent heartburn. And with many over the counter (OTC) treatments to choose from, Prilosec OTC needed to stand out. After sizing up our competitors, we saw an opportunity: use comedy to engage heartburn sufferers in a passionate conversation. To be the first, we had to have impact and we had to be funny. We enlisted all-American comedian, Larry the Cable Guy, to spread our product messaging through two American traditions that have foods associated with heartburn: American football and tailgating. Larry engaged 300,000 tailgaters with a powerful brand experience at live 'parking lot' events and online, showing that it is possible to eat your favorite foods without getting heartburn. He also searched for America’s best tailgaters as part of Prilosec OTC’s online contest, 'A Better Way to Tailgate'. The PR team’s big idea even led to TV, digital and in-store advertising featuring Larry. In the end, more than 100,000 tailgaters visited the online contest, and, joking his way through 35 cities, Larry earned more than 1 bn media impressions, delivering one of the best CPM's (cost per thousand impressions) in Prilosec OTC’s history!Definitions:Frequent heartburn: heartburn symptoms occur 2 or more days per week.Tailgating: An outdoor party typically held around a vehicle before a sporting event.

Super Bowl: An annual professional American football championship game; frequently the most watched program on television in the US; and is the second-largest day for US food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day.

Goal: Differentiate Prilosec OTC from its competitors and go beyond product awareness to brand engagement. Objective 1: Engage more than 100,000 target consumers with the product and its messaging.Objective 2: Maximize Prilosec OTC’s existing professional American football sponsorship through multiple channel communication (PR, Digital, In-store) and double last year’s 350m media impressions in earned media.

The Prilosec OTC PR team enlisted comedian, Larry the Cable Guy, to spread product messaging through online and traditional media and consumer engagement. From November 2011 through February 2012, the team set up powerful brand experiences at tailgates across America. At these events, Larry performed stand-up comedy, sponsored by Prilosec OTC, encouraging people to tailgate better. Larry also urged consumers to enter the 'A Better Way to Tailgate' contest. Additionally, we sampled product and answered consumer questions.

As part of the contest, hosted on CBS Radio’s www.TailgateFan.com, football fans submitted photos and recipes to compete for the title of best tailgater. Winners were chosen in the categories of 'Best Tailgate Set Up', 'Best Recipe', and 'Best Team Spirit' and received an expenses-paid trip to meet Larry at America’s biggest sporting event, Super Bowl XLVI3.

To maximize the campaign, the team aggressively pitched local and national media to generate mass appeal.

Objective 1: Create powerful, interactive experiences for over 100,000 people to deliver product-rich messaging.

• Connected 300,000 people with a powerful, personal brand experience online and at live events;• Brought product benefit messaging to life through Larry’s performances and interviews, producing 800 stories and sampling 260 products;• 100,000 people visited the contest site, surpassing entry goal by 233%.Objective 2: Maximize existing professional American football sponsorship through multiple channels (PR, Digital, In-store) to double last year’s 350m earned media impressions.• Coordinated 60 interviews for Larry the Cable Guy in one day, surpassing the goal by 300%; • The brand featured on 10 national broadcast programs, beating goal by 43%;• Doubled goal by securing more than one billion earned media impressions.Additionally:• Campaign achieved one of the best CPM’s in Brand’s history; • P&G determined that the PR elements, specifically, contributed to a sales lift.

Strategies:• Use comedy to deliver personal heartburn messages that capture the attention of and resonate with consumers;• Work with a comedic brand spokesperson - Larry the Cable Guy (who is a frequent heartburn sufferer) - to deliver product messages;• Create personal and branded live consumer experiences for product engagement and sampling in important local markets;• Generate a compelling and branded online experience - Prilosec OTC’s 'A Better Way to Tailgate' contest - that delivers consumer engagement.Notes:1. Larry the Cable Guy represents Americana and tells jokes about tailgating, food and football; 2. Larry embodies the Prilosec OTC American consumer target. In Proctor & Gamble focus groups, people loved his humor and related to him;3. Approximately 200m consumers tailgate across America each year.

50m Americans suffer from frequent heartburn. And treatment is no easy solution. Consumers are flooded with treatment options and confusing terms like 'protein pump inhibitor', 'antacid' and 'Histamine2 blocker'. And while there are a number of over the counter products available for those living with this condition, there was little guidance about how to use the treatments in real-life scenarios. The existing heartburn conversation was medically-oriented and failed to provide true lifestyle context. Prilosec OTC needed a way to stand out from other heartburn medicines and the category needed a fresh and authentic conversation to draw consumers in.