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No two migraine experiences are the same. Some sufferers experience nausea, others sensitivity to light/sound and/or intense visual disturbances.

But one thing all migraine sufferers share is a lack of understanding — from friends, partners, colleagues and loved ones.

“Isn’t it just a bad headache?” “Can’t you just tough it out?”

Using the insights we’ve gained as the head pain experts, Excedrin built the world’s first migraine simulator. The augmented reality technology enabled migraine sufferers – for the first time – to “show” their loved ones their migraines.

By leveraging media coverage and attention, Excedrin facilitated thousands of conversations – dialogue that needed to happen for sufferers to feel truly understood.

What’s more, Excedrin brought the opportunity for education and awareness to the masses through an exciting PR event, which allowed the media to see a migraine for the first time, en masse.

This global campaign launched first in the US (home to 36 million sufferers) with an event for top-tier media and influencers in New York City – with plans to launch globally applying key learnings from the US.

To bring to life the emotional/physical aspects of migraines, we tapped multi-discipline experts:

• Andy Cohen, celebrity personality and migraine sufferer

• Dr. Elizabeth Seng, head pain expert and psychologist

• Katie Linendoll, tech-focused media/trend expert with a personal connection to the brand

The event featured real-life couples affected by migraines, who experienced the simulator live for the first time. Following, media had a chance to try the simulator themselves.

Broadcast, print and online interviews with top-tier national and local media continue to feature the program and spokespeople, driving campaign momentum. Consumers are talking as well, actively engaging with the brand across social media channels.

Following the YouTube masthead takeover during campaign launch, Google search volume of Excedrin and Excedrin Migraine increased 53%. To date, there have been 3.9M video views, but we hope exponential understanding.

Consumer engagement has soared with 390,524 engagements, stemming from retweets, comments, “likes,” clicks and shares.

In the first 3 weeks, 294 placements secured garnering 400M impressions. Highlights:

• Top online news sites (Huffington Post, New York Daily News, ABC News, The Guardian, etc.)

• Entertainment print media (Life & Style Magazine, Star Magazine),

• National TV/local TV/radio outlets (The Rachael Ray Show, two Chicago morning shows, Good Day LA, etc.)

• 100% of stories mentioned Excedrin brand

• 99.9% of coverage was positive/neutral

Excedrin.com site engagement increased by an average of 10%.

Earned media drove content response – one example: Huffington Post garnered 63,680 views and 114,025 minutes of viewership.

“Isn’t it just a bad headache? Can’t you just tough it out?”

People who suffer from migraine must fight the fierce symptoms, but also lack of understanding among friends, family, colleagues.

And that ignorance could actually be cured with communication. But hardly with a pushed message. Instead it has to be an experience and a testimony from non-sufferers. A third- party validation.

That’s why we partnered with experts to create a migraine simulator – a tool for loved ones, co-workers and media to get first-hand experience.

The result may just change the face of the disease into something very relatable.

For sufferers everywhere, migraines are a significant emotional challenge.

In fact, we learned through a custom study that 88% of migraine sufferers feel misunderstood, and 8 out of 10 most wish their partner could experience what a migraine is like.

So we invited America to meet the third member of their relationships – migraines.

Ours is a simple, powerful launch story: Foster empathy for migraine sufferers by allowing non-sufferers – for the first time – to experience the visual symptoms of a migraine.

We created a multi-pronged earned, paid and owned campaign designed to launch, amplify and sustain the news cycle surrounding The Migraine Experience from April through Migraine Awareness Month in June.

Target media: broadcast, print and online consumer, health, entertainment, marketing/ad trade, technology, healthcare industry and women’s and men’s lifestyle media. Spokesperson’s social footprint amplified message even further reaching millions of followers.

Situation

There are tens of millions of migraine sufferers in the U.S. But the condition is widely misunderstood and written off as “just a headache.”

This misconception creates emotional challenges for sufferers, including feelings of isolation and anxiety or even resentment from non-suffering partners, friends and co-workers.

Brief

As the migraine expert, Excedrin understands what sufferers go through – and saw an opportunity to aid the emotional struggles of sufferers by educating non-sufferers about migraines.

Using augmented reality to show the world that migraines are more than “just a headache,” Excedrin recreated migraines by simulating the physical symptoms; aura (visual disturbance), disorientation, sensitivity to light/sound – everything but the pain.

Objectives

Drive awareness of the condition and dispel misconceptions by showing the world what a migraine truly looks like.

Position Excedrin as the brand that understands sufferers’ pain best, bringing more than just relief, but empathy too.