The 2006 Product Management Today Team Awards.

Components of the campaign were promoted internally throughout Gilead Sciences through a series of conference calls, E-mail announcements, and a road-show promotion to the sales and community teams, physicians, and advocacy organizations. Additionally, in-house meetings took place at Gilead. This program was particularly challenging as the understanding of blogs was limited. Once this was explained along with the importance of raising awareness of this disease with an innovative approach, the larger team embraced the program. The community and sales teams at Gilead now actively promote the program to health care professionals and advocacy organizations.

Components of the campaign included print ads in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese in local Asian newspapers. The print ads averaged a 70% reach to each audience and were seen by an estimated 1,104,300 people. The ads drove readers to www.stophepb.com, www.hepsera.com, and a call center for more information and/or help with finding a physician to get screened for hepatitis B. Seventy-five percent of all call-center inquiries came from the newspaper ad. The balance came from promotion at community events or from information on the websites. There were three times as many calls from Chinese Americans as from other Asian Americans, which correlated with the media spend and the population base in our target markets. Radio advertising was piloted in the Los Angeles/Orange County market for Chinese radio. The call to action was the website, www.hepbnews.com. Each radio advertisement drove more than one person to the site with a commercial radio spot-to-page view ratio of 1:1.25. On-line banner ad placements and paid search marketing were placed on Asian websites. Sites have included Sina, Goldsea, Yahoo!, Google, and MSN. Additionally, 12.4 million banner impressions have been served with a 0.06% average CTR and 988,000 paid search impressions have been served with a 1.4 CTR.

Billboard ads were placed in select Asian-American communities; 50 billboard and 45 bus shelter in-language ads ran in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Local grassroots community marketing was held at Asian street fairs, health fairs, and other festivals and gatherings. Literature and Hep B Warrior collector pins were distributed. The StopHepB website was the focalpoint. Since the launch of the campaign, the site averages 27,000 page views per month and there are more than 300 Hep B Warriors participating in the program.

GILEAD

THE STOP HEP B CAMPAIGN TEAM

Senior Product Manager, Community/Patient Marketing, HBV Denton Chase

Director, HBV Marketing Jean-Paul Kress

Public Affairs Senior Manager Erin Edgley

Public Affairs Director Amy Flood

Gold Award Winner: Managed Care Marketing

The Blood Pressure Downshift Team

Novartis Pharmaceuticals

In the commercial transportation industry, mechanics and drivers must apply for and maintain eligibility for their commercial driver's license (CDL). Among the requirements for active CDL status is satisfactory blood pressure levels.

The federal Department of Transportation recently enacted new, more stringent requirements to satisfy blood pressure parameters (moving the acceptable level from [less than or equal to] 160/90 mm Hg to [less than or equal to] 140/90 mm Hg) to assure lower risk among operators with hypertension. This change is significant, as studies have shown that drivers and CDL holders are particularly at risk for hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Beyond the life-threatening risks of high blood pressure, failure to meet the maximum blood pressure threshold can also result in a suspension or revocation of an operator's CDL and thus, probable loss of an operator's job.

Employers are also at risk for potential higher training and recruitment expenses, should some of their workers begin to lose their CDL because of the new hypertension guideline. This is especially important given the severe nationwide shortage of qualified drivers. Also, as union members, those who fail may be required to be reassigned to a new job, regardless if one is available.

Program Description

Novartis has successfully launched an innovative hypertension education and intervention program to large transportation employers and CDL holders in the United States that continues to gain momentum. Developed with transportation industry experts and advisory boards, and bolstered by advertising and public relations campaigns, these interrelated programs are two-fold: (1) the Blood Pressure DownShift--CDL holders' hypertension management program, and (2) DownShift for Drivers' Health & Safety.

The Blood Pressure DownShift--CDL Holders Hypertension Management Program comprises multiple resources designed for use by four target constituents in the employer market segment: (1) employees, (2) employers, (3) physicians, and (4) unions. This kit helps employers maintain and enhance their level of CDL certification among drivers and mechanics. Tools are included that educate employers and unions about the importance and value in effectively managing hypertension among their employees and members, educate employees on the hypertension regulations that are now a part of their CDL requirements, motivate these employees to regularly measure their blood pressure and maintain their therapy to meet and sustain goals, work with physicians to help them understand the importance of hypertension management among transportation employees and the benefits of different therapeutic classes for this patient population, and notify managed care organizations of the importance of easy therapeutic access to enhance compliance.

Blood Pressure DownShift Screenings are done in conjunction with the hypertension management program mentioned above. Blood pressure screenings are performed at employer locations or retail truck stops. Novartis has developed multiple marketing resources to help drive screening participation and recall. These resources include:

* Flyer: Quick, one-sided takeaway format; announces date, time, and location of the blood pressure screening

* Table Tent: Similar message as flyer, designed for placement on tabletops in eating, and conversation areas

* Posters: An enlarged version of the flyer message, designed for placement on walls, and high-traffic walking areas

* Banner: Ceiling-hanger, announces upcoming blood pressure screening; message similar to key points in the flyer

* Overview Brochure: A four-page takeaway piece, with basic blood pressure information for the CDL holder

* Reminder Air Freshener Giveaways: As a daily reminder of the program and good blood pressure control, customized car scent premiums were provided for use in trucker cabs

DownShift for Drivers' Health & Safety is a Web-based initiative for the independent professional drivers not employed by an employer. The website, www.drivershealth.com, provides independent professional drivers with information about health and wellness issues that can affect them, their families, and their jobs; easy-to-understand health guidelines that are part of CDL certification and renewal requirements; advice for the driver and their family on healthier living habits that fit their unique lifestyle both on and off the road; tips to help them talk with their doctor about their special health requirements; and health management and wellness programs and resources designed just for the professional driver.

They can also enroll in their version of the Blood Pressure DownShift--Hypertension Management Program. These drivers receive at least four customized mailings that provide education and support resources, and can enroll by way of a toll-free number.

Part of the Downshift for Drivers Health & Safety is a partnership with XM satellite radio and the Dave Nemo Show that is solely for the professional driver.

Strategically using industry experts and convening multiple advisory boards help the Novartis team develop the right resources for the program. The collaboration between Novartis and the advisors continues as new resources and updates are developed. Internally, the Novartis team utilized their product teams to ensure the consumer and physician-based resources echoed the appropriate brand messages. All team members were encouraged to provide feedback and new ideas to the development and creative process, fostering camaraderie among the Novartis team, the agency, and other internal Novartis stakeholders.

The Novartis team's initial goal for the employer-based Blood Pressure DownShift--CDL Holders Hypertension Management Program was to sign up five large employers. The initial sign-up was with 20 employers, many of whom were blue-chip companies, including The Coca Cola Company, WalMart, JB Hunt, and Yellow Freight.

This success is in part related to the program being customer-centric. Throughout the development process, the team made sure their employer customers' and CDL holders' needs were being met. In fact, a complete approach to the stakeholder team was considered, whereby the needs of each constituent was considered and addressed, including those for patients (employees and their families), payers (employers and managed care plans), and providers (medical directors and family practice physicians). A synergistic approach was designed to pull the team of stakeholders together to enable them to pursue a common goal: better blood pressure control for CDL holders.

The innovative and unique marketing programs Novartis developed for DownShift continue to expand and grow, helping to positively affect the lives of a special, important, and often overlooked target population.