The start of a viral: Get real, get a prescription
What makes a good viral? While I’m writing this on day one of a campaign based around Pfizer’s “Get Real, Get a Prescription” cinema advert, I’m still not sure whether we have one.
What I know we do have is an advert that is quite graphic in nature, in order to shock its audience into appreciating the risks of sourcing prescription-only medicines from inappropriate sources. That was part of the brief, and the finished advert excels at it.
Due to this shocking nature, the video also has a ‘water-cooler’ appeal - its certainly talked about around our office. In a digital age this means that people should want to share it, discuss it, and point to the campaign. With the options of our own site and YouTube, we can give people that chance.
And what better place to reach those people who take the risk of buying counterfeit medicines online than the internet itself?
So that’s the theory which we’re putting into practice from today.
It will take a lot of effort, as we work to engage with relevant bloggers, forum administrators and online journalists to excite them about what we’re doing - to encourage them to take the video, and the health message, to their communities.
It will take time, using online PR techniques combined with PPC and SEO activity to improve our site’s visibility on the search engines and in the right online communities.
It will also require us to be responsive to maintain the initial levels of engagement in the dynamic online environment.
So have I got a good viral? Maybe.
Written by: Guest Blogger, Andy Widger
Andy is one of Pfizer UK’s communications managers by day, and an Xbox gamer by night.
Thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are those of Andy Widger and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer.
Tags: Counterfeit medicine, Real Danger, Viral
Digg It | Reddit | De.lic.ious
Comments (1)
January 20th, 2009 at 2:27 pm Posted by Becky McMichael
Just wondered how the campaign is going…a few of us were talking about this the other day and it certainly has shock appeal and caused a good debate. Great to see an organisation taking the digital plunge in such a way, especially around such an important issue.
Have you had some good responses?
Post Your Comment