Excedrin promoted Excedrin Migraine with a contest that enabled winners to relive experiences they had missed out on due to migraines.
Objective and Context:
Excedrin Migraine has a high awareness of 99 percent and substantial loyalty in the U.S. However, the brand still needed to convince migraine sufferers that their condition demanded Excedrin Migraine and not just general over-the-counter pain medicine such as Tylenol or Advil.
Excedrin strove to meet this challenge with "Excedrin Take Two," an integrated campaign rooted in research that showed migraine sufferers that Excedrin could help them stop missing life's memorable moments due to migraines so they could get back to what matters.
Target Audience:
The Excedrin Take Two program targeted diagnosed migraine sufferers across the country.
Creative Strategy:
A migraine does not care if you have something planned. In fact, Excedrin uncovered that almost 9 in 10 migraine sufferers say they've missed an important moment or much-anticipated experience such as concerts, camping trips, family vacations, college reunions, bridal showers, and even destination weddings due to a migraine. And because missing out on important life moments can leave a lasting impact, 91 percent of sufferers would like a second chance at their missed moments.
So, Excedrin set out to offer these suffers real relief, launching a nationwide contest called "Excedrin Take Two." Excedrin invited diagnosed migraine sufferers to share their personal stories of a moment missed or affected due to their migraines for the opportunity to relive the missed moment.
Overall Campaign Execution:
Knowing that migraine sufferers rely heavily on recommendations from those who understand them, Excedrin identified influencers who suffered from migraines and who used Excedrin to help cope with their head pains. Influencers shared how migraines have affected their lifestyles and encouraged others to share their migraine story for a chance to relive a missed moment.
For the duration of the contest, Excedrin Take Two content also appeared across Excedrin owned channels, including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook organically and with paid support. Media interviews drove to a landing page on Excedrin.com, which allowed for contest entries and collected first-party data via an email opt-in that kept Excedrin top-of-mind for participants.
Excedrin also ran video content for TV, online, and social media that tapped into the idea of missed moments. This approach broke the norm for over-the-counter medicine creative with its use of visual effects. The videos created empathy by dramatizing what it feels like to experience a migraine, differentiating it from just a bad headache.
Through empathetic creative, influencers who were real migraine sufferers, and a contest that strove to make a tangible impact, Excedrin was able to offer real relief for migraines' physical pain and the equally prevalent emotional pain.
Mobile Execution:
Excedrin capitalized on a variety of tactics to promote the Take Two contest and to bring this cross-channel campaign to life within a mobile environment.
Excedrin owned channels such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook utilized paid content that guided migraine sufferers to a mobile-friendly landing page on Excedrin.com that both allowed for contest entries and collected first-party data via an email op-in.
Knowing that migraine sufferers often look for support and guidance from other sufferers, Excedrin's migraine-prone influencers created in-feed content highlighting personal moments that were missed due to migraines and encouraged fellow sufferers to try Excedrin for relief. The influencer Instagram stories encouraged migraine sufferers to participate in the contest by "Swiping Up" to share their stories on the Excedrin.com website.
Excedrin Take Two was covered across a variety of media, generating more than 650 million earned media impressions. Online and print articles and social posts helped garner nearly 800 contest entries from migraine sufferers. Out of the contest entrants, Excedrin awarded six winners a second chance at a moment missed due to a migraine. Thanks to Excedrin Migraine, the winners were able to remake their moments, this time without the migraine. Remade moments included a holiday cruise, a trip to Hawaii, and a celebratory family dinner party.
The campaign resulted in a 14 percent increase in mentions of Excedrin. Moreover, due to the contest, Excedrin gained 214 email subscribers — nearly a 700 percent increase from the average number of subscribers gained during a two-week non-campaign period.
Equally important, Excedrin sales increased 26 percent after the launch of Excedrin Take Two.
Excedrin's six celebrity and lifestyle influencers generated social media content encouraging migraine sufferers to share their migraine stories and enter the contest. Influencer content garnered more than 80 million organic story impressions and increased consumer engagement. Even celebrity sufferers such as Cardi B. agreed with LaLa Antony's claim that she never leaves the house without Excedrin. Her comment, "Girl me too," received more than 2,000 likes. Consumers shared intent to purchase and some even considered switching from other pain-relieving brands, expressing sentiments such as, "Need to try this, been using Advil but hasn't been working."
