THE CHALLENGE:

Eucardic (carvedilol) is a beta-blocker which is used to treat heart failure. Despite overwhelming evidence that beta blockers save lives, they are under-used. Roche wanted to maximise Eucardic’s profile in its final patent year and achieve a significant upturn in sales by the end of that year. This coincided with a campaign by the UK’s Department of Health (DoH) to move heart failure issues up the political and clinical agenda, in advance of the publication of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance for heart failure. The media were identified as pivotal for communicating with clinicians and patients. However, as a complex condition affecting mostly older people, it had previously been difficult to generate media interest.

WHAT WE DID:

Santé developed a media campaign with a focus on raising awareness of heart failure and promoting Eucardic as the beta blocker of choice. Santé convened a media roundtable, comprised of key national and medical media, secured key opinion leaders and a representative of a patient group to brief them on the condition and give them a ‘heads up’ on the key calendar events for the year. This group was then followed up regularly and used as a first point of contact for news.

Throughout the process, Santé worked closely with case studies, patient groups and clinicians to help them prepare for interviews. Fact-sheets on heart failure, beta blockers and Eucardic were developed and issued to the media to support coverage. A features programme ran throughout the year, with articles authored by influential cardiologists strategically timed to maintain noise levels.

THE RESULTS:

• Over 70 pieces of print coverage were obtained including detailed features in the Health Service Journal, The Daily Telegraph, Cardiology News and Prescriber and news articles in The Times, GP and Pulse
• The combined audience for the national and medical media was over 17 million
• Eucardic proclaimed to be the ‘beta blocker of choice in heart failure’ by a leading cardiologist in a dedicated three page feature in the British Journal of Cardiology
• Roche reported an increase in sales of 37% beyond target, by the end of the year, with significant rises seen following each news event
• No other promotional activity was undertaken, thus the results can be clearly attributed to Santé’s activities
• The campaign won the ‘Best Use of Publications’ at the 2004 Communiqué Awards