Cordis Cardiology, A Johnson & Johnson Company

Challenge: In Spring 2003, Cordis Corporation, the Johnson & Johnson company that pioneered the first cardiovascular stent, was poised to introduce another long-awaited breakthrough in the treatment of coronary artery disease: the world’s first drug-eluting coronary stent. Heralded as the most significant advancement in the treatment of heart disease in the past decade, the CYPHER™ Sirolimus-eluting Stent offers an important advantage over standard bare metal stents: while propping the vessel open, the stent gradually releases the drug sirolimus into the vessel lining to prevent reblockage. Reblockage, technically known as “restenosis,” has proven to be the “Achilles’ Heel” of coronary artery stenting.

Cordis commissioned its public relations agency of record, SMG, to structure a launch campaign to help Cordis solidify business partnerships with treatment centers across the country by driving local publicity for the institutions.

Solution: SMG worked with Cordis communications executives to prepare a bi-level campaign strategy. The two-fold objective was to drive national publicity for the company and the new product while simultaneously garnering grass-roots publicity for the 52 treatment centers that would be the first in the country to offer the CYPHER Stent—positioning them as the preeminent cardiac care centers in their respective regions.

Results: Within the first 48 hours, all national coverage objectives were exceeded. For example: The story ran on every major newswire, all five networks, and in Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today. The story was featured on 56 major websites, including Forbes, Business Week, CNN Money, MSN Money Reuters, Healthscout News, TheHeart.org, and CNN Health.

By three months post launch, the total confirmed (not multiplied) audience reach had soared to more than 246 million. In addition, 92% of the 52 local media markets ran stories about the CYPHER Stent mentioning the local hospitals by name.

In July 2003, Reuters Health reported, “just two months after the CYPHER Stent’s long- awaited approval by U.S. regulators, patients are demanding the product by name….”

By early fall 2003, the CYPHER Stent had reached $1 billion in sales, making it the “fastest growing product in the history of Johnson & Johnson,” and cardiologists around the country had declared it “the stent of choice.”

Johnson & Johnson Worldwide Office of Healthcare Compliance

SITUATION OVERVIEW
Now, more than ever, adhering to strict healthcare compliance policies and guidelines is vital for large and small companies looking to succeed in today’s marketplace. Moreover, it is critical that employees and healthcare practitioners understand the laws and industry codes that have been established to safeguard medical decision-making from both the appearance and the fact of undue and improper financial influence.

When Johnson & Johnson’s Office of Worldwide Healthcare Compliance decided to commission an update to its corporate-wide compliance guide series directed to employees, sales representatives, and healthcare professional customers it selected The Storch-Murphy Group based on the agency’s 26-year track-record of success.

A steering committee staffed by Johnson & Johnson senior healthcare compliance executives, The Storch-Murphy Group, and its creative partners was established to manage the assignment. We set out with a research component consisting of telephone interviews with healthcare professionals and focus groups with district managers and sales representatives to fully understand the needs of each for their respective guides.

Once the data were compiled, the agency set out distilling the copious amounts of legal information into the most salient points. The challenge was to ensure each guide used language that could be quickly and effectively interpreted by all target audiences and would speak to the reader’s individual needs. After the content was finalized, the graphic design process began to develop an aesthetic framework that would visually aid the reader in understanding the subject matter.

RESULTS
The project, spanning a nine-month period, was an excellent example of how the agency partners with a client to assist in the completion of an assignment. Thanks to the excellent direction provided by the steering committee, perseverance of the team leader, and the ability of the agency to interpret difficult information in a meaningful way, the Corporation now has three guides that represent its commitment to healthcare compliance and demonstrate its respect for patients and the professionals who care for them.

McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals

Challenge: Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, occurs with age and is the number one joint problem in the world. Despite existing professional and consumer programs offered by the maker of Tylenol to highlight the benefits of acetaminophen for the treatment of mild to moderate osteoarthritis pain, these messages had never reached the American public. As a result, McNeil wanted a public relations campaign to effectively communicate this message to adult consumers, especially in the Baby Boomer generation. McNeil’s Tylenol franchise challenged its various agencies to develop a concept that would generate maximum awareness.

Solution: SMG accepted that challenge and used our knowledge and understanding of Baby Boomers’ needs to develop a program that positioned mild-to-moderate osteoarthritis pain as the inevitable result of living a good and active lifestyle versus the inevitable result of becoming “old.” The agency combined its vast knowledge of over-the-counter pain relievers to develop powerful educational materials and matched the brand with an “A-list” celebrity who would resonate among the Baby Boomer target. Several days earlier that hockey legend Wayne Gretzky had announced his retirement. After 20 years absorbing wear and tear on his body as a professional hockey player, SMG correctly assumed Gretzky fit the profile of someone who may have the early signs of OA. After signing the spokesperson, we partnered with the Arthritis Foundation as the third-party sponsor for the campaign.

Result: The OA Early Awareness Campaign was a massive success generating more than 225 million media impressions across North America. The cost-benefit ratio for phase one is an outstanding $.002 per impression. Results included:

• In the two weeks following the launch, the Arthritis Foundation received more than 42,000 calls to its 800 line—more than 12 times the typical number of calls.
• An in-studio interview with Charlie Gibson on Good Morning America, while the Satellite Media Tour as well as English and Spanish VNR distributions penetrated seven of the top 10, and 10 of the top 20, U.S. media markets. The story aired on dozens of network affiliates including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UNIVISION, and TELEMUNDO.
• More than 32 positive articles appeared in major news outlets including USA Today, Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg Business News, and Fox Newswire.
• Just two weeks following the campaign, the Tylenol brand’s CARMA (consumer perception) rating hit a 5-year high.

Vistakon, A Johnson & Johnson Company

SITUATION OVERVIEW
When Johnson & Johnson was preparing to revolutionize the vision correction industry with the ACUVUE® Disposable Contact Lens, they turned to The Storch-Murphy Group, formerly known as D.J. Storch & Associates, to help them manage the launch of this important new medical device.

The agency was instrumental in coordinating advisory panels with leading eye care professionals, assessing practitioner needs and training, and generating widespread consumer awareness about the benefits of a disposable contact lens.

Upon launch, a comprehensive broadcast and print campaign was executed nationally including press conferences in five major media markets.

RESULTS
Within three months of the introduction, SMG attained a 43% awareness level among soft contact lens wearers, in general, and a 74% awareness level among the segment using extended-wear lenses.

By one year post-launch, our audience reach exceeded one billion, a milestone that earned us the International Association of Business Communicators' Award of Excellence.

Songbird Hearing, Inc.

Challenge: Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent chronic health conditions in the United States, and its incidence is on the rise. Although hearing loss traditionally has been considered a condition that affects older Americans; however, it is increasingly common among Baby Boomers. An estimated 10 million Americans between the ages of 45 and 64 have hearing loss and this number is growing. In fact, experts predict that, among the aging Boomer population, hearing loss will soon reach epidemic proportions. Songbird Hearing, Inc., tapped SMG to manage the introduction of Songbird, the world’s first disposable hearing aid.

Solution: We knew that in order for this assistive device to appeal to Baby Boomers, we’d have to bring the “cool factor” to hearing aids—not an easy task. The team decided to position this subtle and innovative hearing device as specifically designed to treat people, particularly baby boomers, who have hearing loss resulting from life-long exposure to decibel-blasting music and other forms of noise pollution.

Using research and round-table discussions with industry leaders to accurately predict the needs of hearing professionals, we developed do-it-yourself marketing kits that explained how to successfully build a practice with the new device. To reach consumers among the target audience, we prepared educational materials about hearing loss and the benefits of using Songbird as an assistive device that was virtually invisible when inside the ear canal. These materials were disseminated via print, broadcast, and Internet media outlets.

Results: The educational video package aired 160 times on television stations nationwide. The radio package achieved 57 usages on radio stations nationwide. Print coverage was excellent, resulting in positive brand mentions in the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek (two issues), Miami Herald, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Detroit News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Dallas Morning News, Cox newswire, New York Times Syndicate, and Reuters Health wire service

During the months following launch, we successfully maintained Songbird’s presence in the marketplace with various smaller news hooks that provided the brand with more than 260 million media impressions and massive consumer and professional interest.

Clinical Proactive/Reactive Process

Challenge: Analgesics are one of the most studied therapeutic categories and published data often makes a big impression in the consumer media. One negative article would often send brand teams into chaos scrambling for a way to measure the study’s potential impact on the Tylenol, Motrin, and St. Joseph brands.

Solution: SMG worked with the brand team to develop a simple process for triaging each study into an at-a-glance synopsis complete with recommendation. Shortly thereafter, the “Proactive- Reactive Process” was born. When a study came in, SMG would analyze it, list the main points of the study, assess the threat to the brand, and provide a recommendation for or against taking additional action.

Results: The innovative Proactive-Reactive Process became a powerful tool for keeping brand managers informed about the clinical landscape, while allowing them to focus on the most important issues facing their brands.

Orchestrating The Be SAFE Day Tour

Challenge: Children’s Tylenol was searching for a major expansion of the successful KidCare, bilingual, consumer-education program to educate consumers about the importance of safe dosing with children’s medicines. They turned to SMG for an innovative program that would generate awareness.

Solution: SMG developed the Be SAFE campaign, a grassroots, parent-education program designed to reach deeply into the community to reinforce simple, easy-to-follow guidelines for safe dosing of all over-the-counter children’s medicine. The acronym SAFE represented See the label; Ask a physician; Follow the instructions; and Enter the time and day of the dose. Realizing the benefits of a spokesperson, SMG tapped the then up-and-coming Steve Burns, star of Nickelodeon’s children’s program, Blue’s Clues as the national Be SAFE spokesperson.

Result: Be SAFE educational materials were distributed to 50,000 pharmacists, 20,000 day care centers and clinics, and 25,000 doctors across the country. When the program expanded to include the Be SAFE Day tour, Murphy managed the entire tour from planning through on-site execution of press junket with local government officials and in-pharmacy events in Houston, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia. The program resulted in millions of media impressions and thousands of grassroots interactions between the brand and consumers.

Creating The Be SAFE Educational Video

Challenge: The Children’s Tylenol brand team was searching for an innovative way to reach parents inside the home where Be SAFE messages would be crucial to safe dosing children’s medicines.

Solution: SMG recommended a consumer education video that parents could watch at home. Murphy developed the script for a cutting-edge video that merged real actors with a 3D animated Be SAFE bumble bee serving as the educator. The video was made available to parents, pharmacists, and physicians nationwide.

Result: The educational video went on to win six industry awards including the prestigious TELLY Award.

Creating Valued Third-Party Relationships

Challenge: In late 2002, Matrixx Initiatives, the maker of Zicam products, was searching for ways to grow the business. Despite being an over-the-counter medicine, the company had no existing relationships or widespread visibility of Zicam within the healthcare professional community.

Solution: SMG realized Matrixx required an introduction to large numbers of pharmacists, the number-one resource for consumers who routinely influence purchasing decisions at checkout counters nationwide. SMG had extensive experience in creating relationships with third-party organizations on behalf of its clients and immediately established communication with the American Pharmacists’ Association, the largest professional organization for pharmacists.

Result: Since 2002, Matrixx has attended the annual APhA conference exposing the brand to thousands of practicing pharmacists and students. In addition, the company has partnered on several educational programs targeting pharmacists and consumers about managing the common cold. The Zicam brand has grown into one of the leading cold remedy products and today supports a wide variety of products under the Zicam franchise.

More Coming Soon!