A new campaign from AbbVie highlights the “full selves” of people with conditions treated by the company’s therapies in a push to show the broader impact of the medicines, according to Matt Tritley, AbbVie’s vice president of corporate marketing.
The “I Am” campaign features individuals diagnosed with psoriasis, Parkinson’s disease, blood cancer and more, each of whom defines themselves in the campaign materials by personality traits far removed from their diagnosis—as a tailgater, a ballroom dancer or a trendsetter, for example.
The concept draws on market research conversations that AbbVie has had with patients over the years, Tritley said in an interview with Fierce Pharma Marketing.
“People really want to be seen and valued beyond their medical condition,” he said. “This kept coming up time and time again—that they wanted to be recognized for their individuality, their full self, the lives that they live, and not always just be associated with the medical condition that they have.”
Thus emerged the idea for a dual-mission campaign, aimed at both “helping people see that everyone deserves to be appreciated and seen for their true selves” and talking about the “real impact” that AbbVie’s products can have on patients’ entire lives, he said.
To help convey the latter message, the “I Am” materials also spotlight some of the company’s employees, who talk in a campaign video about how their work is inspired by a desire to better patients’ lives.
By highlighting both the recipients and makers of the company’s medicines, AbbVie is targeting a broad audience with the campaign. For one, it’s hoping to boost brand awareness and convey “the positive impact that we make in our communities” among patients and their families and caregivers, healthcare professionals and the public at large, according to Tritley.
For another, he said, the campaign speaks to AbbVie employees themselves by emphasizing the “pride” they take in their jobs, noting that its messaging “will reinforce to our more than 55,000 employees the meaningful purpose behind our work.”
Finally, he added, the “I Am” initiative may triple as a recruitment push: “We also recognize that this will hopefully inspire potential talent whose values align with ours, and who have that drive to want to create medicines and solutions that can make a real difference in patients’ lives.”
To reach all of those groups, AbbVie is taking an omnichannel approach with the campaign, placing the materials where those specific audiences consume content. That includes social media and other digital placements that’ll drive viewers to the AbbVie website to learn more about patients’ stories as well as out-of-home ads in the company’s “major employer markets,” including Chicago, San Francisco and Boston, per Tritley.
The campaign builds on AbbVie’s broader “People. Passion. Possibilities.” initiative that’s similarly focused on conveying the far-reaching impacts of the drugmaker's work.
“We’ve been launching a campaign each year to continue to raise that visibility,” Tritley said. “We expect the campaign will build on this momentum by highlighting our commitment to fostering, if you will, that human connection with our patients and, ultimately, our goal of being committed to improving patient health outcomes.”
On the outcomes front, AbbVie made a point of featuring in the “I Am” materials individuals with diagnoses within immunology, oncology and neuroscience “to ensure that our campaign spotlights our dedication to addressing the unmet needs in our core therapeutic areas,” he said.
As the campaign rolls out, Tritley said AbbVie will monitor its impact by continuing to conduct market research tracking awareness and understanding of the company and its work.
“At the root of what we’re trying to do is to continue to build awareness as what we consider a fairly new company still, and really help people better understand not just who we are, but the impact that we have by putting people first, patients first, and ensuring that our innovations really come from a place of care and compassion,” he said.