About Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK)

GSK is a science-led global healthcare company. It researches and develops a broad range of innovative products in three primary areas of Pharmaceuticals, Vaccines and Consumer Healthcare.  It also has a division, ViiV Healthcare, which is a global specialist HIV company dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV.

Approach

We were commissioned by the Department of Health and GSK to work on a campaign with the objective of reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS amongst the established sub-Saharan UK communities and newly arrived Africans. The campaign consisted of a) creation and distribution of marketing collateral. b) Improving brand awareness of the African Aids Helpline brand through media relations and influencer marketing.

Media Relations and Influencer Marketing:
Our strategy was to build and maintain a systematic campaign of press releases including production distribution to online and offline media and broadcast outlets watched or read by the target group.  Press releases and articles on issues such as the effect of stigma, the role of the Church in HIV prevention and the importance of testing, were fed on a regular basis to influential journalists, editors and media that we knew were very interested in social, health and cultural issues related to HIV/Aids.

Additionally we instituted an influencer marketing campaign whereby we targeted credible influencers such as HIV charities, bloggers, community activists, progressive church leaders and politicians via social media (Facebook, Twitter, guest blogging etc) to help reshape the communities perception of HIV/Aids and the need to reduce stigma and increase testing.  We also recruited a number of community advocates and provided them with information, leaflets and other content that would allow them to become authoritative sources of information on HIV/Aids.

Results

We achieved press coverage over ten of the most influential black and minority (BME) press and broadcast media in the UK, such as the Voice Newspaper, BEN TV, Spectrum FM and Voice of Africa Radio, etc.  The combined press and broadcast reach was in the hundreds of thousands in the UK alone.

Further brand awareness of the Helpline was created through the distribution of over 20,000 leaflets, posters, condoms and ‘Break the Silence’ cassettes to over 500 high footfall outlets throughout London frequented by the target community.

Post campaign analysis showed there was a 40% increase in awareness of the Helpline and the resources available for HIV/Aids sufferers amongst the target group. Calls to the Helpline increased by 15% over the next six months.