SITUATION

Over 170 billion people live with atopic dermatitis (AD), suffering from dry, itchy, burning and cracked skin. The physical symptoms often belie the huge impact the condition has on quality of life (including relationships, careers and mental health), which often go unnoticed or are dismissed.

Shifting beliefs about disease burden, creating urgency and breaking apathy around the need to deliver treatment options are pivotal to enabling patients to live life to the fullest.

APPROACH

We combined rigorous patient research with creative storytelling. Real-life patient experiences told creatively, enabled us to build trust and make an emotional connection with treating healthcare professionals (HCPs), reawakening them to the sometimes life-altering impact of AD on everyday life.

Through social listening, we collected unbiased and authentic accounts of life with AD, focusing on the unexpected and underappreciated. Using behavioural science principles, these selected stories and experiences would drive change and banish apathy.

The campaign visuals mirror the visible nature of the condition, conveying how the disease becomes an unwanted part of a patient’s identity, distorting how they feel about themselves.

Key insights about the burden of disease were projected onto the skin, bought to life through real-life experience voiceover. Together, the strong imagery, sound and motion, enabled us to capture attention and create an emotional experience for our audience.

OUTCOMES

Strong emotional response and positive qualitative feedback from attendees from the two videos – one focused on visualising the burden of disease, the other on what is possible when AD is well managed.