Creativity is where one finds it, as this month’s selections certainly prove. Industry experts have identified two Websites and a direct to consumer spot as excellent examples of how the creative process of design and message development can be used to inform and motivate healthcare professionals and patients.
The Ortho Website uses interactive tools to engage viewers, while providing a wealth of information. Similarly, Merck’s Lipids Online resource creatively provides visitors with instant access to reliable, cutting-edge information and educational tools for effectively managing and preventing cardiovascular disease. Pharmacia’s “motivational” TV spot for its smoking cessation product Nicotrol, uses humor and a punchy approach to communicate its hard-hitting message.
In our industry, creativity is not always defined by a hip ad or slick campaign. We as marketers are constantly looking for new ways to communicate creatively and effectively. A great example of this is Lipids Online, an online cardiovascular resource for clinicians, researchers, and educators. Lipids Online gives visitors instant access to reliable, cutting-edge information and educational tools for effectively managing and preventing cardiovascular disease.
The site is packed with creative ways to effectively educate an audience. Its design is sharp, clean, and easy to navigate. The Slide Library tool provides access to current slides, talking points, and references that are linked to PubMed. Each presentation can be individually viewed or can be searched by keyword to build a customized presentation that can then be down loaded directly into PowerPoint. In the Virtual Meetings section, visitors can view CME activities that include presentations from major professional meetings through a clean, simple portal that offers streaming video and audio of the presentations. They can stop, start, and pause when needed, and by using a drop down menu, jump to anywhere in the presentation.
Websites such as Lipids Online prove that creativity can be found in subtle places. Presenting information through clean, functional design can influence target audiences just as effectively.
According to Jim Welsh, creative director at Clinical Connexion, a full service education and communications agency in Lawrenceville, N.J., Lipids Online is a great example of creative and effective communication.
Caption:
Creativity can be found in subtle places
Sidebar:
lipidsonline.org
Brand: Lipids Online. Educational resources in atherosclerosis for educators, clinicians, and researchers.
Client: Funded by unrestricted educational grants from Merck U.S. Human Health.
Debuted: March 2000
Design, Development, Content Management, and Hosting Services: The Center for Collaborative and Interactive Technologies at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Project Team: Michael Fordis, M.D., Director, CCIT, Associate Dean and Director of Continuing Medical Education, Baylor; Tony Adams, Media Designer and Programmer; Doug Alexander, Lead Designer and Information Architect; Maya Blanton, Web Developer and Designer; Jana Goode, Website Designer; Julie McKellar, Manager of Product Development
Editorial Director: Christie M. Ballantyne, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Cardiology Section, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas Medicine, Houston, Texas
Complementing its compelling design with smart interactive tools, OrthoWomensHealth.com is dedicated to helping women make better health decisions — and it shows. Everything women might need or find helpful on the site is clearly visible upfront. The use of bold images and text on the home page serves to immediately draw the visitor in by quickly giving her something to identify with. Also, I like how the site uses a palette that is subdued enough to reflect the seriousness of its focus on important issues such as birth control — and yet, isn’t boring to the point of alienating or “turning off” visitors. All of this works well to help engage and visually guide the users along a complete experience that includes useful features and links. Overall, the site comes across as clean, hip, and smart by using the right combination of design and content to appeal to its target audience — and its target audiences’ intelligence.
Karen Kuller, head of marketing for SoftWatch Inc., New York, says the Website for OrthoMcNeil Pharmaceutical’s women’s brands can help women make better health decisions.
Caption:
Clean, hip, and smart.
Sidebar:
orthowomenshealth.com
Brand: OrthoWomen’s Health Brands (primarily Tricyclen and Evra)
Client: OrthoMcNeil Pharmaceutical
Debuted: February 2002
Agency: Strategic Domain
Creative Director: Bart Slomkowski
Senior Art Director: Liz Murphy
There are not many times when you can dress a guy up as a giant cigarette and throw him around a room for a pharmaceutical commercial. BBDO and Pharmacia realized that this was one of those times. This is a great campaign where smokers, with the help of Nicotrol, battle their cravings for a cigarette.
With fight scenes right out of a Jackie Chan movie, smokers fight their bad habits throughout their apartments. With every punch and drop kick the giant cigarette receives, viewers are reminded that quit ting won’t be easy but it can be successful. Anyone thinking of giving up smoking will find motivation and support in these spots. We are well aware of all the terrible things cigarettes can do to us; these spots cleverly show the terrible things people can do to cigarettes and the hold that they have on our lives.
Scott Schindler, VP and associate creative director at Deutsch Inc., New York, a full-service integrated marketing and communications company, believes that BBDO’s Nicotrol spots provide motivation and support for people quitting smoking.
Caption:
Battle their cravings
Sidebar:
Nicotrol
Brand: Nicotrol
Client: Pharmacia
Debuted: October 2002
Agency: BBDO New York Art Director/Creative Director: Ed Maslow
Copywriter/Creative Director: Mark Ezratty