Thea Pharmaceuticals
Creating an education and awareness campaign for Dry Eye
Thealoz Duo
Thea Pharmaceuticals develops and manufactures products that support ophthalmic care and eye health globally. One of their leading brands is Thealoz Duo, a preservative-free over-the-counter eye drop for the treatment of Dry Eye. To accelerate consumer awareness, drive sales and distribution they asked us to create a consumer education campaign around Dry Eye symptoms and effective management with Thealoz Duo.
Theloz Duo TV Advert
Interpret + Define
Dry Eye affects 1 in 5 people in the UK and is caused by a variety of factors, including computer use, hormonal changes, air conditioning and the environment. Thealoz Duo eye drops are a preservative-free, clinically proven solution containing a combination of ingredients that provides long-lasting hydration and protection.
Thealoz Duo performed better than Optrex in quantitative research (92% of Optrex users found it to be more effective), yet the latter is still the UK’s leading consumer eye drop. We needed to find out what was stopping people from a) using eye drops and b) choosing Thealoz Duo over other brands.
Our conversations with consumers revealed a general lack of understanding of Dry Eye. Despite suffering from the most common symptoms – dryness, itching and scratching, blurred vision and tired eyes – most people thought this was a natural reaction to their environment and not a condition that required treatment.
In addition to this, research showed that people didn’t understand the benefits of preservative-free products or the fact that preserved eye drops can sometimes make the DRY EYE symptoms worse. Awareness of Thealoz Duo as a brand was also low. Those that did recall the brand, cited high cost and clinical packaging as a barrier to purchase.
Imagine + Create
To support Thealoz Duo's listings in national pharmacies, such as Boots and independents, we needed to devise a journey to raise awareness of symptoms, drive people to find out more about Thealoz Duo and purchase at local retailers.
To reach our audience of forty-something ABC1 females, a TV advert placed during daytime television seemed the obvious answer. In just 20 seconds, the campaign needed to help people understand the symptoms of Dry Eye in a simple, memorable way and cover off all the product's USPs - preservative-free, unique formulation, sterile for up to 3 months and contact lens friendly. Oh, and reference the impressive research results!
This was a lot to fit into one short TV spot. To enable us to expand on this further, we developed a consumer-facing website, which would educate people on Dry Eye Disease, the importance of choosing preservative-free eye drops, and why Thealoz Duo was the best eye drop to treat their condition
Rise + Shine
To work with the client’s tight budget, we decided to use a series of colourful illustrations, created in-house by our own designers. The 20-second ad was designed to be split into two 10-second versions to maximise usage online or in practice. Our simple execution was intended to raise awareness of Dry Eye symptoms and to drive people to start thinking about self-care for their eyes. The advert aired on the ITV Central Region during the winter months when lower humidity indoors, heating, high winds and dry air exacerbate symptoms. The TV campaign was supported with a digital campaign as well as POS in opticians and pharmacies, all driving traffic to a new consumer website to find out more.
We designed, wrote and developed www.youreyehealth.co.uk with bold graphics and a friendly tone-of-voice. To generate disease awareness and generate trust, we wanted the site to feel like a virtual pharmacist with a symptom-checker on the homepage. While a proper diagnosis should always be sought from a qualified medical professional, this simple tool allowed visitors to make an instant link between their symptoms and Dry Eye.
The website also allowed them to research their problems and receive helpful education and advice before being directed to relevant eye care products based on their answers. Education and awareness well under way, we also built in the facility to search for their nearest stockist, so customers could quickly find and purchase products.
This was just the beginning of wider activities to promote Thealoz Duo on- and off-line which has contributed to year-on-year growth for the brand.
Take a look at the website: www.youreyehealth.co.uk