GSK has launched a new television ad campaign called “Shingles is Sleeping” to promote awareness of the risks of the shingles virus.
Airing in English and Spanish, the ad is part of a robust marketing-led campaign spanning from social media to point-of-care outlets for adults ages 50 and above.
GSK shot an entirely separate commercial in Spanish, featuring all Hispanic actors and a tailored message to resonate specifically with the Hispanic community.
GSK markets shingles shot Shingrix, one of its biggest drugs that made 1.7 billion pounds sterling last year, though this was a decrease of 9% year on year as demand in the U.S. dropped. The U.K. Big Pharma will hope this campaign can help shore this up.
According to a GSK spokesperson, people who are over the age of 50 often underestimate their risk of shingles even though 99% of this population already have the virus living inside them. Over the course of a lifetime, 1 in 3 people 50-plus will develop shingles.
“However, our research uncovered that a staggering 61% don’t know or don’t think they are at risk for shingles. Because of this gap, we wanted to develop a campaign to raise awareness about the risk of shingles for people 50 plus,” a GSK spokesperson told Fierce Pharma Marketing in an interview.
GSK also said that only 38.6% of the white population of adults over 60 in the U.S. are vaccinated against shingles, while only 19.5% of the Hispanic population over the age of 60 are vaccinated.
The campaign points people in direction of the informational website “What is Shingles,” to learn more about preventing the painful, blistering skin rash through vaccination.
Previous GSK disease awareness campaigns about shingles focused on the negative impact of shingles—the pain, how the rash feels, that it can last for weeks—to convey that shingles is something to avoid. However, in addition to understanding the impact of shingles, the campaign was aimed at helping consumers understand that they are at risk for the disease—with a focus on the “dormant virus.”
“The campaign uses sleeping as a metaphor for the dormant virus which can wake at any time,” said the GSK spokesperson. “It urges people who don’t think they are at risk for shingles to ‘wake up, because shingles could wake up in you.’”
GSK was adamant about not simply translating the ad into Spanish for the Hispanic communities, but instead making the dialogue relevant to Hispanic audiences.
“We needed to do better. So, we developed a dedicated Spanish campaign,” said the spokesperson. Therefore, the Spanish ads feature all Hispanic actors and scenarios that are particularly relevant to the Hispanic community. “Additionally, to be most relevant to Black consumers we needed strong representation and scenarios that will resonate with the target audience.”
The campaign’s call to action is to encourage consumers to learn more about their risk of shingles and to talk to their doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. The ad features GSK’s website whatisshingles.com.
In addition to TV (linear, connected and addressable), the campaign includes ads across online video, banners, social, radio, in-store and point-of-care channels.
The campaign was developed by GSK’s agency of record, Tank Worldwide, in conjunction with the company’s multicultural agency, CIEN+.