LisaWrites: Direct Mail Campaign Targets Podiatrists

Westwood-Squibb wanted to communicate to podiatrists how important it is for patients with diabetes to pay close attention to their feet. We developed this mailing, along with an educational program for patients, that emphasized the importance of checking feet and using Lac-Hydrin Cream to help heal compromised skin.

Doctors not only appreciated this information, but Westwood-Squibb also noticed a market gain post-campaign, and we won an Rx award for our efforts.

PEPCID BUSINESS BOOMS DURING LAST YEARS ON-PATENT

PEPCID was going off-patent in two years, and Merck wanted to go out with a bang not a whimper. I worked with an art director to create a year-long series of flat and dimensional mail targeting mid-to-high prescribers of PEPCID.

When you're Seymour GERD, there are so many moments in your life that seem unbearable. PEPCID helps you stomach these times. Doctors appreciated a fresh, humorous approach to a tired drug category, and, as a result, they ordered more samples and prescribed more PEPCID than ever before.

During the final year of the drug's life, we morphed this concept into an even more successful "CLASSICS" campaign. The idea was that doctors had been using PEPCID since the beginning. This drug was tried and true. With our classics campaign of ongoing mailers, MERCK enjoyed the highest response rates for direct mail in the history of MERCK. Doctors prescribed PEPCID like gangbusters, helping MERCK exceed projections for the year by 26%. MERCK was so pleased, they gave everyone at the agency who worked on the account a bonus that year.

The other pieces in this campaign are three-dimensional and hard to scan--especially for a ludite like me. If we meet in person, I will gladly bring them.

CANCER TREATMENT CENTERS OF AMERICA--A PLACE CALLED HOPE

CTCA contracted me to write a series of communications targeting potential patients. These brochures would go to prospects after they had spoken with a customer service representative. The materials needed to reflect the exact conversation a patient had had with the representative--highlighting the specific treatment options they'd discussed. The goal of the campaign was to encourage these patients to continue their treatment through CTCA.