Strategy and content for the launch of a new medicine

The challenge

This form of constipation falls between disciplines. Several specialties see the complaint come up, but no one really feels ownership of it. That made the first question strategic: which prescriber do you target, and what would move them to use a new treatment for this specific issue? A second layer came on top of that. Patients rarely raised the complaint themselves, even though that conversation is the starting point for treatment. Without a patient opening the topic, the prescribing moment never arrives.

The approach

The foundation was research. We mapped the drivers and barriers per discipline: what motivates a prescriber to act, and what holds them back? We asked the same question on the patient side, where shame and lack of awareness stood in the way of the conversation.

Those insights determined the focus. We selected the prescribers with the greatest impact and translated their drivers and barriers into clear key messages. That strategy formed the basis for the positioning in the Dutch market.

That's where the creative leap came in. A big, compelling concept brought a sensitive and clinical topic to life and gave the launch a face that stuck. The idea was strong enough to connect two worlds: it spoke to the prescriber in the consultation room and to the patient outside it, without losing its impact. One recognizable idea ran as a common thread through every touchpoint.

From that concept, the execution followed two tracks. A branded program reached prescribers through product specialists, congresses, trade media, website, and email. A non-branded patient campaign encouraged people to talk about their complaint, in language that matched their experience. The two tracks reinforced each other: the patient opens the conversation, the prescriber recognizes it and acts.

The activation ran full-funnel and was continuously refined based on what worked.

The result

A launch with a sharp concept and a consistent story across every touchpoint. The creative idea gave a clinical topic a face that stuck with two very different audiences. Prescribers got a clear reason to act, patients a reason to open the conversation. The collaboration has now continued for several years and is expanding to new treatments and campaigns. [Room for a hard number: reach, growth in prescribers, or awareness among the target audience.