MS life hacks – novartis
Using print craft to authentically engage with multiple sclerosis patients
How could we reach people and lighten their day a little, not just swamp them with more information?
Global pharmaceutical company Novartis created Living Like You, a website designed to support people with Multiple Sclerosis. The New Zealand office was keen to promote this site to local patients, especially the MS Life Hacks series – 365 tips, tricks and tools to help the day-to-day challenge of the disease just that little bit easier. Our brief was to create patient awareness of the site while not embarking on a deep digital campaign.
I’ve worked on MS-related briefs in both NZ and the UK, and patient communications are so often either earnest, or a bit bleak.
The solution was postcards.
The functional photography used to depict each Life Hack on the website would have been uninspiring. This is where the process really became collaboration, not just commerce. Illustrator Natasha Vermuelen brought her unique whimsical drawing style to the project, along with a level of proactive ideas and initiative that are a treasure for any creative director.
If you’re putting lotion on your back, well of course you need to have a crab to hold the bottle!
Packs of postcards were distributed to clinics and MS Nurses to give to their patients, carers and support networks to spread the word about the website, but also give them a fun, tangible way to connect with each other. Although larger and longer term ambitions for the campaign, such as murals and creating more sets of cards based on patients’ own ideas, never came to pass, it was gratifying to know that this work had made an impact.
The MS community nurses, who had been given the packs of postcards to distribute to their patients, complimented the work for its content and balanced tone of voice.
Agency/Client Essence the Health Agency / Novartis
Year 2017
Country Aotearoa New Zealand
My roles Concept / creative direction / art direction / copywriting
Illustration Natasha Vermuelen
Media Direct Mail / Community nurses
IMPACT
The MS community nurses (arguably the best barometer of audience response), who had been given the packs of postcards to distribute to their patients, complimented the campaign for its content and finely balanced tone of voice.