Cases

How do you make women care about cardiovascular health - when they think it's a "man's disease"?

Issue

Heart disease is the #1 killer of women. But in a 2000 survey, only 34% of women knew this. Even though heart disease kills more women than all forms of cancer combined, knowledge of the mortality rate and risk factors for heart disease was low − among women and the population in general. What’s more, consumer research showed heart disease was thought to be a condition that overwhelmingly affects men, creating a significant hurdle for any campaign targeting women.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, realized that raising public awareness of heart disease among women − and getting them to discuss the issue with their doctors − was critical to reducing its impact on women's health.

The NHLBI charged Ogilvy with ensuring their message would be heard amid the many social marketing and pharmaceutical marketing campaigns targeted toward women in recent years.

Insight

In any public health education effort, insight begins with research. For this effort, research included a comprehensive analysis of mid-life women (weighing demographic, psychographic and socioeconomic factors, as well as knowledge of cardiovascular health and other criteria); a client-conducted literature review of 200+ research articles; and focus group testing.

Focus group research with women showed that forging a strong emotional link between a woman's focus on her outer self (appearance) and the need to focus on her inner self (health in general and heart health, in particular) was critical to any communications effort.

Ideas

As a result of this research, Ogilvy developed the strategic creative platform, "Heart Disease Doesn't Care What You Wear − It's the #1 Killer of Women," which addressed the prevailing myth that women aren't seriously affected by cardiovascular disease.

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