Research shows that while many people in the Netherlands understand the importance of drug research, there is often a negative perception surrounding participation. And that while participants are crucial to life-saving drug research. Therefore, ICON wanted to increase the social acceptance of drug research so that it becomes as common as donating blood. Here's how we used a unique campaign to show the impact of drug research by bringing participants and patients together in a personal and emotional way. The impact is bigger than you think.
ICON is the undisputed market leader in drug research in the Netherlands and is also the largest drug research center in Europe. With more than 1,000 dedicated employees, including doctors, researchers, nurses and lab technicians, they work with participants to develop new and improved drugs to improve patients lives.
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Research shows that, despite the importance of drug research being widely recognized in Dutch society, there is a negative perception regarding participation. Partly due to concerns about safety and social pressure from family and friends, there is a taboo on drug research. And that while recruiting participants is crucial for life-saving research.
ICON therefore wants to increase the social acceptance of drug research and make it as common as donating blood.
Actually, we are never face to face with the people we end up helping. And so we are not always aware of the difference we are making. But the impact that drug research participants make on people who desperately need medicine is immense. To highlight just that, we developed a content strategy that revolved around interviews with recent diabetes drug research participants, sharing their experiences on the ICON website.
To maximize the effectiveness of the media budget, we determined focus regions in the Netherlands with the highest numbers of individuals within our target audience based on data analysis. By serving the campaign in multiple layers and through different channels, we wanted to slowly add more experience and depth to the storyline.
Element of surprise
A group of diabetes patients personally surprised the interviewed participants by thanking them for their invaluable contribution to drug research. Interviewer Sam Mebius, a prominent figure in the diabetes community, magnified the element of surprise by revealing that he is also a diabetic
Pure and honest
Avoiding stereotypical associations with health care, we provided the campaign with a fresh, positive visual identity with ICON's brand colors. The small-scale stuidiodecor involved real patients and participants, so all emotions, reactions and stories were unscripted and heartfelt.
By successfully portraying real participants as heroes, the campaign created a sense of pride and released unscripted emotions. The heartwarming interactions with actual patients, made the real impact of participating in drug research visible in a special and emotional way.
From a marketing standpoint, the campaign navigated the complexities and challenging constraints of the healthcare industry and maximized the media budget through optimized targeting and data-driven optimization. The campaign was the first in the Netherlands to use Programmatic DOOH via DV360, enhancing visual effects in the focus areas through digital out-of-home advertising.
More traffic than competitors
More website visits than competitors
More paid searches
More impressions than expected
This campaign not only promoted social acceptance of participation in drug research, but also broke taboos and humanized the impact on participants and patients. It is an example of innovative marketing and an empathetic approach, tackling a crucial issue in the health sector.
'You are not aware yourself what impact it has to lie there for other people'
By increasing social acceptance of participation in drug research, the campaign contributes to structurally increasing the number of participants for crucial drug research. And with that, the real impact is ultimately made. Because more participants means more research into life-saving drugs.
"Normalizing participation in clinical research is an important issue for us. We wanted to break the taboo around clinical research. This campaign shows what impact good medicine has on patients' lives and that as a participant you can be proud of yourself. We encourage conversation with this campaign, which helps to make people more positive about participating in clinical research."
Paula Veldman Senior Online Marketing Specialist, ICON
Since 2005 – Fullservice Digital Agency - #1 Academy ’25
