GLP-1 Consumer Marketing Team & Omni-Channel Media Team
Novo Nordisk
Agency Partners: Cult Health, Brainworks, InStep Health
Expanding and Enhancing a Pharmacy Program
In 2020, it became clear to the Novo Nordisk GLP-1 Franchise Marketing Team that their planned mid-year DTC campaign launch of Rybelsus—one of the most significant launches in the company’s history—would need to be delayed. Among many other things, they needed to re-shoot the TV ad, rejigger every DTC campaign element, and reassess the entire marketing plan. On top of this, the team was also responsible for Ozempic, another key brand that had its marketing plans upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. But they turned what could have been a calamitous situation into a successful Rybelsus launch and a seamless continuation of key Ozempic marketing strategies.
Partnering with InStep Health, they made modifications to optimize the Ozempic pharmacy program (including adding a QR code for no-touch access to brand information and modifying the geographic footprint to include areas not as significantly impacted by the pandemic) and moved the Rybelsus effort to later in the year. Furthermore, they worked together to expand the portfolio of marketing capabilities for the brands to include the ability to message patients and providers at the HCP office and augment other digital capabilities to create a fuller marketing solution platform. The two companies set up a series of ongoing weekly meetings to hammer out the details, develop the creative, gain medical-legal approval on all the elements, and run a pilot test for the new offerings.
Ozempic’s resulting pilot campaign—a strategic combination of pharmacy displays, HCP education-focused office tactics, and targeted patient digital—drove conversion among targeted HCPs, delivered a high level of patient engagement, and generated incremental Rx lift. As for Rybelsus, the ongoing pharmacy program is displaying solid results to date as well, on track to deliver double-digit ROI and a significant lift in prescription volume as measured via test vs. control matched panel research.
