Havas Health & You
Novartis
The Adakveo Do U Dance Challenge
Dancing is the opposite of feeling sick. Novartis/Adakveo used this insight to create the first-ever branded pharma initiative on TikTok—the Adakveo Do U Dance Challenge. Too often, people with sickle cell disease live in the shadows, misunderstood, stigmatized, and alone in their pain. The goal of the Adakveo Do U Dance Challenge was to help support and recognize the strength and resilience of those in the sickle cell community and to highlight Adakveo as a treatment option.
Working in partnership with music producer C.P Dubb and professional dancer/entertainer Stephen “tWitch” Boss, original Do U music and a unique Do U dance were created. On TikTok and other social platforms, tWitch invited the sickle cell community to Do U and join him in a dance challenge. Thousands shared their dances with energy, creativity, and style. Influencers such as Paris Bennett, Quincy Combs, and actual patients with sickle cell disease soon joined in to further showcase the true spirit of the sickle cell community and highlight Adakveo as a potential treatment option. Media partnerships with iHeartRadio, BlackDoctor.org, and Urban One amplified the reach of our campaign.
We reached over 30 million people and generated a five-fold increase in traffic to the brand website, with an average positivity sentiment of 94%. TikTok shared their excitement for Do U and noted: “Since the Do U Challenge ended in October, we’ve seen accelerated growth in #sicklecell content occurring organically. In the past two months, we’ve seen nearly 6M video views with the hashtag #sicklecell—nearly a 3x increase over the previous two-month period!”
Havas Health & You Team:
Richard Marshall, EVP, Director of Client Services
Barbara Patchefsky, EVP Account Director
Dani Curatola, SVP, Management Supervisor
Olivia Moore, Account Supervisor
Letty Albarran, EVP, Executive Creative Director
Astrid DeFries-Lansing, EVP, Executive Creative Director
Jeffery Forrester, SVP Associate Creative Director, Copy
Paul Nair, Group Copy Supervisor
Jia Liu, Art Supervisor
Aleisia Gibson-Wright, EVP
Anisha Manix, Vice President
Kim Nguyen, Account Supervisor
Novartis Team:
Frederike Podevin, Executive Director, U.S. Marketing
Mike Edwards, Director, U.S. Marketing
Brad Carlson, Director, Digital Strategy
Monica Stipanov, Associate Director, Digital Strategy
Michael Billings, Director, Communications, Global Hematology Franchise
Floriana Riccio Furnari, Associate Director, Portfolio Communications
Leslie Fields, Director, Patient Advocacy Relations
Nitya Karthik, Digital Program Manager
