PR campaign and event management to launch medical website

Aim

Generate high awareness of new company

Background

A team of 26 consultants from the NHS created a medical Internet service providing medical information to supplement diagnoses or raise patients' awareness of possible conditions so that they are better informed to engage in meaningful dialogue with their GPs.

Metropolis 2 was asked to launch the web site.

Strategy

Metropolis 2 investigated a suitable venue to host the launch

Campaign

The Royal Society of Medicine in London was chosen to give weight and credibility.

There was no advertising budget so Metropolis 2 had to generate awareness via press releases and briefings targeted at key media. This was achieved through careful analysis of the product strengths and successful matches with key media segments.

The site offered informative video footage on subjects of keen interest to various sections of the population and Metropolis 2 exploited the opportunities afforded.

Results

Within hours of the launch the web site host had to increase the bandwidth (capacity) of the site to handle all the people wishing to visit the site.

Coverage on radio and TV in addition to the national dailies combined with the momentum of word of mouth recommendation by previous visitors to the site resulted in over 50,000 hits per day.

Metropolis 2 then took a new tack on the story by emphasising the contribution made by consultants in their localities. As a example, some were based in Birmingham and its environs, we targeted their local media and generated coverage in local newspapers, radio and TV.

Case 5