Challenge
Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation (GAP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the time, cost and risk of Alzheimer’s clinical trials. GAP wanted to drive membership on the free, online platform called the Brain Health Registry (BHR). The registry is for anyone who wants to keep a healthy brain and ultimately helps identify potential candidates for Alzheimer’s clinical trials.
Strategy
LCI created the “Lunch with Linda” campaign to drive new users and signups to the BHR website. The campaign centered on a Facebook contest with the prize of an all-expenses paid lunch for two with the popular TV actress Linda Gray, star of the long running TV series, “Dallas.”
Tactics
LCI supported the campaign with a Facebook contest, public service announcement (PSA), press release, media outreach, digital ads and an email campaign. The team filmed a PSA with Linda Gray where she spoke about her mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease and encouraged people to sign up for the BHR. In addition, LCI packaged the story of Linda and the contest into a press release and distributed the announcement over a national newswire. LCI also negotiated media sponsorship packages with broadcast companies throughout the U.S. to air Linda’s PSA. Moreover, LCI utilized an email campaign via the BHR newsletter. The team created shareable content so that all of the GAP and BHR’s affiliated research sites (such as Harvard, University of California, San Francisco and The Cleveland Clinic) were able to share the contest via their e-newsletters and social media pages.
Results
LCI’s efforts secured media coverage for the “Lunch with Linda” campaign on Extra, Good Celebrity and Good Day LA. These media hits brought a substantial uptick in traffic to the BHR website. From March to May 2016, new visitors to the BHR website increased by 32 percent and membership grew by 73 percent. Linda’s PSA ran in popular media markets including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and South Florida, as well as in airports throughout the U.S. on CNN Airport News.