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Imodium

A long-established and respected brand, Imodium, the nation's leading treatment for diarrhea, was neither a product nor a topic about which the media wanted to write. Ruder Finn faced the challenge of re-engaging the media for the upcoming summer season with no new information to provide.

Noting that summer is the season to be outdoors and that public restrooms in major cities are now few and far between, the concept of The Imodium Urban Relief Program was born.

 

 

OBJECTIVES

• Raise awareness and build brand recognition for Imodium in the context of summer travel.
• Drive consumers to think about Imodium when traveling by tying into the brand's "Where Will You Be?" advertising platform.
• Move the story beyond the health and travel pages.

PROGRAM

• Secured top New York City "Cow Parade" artists to add pop and pizzazz to 10 high-visibility port-o-potties. Imodium gave the artists the theme of spontaneity for inspiration to reflect both the spirit of the Imodium Urban Relief Program as well as Imodium's "Where Will You Be" direct-to-consumer advertising campaign.
• Took program (and Port-a-Potties) to key locations (Battery Park, Union Square) in major markets (New York, Washington, D.C., etc.)

RESULTS

• More than 300 local and national television segments aired as a result of both b-roll and network affiliate feeds, including interviews with program spokespeople on CNNfn "The Biz," Fox & Friends, WB 11 Morning News and NY1 News. Local broadcast coverage appeared in 39 states on 208 different local affiliate stations, including CBS, ABC, FOX, NBC, WB, UPN, PAX and independent stations.
• High-profile print coverage included USA Today, The Washington Post, The Arizona Republic, The Star-Leger, Time Out New York and BrandWeek.
• Online placements included USAToday.com and HealthNewsDigest.com, which are available to audiences worldwide.
• National radio interviews for spokespeople included syndication on Westwood One and USA Radio Network.
• The highly promoted and well-chronicled weeklong event also generated employee excitement at Johnson & Johnson/McNeil and pride in the "heroic" Imodium brand that solves travelers' most important problem.