Gilead, a Global leader in treatments for people living with HIV, engaged CPC to help them bring awareness to Canadians about Biktarvy, a newer treatment option in a highly competitive market. Adding to the difficulty of the brief was the regulatory restrictions of DTC prescription advertising in Canada, where the condition or disease the medication is used to treat cannot be mentioned. The challenge was to evoke key messages through visual and copy cues.

We executed a DTC campaign, affectionately known as “The Pill” that was deployed both digitally and out of home, with highly strategic targeting. The audience was guided to Biktarvy.ca and the call-to-action was to initiate an important discussion with their physician. Our aim was to create an inclusive campaign that visually mirrors the diverse demographics found within the HIV community. In addition to increasing awareness of BIKTARVY, we also wanted to showcase the practicality of a small tablet size in a cheeky manner while also having bold taglines that resonated well with the community.

Conversion of people engaging with the site far exceeded expectations. Awareness levels soared as did the discussions held between patients and their physicians. BIKTARVY now leads the category of HIV treatments in Canada and has been viewed by many as the new standard-of-care.