"It’s about making impact and using creativity to capture people’s attention"

The 2011 Advertising Awards finalist list features five names making their Awards debut: CAN Advertising, eBee Health, inventive Health Communications, Lime and OPEN Health. Lime has received its first nomination in the Detailing Aid (Craft) category for their work on Zineryt for Astellas. We spoke to owner Alex Fone about the agency, the industry and Lime's nominated campaign. 

Launched by Alex and Kelly Underwood-Fone in October 2008, Lime now employs seven full-time staff working with seven client companies across a number of brands. The agency delivers work on a wide range of projects, from website design and iPad apps to video-based projects. Lime’s structure, Alex claims, allows them to remain flexible and responsive in the current fluctuating market, and with a broad skillset they appear to be enjoying the shakeup that digital's giving the pharmaceutical marketing world. 

You need to make sure you know why you're using a form of communication - otherwise it’s just a big waste of money

"We’re doing more and more projects that deliver digitally and I predict we won’t be doing anything with paper in a few years’ time. One interesting  thing will be what happens to the role of the medical representative in the coming years, how that will change or if it will even disappear entirely. There are now a number of innovative, more cost-effective, ways to with connect with doctors without needing to have somebody knocking on doors." 

But as doctors increasingly adopt digital technologies like the iPad, Alex is acutely aware of the key role of human interaction. "A lot of doctors like to have a bit of cut’n’thrust and debate with reps - a lot of doctors admit that’s still one of their top sources of new information and they like to talk to another human being. I don’t think that should be underestimated."

The key to making digital work for the audience will be in making information easy to find and to really understand why you’re using chosen communication channels. "You need to make sure you understand what relevance and value it’s going to have in order to make it useful. Otherwise it’s just a big waste of money."

It’s about making impact and using creativity to try and capture people’s attention

Lime’s finalist in the 2011 PM Society Advertising Awards, the Zineryt detail aid for Astellas, is their first Awards finalist and pitches Zineryt as an acne-defeating hero.  So how did Lime arrive at their solution to the creative brief?

Lime knew that Zineryt’s target market is promotionally responsive, "if you go out there and talk to doctors and hit them with the relevant message frequently enough then they respond to that." However, in a market where the differences between products mean little to doctors or patients, the message may not have been hitting its target: Zineryt was "a little bit anonymous". Memorable branding was vital. 

"It’s not a product you can differentiate in a classic marketing sense. It’s more about making impact and using creativity to try and capture people’s attention and imagination and leave them with a positive attitude." To do this, Lime chose to step away from the traditional imagery. In a market saturated with teenagers they made the condition, not the patient, the star. "It was about focussing the doctor’s mind on acne. Whenever they see acne or think acne, the answer is Zineryt". 

Feedback for the campaign, which launched in June 2011, has been positive, according to Alex. "One of the really pleasing things in the research was that there wasn’t a single parameter that didn’t score 50% or more positive response from GPs in terms of the campaign," and there’s scope for more, with Lime looking at ways in which the campaign can be further developed. 

It’s nice to get that creative recognition and for the client to know that their trust in what we’re doing is paying off

The Advertising Awards nomination means a lot to Lime, "it’s our first campaign that’s been worthy or judged worthy by our creative peers in terms being judged as a finalist in the Awards, and as an agency it’s an incredibly positive thing. It’s nice to get that creative recognition and for the client to know that their trust in what we’re doing as an agency is paying off."
 

With thanks to Alex Fone and Lime. Follow Lime on Twitter.