Yesterday I met with one of my clients to discuss a possible tactical campaign against a competitor who’s been pretty active for the last few weeks.

Without naming names, there’s a disease awareness campaign supported by a big pharma company interested in getting people over a certain age to go and see a specialist about their eye health.  They are trying to raise awareness of a disease that affects 1 in 7 Australians over 50 and can ultimately cause blindness. We’ve seen ads on TV and newspapers, and marketing intelligence says they will continue to do so for the next 2-3 months.

But because our competitor only sells a prescription drug for this particular condition, they are not allowed to identify or mention the drug’s name on TV, which means they would be doing a big push with their representatives detailing the product to healthcare professionals to make sure they close the gap when/if people make a move to see their eye specialist.

But what would you, as a consumer who’s seen the ad on TV or on the Sunday newspaper do if you were interested in finding out more about it?

Google is your friend, right?

You would think this big pharma company, with all the millions of dollars invested in traditional advertising, would have their basis covered with a simple SEM strategy.

The fact is they didn’t and we have been able to (with minimum investment) not only feature at the top of the Google Search results, but also tailor the message to talk to, capture and direct people the way we prefer them to go, off the back of someone else’s investment, simply because they overlooked a fundamental aspect of consumer’s behaviour and path to action.

It makes you wonder what sort of advertising agency is advising these people and getting paid for it!!!

AFA Adschool Digital Marketing Workshop - Search, TV and Newspaper