here's what we've done

• graphic design
• broadcast media
• multimedia
• advertising
• promotions & exhibits

American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

Client
Members of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) provide optimal, specialized care to people who suffer from allergies and asthma—addressing the root causes of their symptoms to provide lasting relief and often a cure.

Challenge
A remarkable 44 percent of Americans are afflicted with serious or very serious allergies and/or asthma, but just 29 percent of them have seen an allergist. The ACAAI needed a full-blown campaign to raise public awareness and understanding of allergic diseases, showcase the benefits of treatment by a qualified allergist-immunologist, and motivate allergy and asthma sufferers to see an allergist.

Enter Reingold
Find an Allergist. Find Relief. Millions of people heard this message in spring 2009 when Reingold helped ACAAI launch its multimedia public education campaign. First we created a website—AllergyAndAsthmaRelief.org—featuring an interactive Lifetime Symptom Calculator, an animated e-card visitors can use to tell friends about the website, patient success stories about how they found relief, and seasonal podcasts highlighting relief tips. Then we executed a national advertising campaign to drive traffic to the website and mobilize patients to see an allergist. We created and placed banner ads on major healthcare websites including WebMD and iVillage, radio spots in a dozen major U.S. cities with the highest concentration of ACAAI-member allergists, and print advertisements in markets that we selected based on factors such as the prevalence of individuals who attempt to manage their symptoms through self-medication. We complemented our advertising with media outreach to generate news and feature stories, disseminating press materials on timely, seasonal topics. Finally, we built and equipped a Relief Team of more than 1,100 ACAAI members to spread our messages and materials among the communities they influence.

Results
In its first five months, the ACAAI website garnered almost 120,000 unique visitors, averaging 12,000 to 15,000 per week, and 8,177 visitors accessed the "Find an Allergist" tool. Our advertising achieved more than 128 million gross impressions among our target audience of women aged 25-54, and our radio ads reached more than 7 million women aged 25-44. Our online banner ads garnered about 33 million impressions, while our website ads on WebMD and iVillage achieved 1.3 million. The Campaign's media relations succeeded as well, earning 140 media articles and broadcasts that reached an audience of 151 million in outlets including USA Today, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, CNN.com, and Good Morning America's online health channel. ACAAI spokespersons were quoted or acknowledged in 95 percent of these feature stories.