Case Study: Living Like You

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the nervous system and impacts an estimated 2.5 million people around the world. Most people with MS are diagnosed in the prime of their lives, already juggling career ambitions, busy personal lives and countless responsibilities.

So what did people in the prime of their lives find when first undertaking an online search about their MS? Unfortunately, despite the fact that MS is mentioned every 13 seconds online, the information available was overwhelming dry and static - whether scientific language on the mechanisms of the nervous system or complex information on treatment offerings.

If you were newly diagnosed, this is what you would be greeted with. What was missing was real, honest information about what it’s like to live with MS. What it’s like to work with this disease. What it’s like to explain MS to your children. What sex with your spouse will be like; all things people living with MS deserve to know. They didn’t want to hear from industry, they wanted to hear from each other. They wanted honest information from real people about the real challenges they would face. They wanted to feel a connection.

‘Living Like You’ has empowered the MS community. It’s broken the mould for digital disease awareness, shifting the conversation from diagnosis and treatment to lifestyle - what the patients truly care about most. From 2014 to 2015, the content hub (www.livinglikeyou.com) earned more than 825,000 site visits, 1.2 million page views and nearly 150,000 social media engagements. ‘Living Like You’ also grew a social following of over 15,000 and reached an estimated audience of 179 million people through #MSLifeHacks.