e-Detailing options

Doctors.net.uk was commissioned by Boehringer Ingelheim for a campaign to support the promotion of Asasantin. The online campaign consisted of a brand and disease microsite hosting a number of elements. The campaign was targeted at GPs and relevant secondary care specialists and used to maximise coverage of Asasantin's key marketing and educational messages.

The stroke microsite educated doctors about treatment options and secondary prevention

Challenge
Boehringer Ingelheim, via Doctors.net.uk, wished to provide an exceptional stroke resource for doctors. The objectives were to educate doctors within primary care and target specialities about stroke, the treatment options and secondary prevention, and to increase the depth of prescribing of Asasantin by giving timely reminders of key marketing messages.

Solution
The Doctors.net.uk campaign for Asasantin included the design and production of a stroke microsite to include current Doctors.net.uk campaigns, new campaign elements and content provided by Boehringer Ingelheim.

The microsite included both educational and promotional elements and maximised engagement with target doctors. This included a product presentation (ie, an e-Detail), three short presentations, links to and promotion of patient resource websites, conference highlights, a slide set, PDFs of recent clinical studies and links to relevant guidelines.

A key success factor was whether the doctors intended to change their prescribing intentions as a result of viewing the e-Detail. Doctors were therefore asked, at the start of the presentation, what they prescribed for patients following a first stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA). After viewing the presentation, doctors were asked if they would consider prescribing Asasantin Retard or Persantin Retard plus aspirin for their patients following a first stroke or TIA.

Results
The Doctors.net.uk post-campaign research of 500 doctors in June 2009 showed that, after viewing the presentation, 95 per cent of doctors would consider prescribing Asasantin Retard or Persantin Retard plus aspirin.

Further analysis of the doctors' pathway through the e-Detail was able to show how different groups of doctors changed their prescribing choices after viewing the presentation. The results indicated that of those doctors who, at the start of the e-Detail, said they did not prescribe drugs following a first stroke or TIA, 75 per cent would consider prescribing Asasantin Retard or Persantin Retard plus aspirin after viewing the presentation.

Similarly, of those doctors who said they prescribe aspirin alone following a first stroke or TIA, 93 per cent said they would now consider prescribing Asasantin Retard or Persantin Retard plus aspirin.

Overall, during a 12-month period, with multiple waves to the campaign, there were 27,752 doctor interactions. There was a 15.2 per cent growth in sales of Asasantin attributed to the Doctors.net.uk campaign as no other communication channels were used.

Client verdict
Online campaigns for Boehringer Ingelheim have secured praise from doctors and from within the pharmaceutical industry, including a PM Society Award in 2009. Charlotte Eastlake, the Asasantin brand manager, said: "I am delighted to be able to continue the success story. Last year we proved how effective engagement with a network of professional doctors can be. We are now using this engagement with our target doctors to provide a high quality and valued resource."

Case study details

Client: Boehringer Ingelheim
Agency: Doctors.net.uk
Campaign: Promotion of Asasantin
Timescale: Ongoing