In Belgium, around 1,000 to 1,200 people are diagnosed with melanoma every year. HIV diagnoses run at similar numbers. Yet many patients miss out on timely treatment - not because care is unavailable, but because the conversation with a doctor never happens. Pharmaceutical company MSD asked iO to change that, with two awareness campaigns built around one shared ambition: make communication the cure.
Two pharma awareness campaigns: melanoma and HIV
Real patient testimonials as the creative foundation
Multi-channel distribution: social media, email, posters and brochures
Positive, solution-first messaging for a Belgian healthcare audience
Creative concepting, video production and digital campaigning
The challenge
Improve communication between patients and their doctors
The solution
Two awareness campaigns centred around melanoma and HIV
About MSD
MSD (known as Merck in the US and Canada) is one of the world's leading biopharmaceutical companies, contributing to the improvement of global health for over 130 years. MSD develops medicines and vaccines, and leads research and prevention in cancer, infectious diseases and animal diseases.
The challenge: improve patient-doctor communication
For both melanoma and HIV, late or absent treatment often comes down to a single barrier: poor communication between patient and doctor. Sometimes it stems from a lack of awareness. More often, it is reluctance to speak openly about a condition that still carries social stigma. Clear, timely communication can change outcomes - and MSD wanted to make that happen at scale across Belgium.
The goal was the same for both campaigns: bring the issue to the attention of both potential patients and healthcare professionals, and give them the language and courage to start that conversation.
Rather than leading with dread, MSD and iO took a deliberately positive approach. The idea was not to frighten people into action, but to motivate them: confronting audiences with reality while pointing clearly towards solutions.
For melanoma, that meant encouraging regular skin checks and early dermatologist visits. For HIV, it meant giving patients hope - hope that a better-fitted treatment could bring more bearable symptoms, if they were willing to speak up.
How to use video storytelling in pharmaceutical awareness campaigns
Emotions are what move people to act. And to create a message that truly resonates in a healthcare context, you need a medium that amplifies that emotion. We chose real stories from real people, with video as the primary format for both campaigns.
The creative concept was 'The Lifesaver Tattoo'. A gripping video testimony follows a patient who discovered her melanoma during a visit to a tattoo shop. As the story unfolds, the flower tattoo blooms during good moments and withers during difficult ones - a visual metaphor that lingers. The pay-off brings it together: 'Your skin lives with you. Get it checked regularly.' The hopeful ending ensures audiences leave feeling empowered, not paralysed.
HIV treatment cannot guarantee a symptom-free life. But tailored treatment can significantly increase the likelihood of tolerable symptoms. We translated that truth into a direct, compassionate concept:
'Do you have HIV and don't feel well? Talk to your doctor about it.'
No jargon. No fear. Just the clarity needed to lower the threshold - for patients and healthcare professionals alike.
How to reach patients with digital campaigns about sensitive health topics
A carefully designed distribution flow ensured each message reached the right audience at the right moment. Social media advertising, email campaigns, posters and brochures worked together as a cohesive multi-channel whole. The tone was consistently positive throughout: the problem as the starting point, the solution as the destination. Always honest. Never alarming.
The numbers
1-1200
new melanoma diagnoses in Belgium each year
1
campaigns sharing one approach: communication as the solution
1
target groups per campaign: patients and healthcare professionals
1
Multiple channels combined: social media, email, posters and brochures
