Phase 2 – Case Study
Proper positioning and fast action enable our client to capitalize on dietary trend
Media Relations Agency began working with Pharmachem Laboratories, supplier of Phase 2® starch neutralizer, just as consumers were discovering the merits of a low-carb diet.
The aim of this consumer media campaign was to educate the public on how a weight management program using Phase 2® could be part of a healthy lifestyle.
Our campaign generated more than 721 million consumer impressions in many prestigious media outlets.
The Challenge
Our goal was to enable Phase 2 to become a respected product in an extremely fast-growing category, and to maintain visibility in a market that would soon have hundreds of entries. To be taken seriously by reporters and consumers, we knew we needed to show that Phase 2® was backed by solid science.
Timing was critical. We have a strong, results-driven track record, and with a potential avalanche of products on the horizon, we had to act fast.
Our Approach
MRA began by assembling our media tool kit – an arsenal of studies, experts and background information designed to pique reporters’ interest and support our assertion that this was a product whose story needed to be told.
Within a few weeks, our PR team was contacting individual reporters and producers with our featurized press releases. We leaned heavily into the science to support Phase 2’s credibility, including preliminary studies that showed its effectiveness. Not long after the media campaign began, Harper Collins published “The Starch Blocker Diet,” by Steven Roseblatt, M.D., a hardcover book featuring Phase 2®. The book made a great media tool.
Our team then coordinated the media interviews to ensure each interview opportunity clearly communicated the product’s value points.
The Results
With a great product and lots of preparation, we were rewarded with a plateful of media opportunities.
Within the consumer campaign’s first six months, more than 21 million people had discussions about Phase 2® on the radio, or read news accounts in leading newspapers and magazines.
As awareness of, and confidence in Phase 2® escalated, its distribution grew from 25 to 150 North American manufacturers. Simultaneously, Media Relations’ team arranged for news reports and interviews reaching more than 130 million people.
By year two, the consumer media campaign had reached a remarkable 570 million consumers. Ultimately, it generated more than 721 million consumer impressions. (To reach that many consumers through paid advertising, it would have cost somewhere around $45 million.)
Among the prestigious media outlets that featured Phase 2® stories were The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, Woman’s World, Men’s Journal, WebMD, Good Day Live, WCBS-TV New York, KCAL9 Los Angeles and ABC News.
721M
Consumer impressions
21M
People reached (first 6 months)
570M
Consumers reached (by Year 2)
$45M
Estimated paid equivalent
The Results
With a great product and lots of preparation, we were rewarded with a plateful of media
opportunities.
721M
Consumer impressions
21M
People reached (first 6 months)
570M
Consumers reached (by Year 2)
$45M
Estimated paid equivalent
We contacted Media Relations after the agency was highly recommended by two
members of our marketing team.
Timing was critical and we wanted an agency with a strong, results-driven track record.
After reviewing Media Relations’ history with other health and nutritional products, we felt that they were the most capable and best positioned to meet our needs.
Mitch Skop – Pharmachem