CAMPAIGN: PSORIASIS, BEYOND THE SKIN – SOCIETATEA ROMANA DE DERMATOLOGIE

OPORTUNITY

The Romanian Society of Dermatology is a professional and scientific association of dermato-venerologists in Romania with international recognition from European Academy of Dermatovenerology (EADV) and European Association of Dermatology and Oncology (EADO).

• CONTEXT:

REALITY: Psorias is autoimmune, non-contagious, inflammatory disease.

PERCEPTION: awareness still limited, many consider it contagious,

many are afraid of touching a patient.

RESEARCH

The feelings of stigma and isolation lead to an increased level of depression and to negative psychosocial consequences for the patient suffering from psoriasis and, implicitly, a low quality of life.

Effects of psoriasis & of social perception -> dramatic

consequences*:

1. 1 of 3 patients thinks about suicide.
2. 43% of patients aged between 20 and 29 believe it is a „social shame„.
3. 23% of patients say that it has influenced their career choice.
4. 1 out of 5 people diagnosed say the disease affects their romantic relationships.

*Sources: Official data provided by the Romanian Society of Dermatology

PLANNING

• • OBJECTIVE OF THE VIDEO PRODUCTION

To raise awareness about the fact that this disease is not transmitted by touch and to decrease the associated stigma.

• • TARGET:

Main public: men and women between 15 and 45 years old.

Secondary public: families and friends of the patients.

• • MESSAGES:

Psoriasis is not a contagious disease.

The patients need encouragement and support to live with it.

• CHANNELS:

The main channel of the campaign was SOCIAL MEDIA, the place where the VIDEO format can get viralized fast:

1. the campaign’s dedicated Facebook page channels of the ambassador of the campaign: the influencer Ana Morodan (Youtube channel & Facebook page & Instagram account & blog.

But we didn’t stop here! We went even further the press and medical conferences held on World Psoriasis Day were opened with the broadcasting of the video-social experiment. 200 doctors and 25 journalists whitnesed the video first hand.

IMPLEMENTATION

• • What did we do?

A video social experiment with an influencer in the leading role!

The main touchpoint of the campaign were 2 videos that emphasized on how people react when they are face to face with a person that has psoriasis. The social experiment had the support of Ana Morodan as an ambassador who played the role of the patient. With the help of a make-up artist, we simulated the signs of the disease on this „fake” patient. Then we put her in the place of an employee that works in industries that require direct interaction with customers: beauty consultant, hair stylist and coffee shop worker and filmed the interactions with a hidden camera.

We looked for an influencer that is used to be easily recognised by people, who usually generate attraction not rejection. She could feel the feeling of avoidance and rejection by the others, in a deeper way. This tactic proved to be efficient, as Ana entered the character skin and, at one point, she had a panic attack when seeing how the others were looking at her. This experiment allowed her to be very authentic when documented the subject.

• MOVIE 1: INFORMING – The angle of approach of the first one was the interaction of the ambassador with customers: Ana Morodan’s experience as a patient with psoriasis. She had the role to inform people that psoriasis is not a contagious disease and people affected by it shouldn’t be isolated because of it.
• MOVIE 2: SIGNS OF STIGMA – The second movie was focused on the reactions of the customers who interacted with the fake patient. Not surprisingly, the video shows the cruel reality: people inevitably are looking weird at Ana Morodan when they saw her disease signs, some of them even avoiding her and refusing to interact with her at all.
• DIFFICULTIES:

We found it very difficult to get the support of public figures to associate with the campaign and support its message. Initially, we wanted to involve over 10 influencers, but we needed to rethink the plan after seeing their reactions. They refused to associate their name with psoriasis. They didn’t want to be seen in public with a dermatological disease. This convinced us about the necessity of correctly informing the public about the consequences of the disease.

EVALUATION