Pharma Brand Ads Within Mobile Apps Myrbetriq®’s Advertising Partnership with RunPee AppPharmaguy interviews Walt Johnston, Vice President of US Marketing and New Product Planning, and Emily Sitrin Mason, Consumer Marketing Director – Urology Franchise, at Astellas (see Bios). We discuss a new partnership with Astellas Pharma US and the RunPee mobile app as part of the company’s marketing campaign for Myrbetriq® (mirabegron) featuring an animated bladder character. Johnston and Mason share some amazing metrics of the pilot campaign.
Aired LIVE on: Thursday, July 17, 2014
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Background
The RunPee app is a movie-viewing app that tells you the best time to “run and pee” without missing the best scenes.
As part of the Myrbetriq campaign, Astellas has entered into an innovative and exclusive advertising partnership with the app. While the ultimate goal is to encourage individuals to speak with a health care professional about overactive bladder (OAB), Astellas is encouraging those who experience symptoms of OAB to enjoy the movies this summer and download the app to determine the best time to use the restroom during movies if needed.
The ads just launched on Friday, May 30 on the app and with a debut event at AMC Northbrook Court theaters outside Chicago, IL. The app has was downloaded about 80,000 times since the ads started. Advertisements were rolled out at movie theaters nationwide in the summer of 2014.
Questions/Topics of Discussion
- Give us a little background about this partnership. Why did Astellas decide to partner with RunPee?
- Describe how the app works
- Are branded Myrbetriq® ads served up within the app? Describe how that is done.
- What is the target audience for Myrbetriq® and how does the app help you reach this audience?
- What are are the KPIs for this campaign? Has it been successful so far? What data can you share with us?
- What have you learned from this partnership?
Guest Bios
Walt Johnston is Vice President, US Marketing and Strategic New Product Planning for Astellas Pharma US, Inc., a global research-based pharmaceutical company committed to serving unmet medical needs in Oncology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Urology, Neuroscience and DM Complications and Kidney Diseases.
Walt leads all marketing activities and programs across several therapeutic areas of the Astellas US business to ensure superior commercial performance. Walt has primary responsibility for Urology, Transplant, Cardiovascular and Anti-Infective markets. Walt has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He is a member of the Astellas Portfolio Strategic Executive Committee.
Prior to joining Astellas in 2008, he held increasingly more senior positions in marketing and sales with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in New York. He started his career at Pfizer in 1990 as a sales representative and moved through positions of increasing responsibility until promoted to Senior Director, Group Leader CV Marketing in 2006. In this position, he led the largest portfolio of products in Pfizer.
Mr. Johnston earned his M.B.A. at Boston College and his undergraduate degree at Lafayette College.
Emily Sitrin Mason is the Consumer Marketing Director responsible for leading the creation and execution of direct-to-consumer campaigns for the Urology franchise at Astellas. Mason recently led a cross-functional team to launch the new integrated DTC “My Bladder’ campaign for Myrbetriq, including television, print, digital, Point-of-Care, and patient education.
Mason has over 15 years of diverse experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. Prior to joining Astellas, Mason was at Pfizer where she was responsible for leading the development of several integrated DTC and HCP marketing campaigns for the blockbuster drug Lipitor as well as within their women’s health portfolio. Emily has a strong focus in healthcare grounded in her previous work at CaremarkRx and Ernst & Young Healthcare consulting.
Mason graduated from Duke University with a BA in Biology and Psychology. She completed her Masters of Business Administration degree at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
