Pfizer Turkey - Best Use of Social Media - COVID-19-related

Company: Pfizer, İstanbul, Turkey
Entry Submitted By: SIM Creative&Digital
Company Description: Pfizer Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The name of the company commemorates its co-founder, Charles Pfizer (1824-1906). Pfizer develops and produces medicines and vaccines for immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, and neurology.
Nomination Category: COVID-19 Response Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Use of Social Media - COVID-19-related Information

Nomination Title: Bir Arada: A reference social media project for cancer patients and the relatives of the patients

During the pandemic period, people with different diseases in Turkey had problems in making or going to an appointment with their doctor. Cancer was at the helm of these diseases. Especially due to fear of the COVID-19 virus, cancer patients began to postpone their medical screenings. While the rate of cancer screening in Turkey decreased by 80% for a period, the rate of discontinuation of treatment doubled.

In an environment where all of this happened, we were faced with the reality that patients and their relatives could not ask their questions to physicians and that they could not reach reliable information.

In line with all these insights, the social media Project ‘’Bir Arada’’ was launched. In order to understand the journey of cancer patients, a qualitative market research was conducted with 16 different patients with different cancer types. The most searched keywords related to cancer in the last 12 months were detected on Google and Youtube. Based on the insight that patients find the cancer disease complex and have difficulty understanding the terminology, videos were prepared in a short, simple language with added infographics. Based on the insight that patients want to hear about cancer from experts, we worked with more than 15 medical oncologists, pedagogues and psychologists working in different cities of Turkey. The media and advertising strategy was designed to target directly people who were seeking information about cancer. Instagram and Spotify channels were created to reach patients from all possible channels.

Since February 4th 2021 World Cancer Day which was also the day this Project was launched we had over 1M views on Youtube and we have reached over 350K single-users. Moreover we had over 300K views on Instagram. In addition to these data’s many positive feedbacks were received from patient associations and physicians as a previously unmet need was finally was met with this project. With this project during the pandemic when cancer patients couldn’t go to the hospital we have and always be on their side by providing reliable answers to their questions in their minds.

https://vimeo.com/574814240/71162b4d4a

https://www.youtube.com/c/BirArada