Ed Cousineau

Most people are familiar with the “Bent Carrot” campaign for Xiaflex that features a crooked taproot to represent the curved penis of Peyronie’s disease. But awareness advertising can only go so far. How can you spark action and get the 1 in 10 men who suffer from the disease to rise above their embarrassment and get treated with Xiaflex at a urologist?

The answer is easy. Normalize the conversation by putting real patients in a pool hall and turn on the cameras. Why? Because providing men with a safe space and an activity to take their minds off their condition gives you real reactions that normal testimonials can not deliver. These videos were posted on the Xiaflex website, in social media, banner ads, YouTube pre-roll and are under consideration as a possible TV spot.

OK, OK, OK. This was obviously shot pre-covid, but only now would people consider social distancing in an elevator.

Most people don’t realize that the flu can be deadly for people over 65. Last year, over 40,000 people seniors died. Fortunately, there is a special flu shot that has 4x the dosage of a regular flu shot that can protect these people. We just need to get the word out so they ask their doctor for the stronger flu shot.

We created an unbranded awareness campaign based on the insight that the people who know how dangerous the flu can be to seniors are the first responders who are often called to aid them. The Frontlines of the Flu campaign was intended to shock our audience through a powerful TV spot, website and testimonial videos from first responders. Then to get consumers to start asking for Fluzone HD by name, we launched a branded campaign that shows how easily the flu is transmitted. It is the first time that a commodity like a flu shot is being branded to make consumers aware that they have a choice when it comes to flu vaccination. I supervised all the work as the CD from concept to execution. Also wrote CRM, social and OLV.

Citi wanted to be more than another corporate voice trying to out cheer the others at the London Olympic Games. They wanted to bring a US audience closer to the athletes than ever before. So we created the Every Step of the Way campaign that enabled fans to follow, interact and support Team Citi Athletes and their charitable causes simply by participating online at our Website, Cheer app, Facebook and Twitter pages.

I supervised the creation of all digital assets – welcome video, interview content, website, cheer app, rich media banners, Facebook page and Twitter page. I was the writer for all online videos and some of the site content.

It won an Effie! Check out the Case Study video for the full ecosystem.

All baby formulas are pretty much the same. The same ingredients. The same plastic tubs. So how do you differentiate a brand like Similac when baby formula brands aren't much more than commodities in similar tubs with no point of differentiation in their ingredients.

Insight was that there is a huge amount of conversation/judgment about breastfeed vs formula, cloth vs, disposable diapers, stroller vs Bjorn, work vs stay at home. 

So what if we created a brand POV that asks moms to stop judging and let moms “mom their own way”? Welcome to the behavioral nudge of collectivism know as the Sisterhood of motherhood

The Numbers
Launched on FB/ YouTube, with mommy bloggers and key influencers. Blew up
- launched campaign on YouTube around 2 months ago
- 7.7 million views in 3 weeks; goal was 4 million in 6 weeks
- linked the nudge/insight to the product benefits in digital/social and print to drive Similac sales
- meeting growth targets

There’s a rare disease out there that can kill kids in 24 hours. It looks like the flu but it’s extremely dangerous, taking the lives of thousands of young adults in a day or leaving them in a condition that requires amputation of limbs. Unfortunately, it’s spread by the exchange of saliva. Something that teens do all the time by sharing drinks or kissing. So how do we make parents and teens aware of this and get them to get the booster shot? Especially when they are not thinking about vaccinations now that they are young adults.

The answer was to scare them a bit while also educating them. We created the Casual to Causality unbranded campaign to increase awareness with social media posts, on-line video, TV spots and a website with the pneumonic of One More MCV4, so kids and parents could ask for the Menactra shot when visiting the pediatrician. It worked and vaccination rates increased and lives were saved.

It’s 3am. Where are all the insomniacs? Most likely clicking around online. So if you are AMBIEN CR, the prescription sleep aid, that’s where you go to educate them about their sleep issues and drive them to their doctor to ask for AMBIEN CR.

I supervised teams on AMBIEN’s entire digital ecosystem – rich media banners, apps, branded website, unbranded site, social, OLV, tools and trackers. We provided information, education and utility while also entertaining our sleepy-headed audience. Sales jumped dramatically.

Sanofi Pasteur is a maker of life-saving vaccines that are scientifically proven to be safe and effective. But with the anti-vaccine movement once again gaining strength, consumers need to know the scientific facts about these medicines and the importance of herd immunity to protect our population.

I worked with teams to develop online sites such as Vaccines.com that provide answers about vaccine safety and featured sharable content. Digital content also included OLV and social posts. Additionally, we developed branded and unbranded sites for influenza vaccine (Fluzone.com), meningitis vaccine (VoicesOfMeningits.com), pertussis vaccine, (SoundsOfPertussis.com), a travel vaccine site, a teen vaccine site along with OLV and social posts to give consumers the facts. These sites have become an essential part of Sanofi Pasteur’s efforts to fight the anti-vaxers and keep the world healthy.

So here’s a drinking challenge.

Heineken US wanted their site revised, reworked and relaunched for their new global site platform. The challenge? We had 6 weeks. From sketches to wireframes to design to production to launch. On a new untested platform. The result is an interactive site that invites users into the Heineken world through a nifty bit of cinematic storytelling. I supervised the creative team and wrote some of the tasty copy. Check out the experience at Heineken.com/us

Pertussis (whooping cough) is a potentially fatal disease that adults can unintentionally spread to infants. In 2012, there were over 24 million cases leading to over 100,000 deaths worldwide. Fortunately, there is a vaccine that adults can take to help stop the transmission of this disease. The problem is there is such low awareness that parents don’t know to ask their doctor for the vaccine.

Our client, Sanofi Pasteur wanted to get the word out with an unbranded campaign to educate, drive awareness and get people to ask for the vaccine. We created a microsite, TV spots featuring race car driver Jeff Gordon, social content, OLV and banners while supporting a PR effort around the distinctive sound of a pertussis cough. Additionally, we had parents upload their own videos and add their voices to our video. It was a great success with immunization rates greatly increasing. I led creative teams on all the digital, social and online content.

How do you educate an educator? Especially about something as confusing as a 403(b)?

 We reached out to teachers with a very targeted campaign to tell them that they could save for retirement with a 403(b) (which is basically a 401(k) for educators). The campaign was based on the insight that teachers are always encouraging kids to follow their dreams, yet they don’t follow their own advice when it comes to planning their retirement. That’s where AXA could help. The A+ campaign included online video, CRM, banners, Facebook ads, Pinterest posts and a website.

Looking for a clean restroom? Well, Charmin has the perfect app for you. Sit or Squat will help you find the nearest bathroom and use crowdsourcing to clue you in on how sanitary it is. It’s a super helpful app that needed to be promoted a bit more than just at the App Store.

I wrote these :15s to be used as pre-roll and network commercials. The agency thought highly enough of them to enter them at Cannes where, unfortunately, they didn’t win squat.

95% of moms say they’ve felt judged for their parenting choices. And with social media going non-stop, the Mommy Wars have gotten pretty heated. As a baby brand dedicated to supporting moms, Similac wanted to stop the judgment with the #EndMommyWars activation.

First, we made the Mommy Wars real by following and filming seven women to see how judgment affected them. We pushed the film out on social media, linking it to a microsite that magnified our message with sharable content and real moms’ Mommy War Stories. Bloggers and celebrity moms joined in. Posts, tweets, blogs, news stories, e-cards, stickers, safe zones and tattoos became the weapons to stop the judgment.

I supervised all the digital work from microsite to Facebook to Twitter to CRM to sharable content for bloggers to create a powerful ecosystem that had 1.1 billion media impressions in 2 months. Check out the Case Study from our Cannes entry for all the details.

Ankylosing Spondylitis or AS is an autoimmune disease that is not only difficult to say (ank-kih-low-sing spon-dill-eye-tiss) but extremely hard to diagnose. People experience chronic back pain and usually attribute it to a physical cause like lifting something heavy. They seek solutions to relieve the physical pain when the truth is they need to visit a rheumatologist because the inflammation is caused by an over-active immune system. So how to get them to realize their back pain is not physical?

The unbranded Face Your Back Pain campaign used search and social media to deliver humorous and serious content that would get them to question if their back pain was physical or if they were painfully wrong and had AS. It all drove to a simple quiz that then sent them to see a rheumatologist. Once there, they would likely be prescribed the most well-known immunosuppressive drug in the world that starts with an H and shall not be mentioned here. I supervised the teams on all social media content and site updates. This work that was some of the first pharma advertising in social media. Big success.

There’s nothing like doing pro bono work. It is always on a tight budget but can be freeing creatively. Plus, there’s no better feeling than knowing your work is helping others. I was fortunate enough to work on Big Brother Big Sisters to try to help raise money and awareness of their mission to help inner city kids have better lives through mentoring.

 Working through the Ad Council, we wanted to try something different than a network spot appealing to donors. So we created serial storytelling in social media so viewers could follow mentors and kids’ lives. We built a website and Facebook page with our video stories and ways to donate and volunteer. As the stories rolled out on a weekly basis, we distributed  video camera kits to hand out to “bigs” so we’d continue the stories with user generated content. We wanted to “Start Something” and used donated TV time, DM and OOH to get our message out. We even got extra publicity with Newark Mayor Cory Booker talking with our “littles.” It was a big success from a little budget.

When a friend asked for my help to promote her charity, I suddenly found myself doing pro bono work as a web designer, writer, film producer, CRM expert and event planner along with my regular day job. But I’m glad I said yes as it’s been the most rewarding work I’ve done in my marketing career.

 The Love Quilt Project teaches American school children that they can have an impact on other people’s lives through an in-class lesson that enables them to brighten the lives of kids in South Africa who are orphaned by the HIV / AIDS crisis. The students draw messages of love and encouragement on art squares which quilters turn into stunning quilts. The quilts are delivered to orphan homes where South African kids get their own quilt along with a stipend to pay for their education. The emotional impact of knowing someone cares is extraordinary. Helping with their educations is the legacy.

I travelled to South Africa to shoot the lesson plan video as well as a marketing video to help us raise money from corporate sponsors. I built the website and started a CRM program for donors. I help maintain the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. And I helped organize two gala events to raise money with the help of the actor and benefactor, Patrick Wilson. We’ve produced hundreds of quilts, raised thousands of dollars, taught thousands of American students the power of love and have helped lift hundreds of South African kids out of poverty through education.