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The #BiogenJourney was the most successful marketing campaign in Biogen’s 15 year history. It proves that authenticity sells, especially in an industry that has become saturated with glamorised visuals of self tans and meat-heads.

Our 10-month campaign was driven through Facebook, as a fortnightly web series, complemented with key storytelling milestones via Instagram and supported by PR and effective word-of-mouth.

Statement of the problem:

South Africa is one of the unhealthiest countries in the world. Biogen’s vision, however, is to be ‘the most authentic health and wellness brand’ in the market.

The supplements and vitamins market is cluttered with numerous brands vying for consumer attention. We were briefed to conceptualise a remarkable campaign to maximise brand awareness and move the needle in terms of sales.

It’s commonplace for brands to work with influencers to amplify a campaign. The reality is that these human media channels are paid guns-for-hire and consumers are more sceptical than ever with regards to influencer authenticity.

We adopted the antithesis of an influencer campaign. We commissioned an unfluencer - James ‘Hobbo’ Hobson. He’d never run 5km and similarly had never even posted to Instagram. He epitomised SA’s health issues and was a foil for the average Joe; a testimonial for the digital age.

He was paired with a nutritionist, a coach, used Biogen products to enhance his new healthy lifestyle and we documented his journey from zero to 70.3 Ironman hero.

Insights:

Research led our creative approach:

• Brands can build trust with millennials by telling inspiring stories, preferably one based on socially responsible, or otherwise clean practices and products.

• In-store mystery shopping at Dischem and other Gauteng supplement suppliers prove that the nutrition category purely leverages photoshopped models of men and women with ‘perfect tans and muscles’. We can create a differentiator for the category by leveraging real, authentic people.

• Facebook is the most effective channel for the dissemination of our campaign.

Objectives:

• Create widespread brand talkability and reach 1m people
• Increase national brand awareness and generate PR worth R500K
• Secure 250,000 content views
• Increase Biogen sales - 5% YOY
• Hobbo to experience a reduction of 10kg from his starting weight of 130kg

Execution:

1. We commissioned unfluencer - James 'Hobbo' Hobson - to be our campaign lead because he defined real-reality.
2. He was paired with a nutritionist, a coach (Lindsay Parry), he used Biogen products to enhance his new, healthy lifestyle and we documented this campaign as a fortnightly, Facebook reality show, titled #BiogenJourney. Hobbo was tasked with completing the Ironman 70.3 Durban.
3. We built a microsite - BiogenJourney - to house Hobbo’s story and to showcase the natural supplements he was using from the Biogen range. Viewers could click through to purchase products online or see where to source at their nearest Dischem.
4. We provided additional credibility and authenticity to the campaign by having Lindsay Parry on the coaching staff as he is one of the most revered Comrades and Triathlon coaches in our market. We leveraged his 100,000 strong audience by incorporating #BiogenJourney updates into his fortnightly podcast series.
5. To increase WOM, we encouraged our 40,000 strong community to share their #BiogenJourney and incentivised them with Biogen products and merchandise.
6. Leveraging the Biogen ambassador network of athletes, we had a pool of influencers such as Lisa Raleigh, Joel Stransky and Kabelo Mabalane as an additional channel for content distribution and brand awareness amplification.
7. We had Hobbo spin at events that Biogen had a presence at, such as FIBO and the 94.7 Cycle Challenge Expo to showcase Hobbo’s determination.

10 months of training, with a finisher’s medal at Ironman 70.3 Durban and 30kg down, we executed a final social media and PR push to see out the campaign and provide a conclusion to our ‘Hero’s Journey’.

Results:

This campaign didn’t just change Hobbo’s life, it became Biogen’s most successful campaign in its history. An authentic transformation story created unprecedented exposure for an authentic brand, with results that speak for themselves:

• Hobbo went from 130kg to 100kg (30kg)
• Over 7 million South Africans reached
• R2 million+ generated in PR value
• Over 500 000 video views on web series episodes
• Double digit sales growth YOY (5%)
• Over 600 unique #BiogenJourney stories started from our engaged audience