AstraZeneca is one of the world’s leading biopharmaceutical companies. Besides producing treatments for the prevention and treatment of lifestyle diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease, AstraZeneca also focuses on respiratory diseases.
Asthma is often overshadowed by rare and oncological diseases, yet it deserves the same attention. More than a quarter of a billion people worldwide are affected by it. Many of them, however, often don’t even know they have asthma, go untreated, and their condition can worsen.
The goal of the campaign was to attract attention in an unconventional way and raise awareness of asthma and treatment options, and to improve prevention — tied to World Asthma Day.
The ceremonial unveiling of the large-scale painting took place symbolically on 7 May 2024, on World Asthma Day. The event was hosted by actress, presenter and stand-up comedian Iva Pazderková. Guests who accepted the invitation to the press conference included Dr Petr Pohunek, CSc., a paediatric pneumologist and director of the Czech Initiative for Asthma, as well as his long-term patient, kayaker and Olympian Vavřinec Hradilek.
The chosen media format of a large-scale mural is completely unconventional, especially in connection with a healthcare topic. Thanks to the press conference — attended by healthcare experts, journalists and celebrities who suffer from asthma — we managed to capture the attention of the wider public and spark a discussion in society, and that is the most important thing for us.
As for the results of the silnydech.cz website, whose address is shown on the mural, traffic peaked after the launch on World Asthma Day, and dozens of users still visit the page every day. In the period from 1 to 31 May 2024 we succeeded in meeting the main goal, i.e. 62% of users from the mural page moved on to the content site astma-zero.cz focused on treatment options. During this period the page was visited by a total of 1,989 visitors.
It’s important to note that we didn’t have to buy any advertising space. The topic and the way it was handled were so interesting to the media that all coverage in print, online media and television was free.
16 articles were published about the event and the topic of asthma, and 6 reports were filmed on various television stations. Media such as Super.cz, Metro, Právo and iDnes wrote about it. TV Nova gave it attention on its Snídaně morning show, as did CNN Prima News, and even Czech Television in its Události news programme. According to Mediaboard, the outputs reached a total of 3,109,736 people, and we achieved a gross rating point (GRP) of 34.55.
The campaign also prompted a number of spontaneous posts and comments on social media in Facebook groups. For example, in the Vršovická parta group many members organically shared photos of the mural. In this group alone, the organic posts drew a total of 66 positive comments and 1,168 likes. Contributors discussed the artistic quality of the mural, street art, air quality and the availability of greenery among themselves.
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