Elevate Healthcare Marketing

Being afraid of the pain of a needle stick during medical procedures is not that unusual. But some people feel the pain and fear to such a degree that it can impinge on their lives—and their willingness to get medically necessary treatments. In a large segment of people, including pediatric oncology patients, those undergoing multiple IV treatments, or women undergoing certain infertility treatments, the repeated need for multiple sticks becomes even more troubling and has even more of an effect on their lives. But they’re often told they have to just get through it, be tougher, or not to make such a big deal, it’s just part of treatment. Medical professionals are used to giving needles and often miss out on how debilitating needle-stick pain can be for patients. Even if they are empathetic, they may be unaware that there are solutions that can help patients cope.

SYNERA is an innovative heat-assisted transdermal patch that, when applied 20-30 minutes before receiving an injection, can help take the sting out of the needle-stick pain associated with certain procedures.

The Creative

The drama and eye-catching nature of the wasp syringe was the right tone and the right metaphor to help patients begin a discussion with HCPs and ask for relief with SYNERA. It provided them with an idea of how to explain to their HCPs how they felt about injections—fear, anxiety, and even contempt—and reinforced that a solution is out there, they just need to ask about it.

The patient version of the campaign, the syringe wasp, was a complement to the HCP campaign that featured the sting of a scorpion. The patient version was a little less scary, but still as compelling, and featured a positive resolution—the patient being able to tell the pain to “buzz off” and the syringe wasp flying off.

It’s a problem setup and resolution approach that captured the need to take the sting out of needle-stick pain—and captured patients’ attention to encourage them to talk to their HCPs about SYNERA through a series of ads, banners, waiting room materials, and videos.

Synera Works

In a recent survey of patients who used SYNERA to block needle-stick pain: