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Company: Parkinson's Foundation, Miami, FL
Company Description: The Parkinson’s Foundation is the nation’s leading community for people living with Parkinson’s, those who love them and those who are working to end the disease. We make life better for people with Parkinson’s disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure. In everything we do, we build on the energy, experience and passion of our global Parkinson’s community.
Nomination Category: Marketing Campaign Categories - Industry
Nomination Sub Category: Marketing Campaign of the Year - Non-Profit
 Nomination Title: PD GENEration: Mapping the Future of Parkinson's Disease
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated campaign or program, OR written answers to the questions for this category? CHOOSE ONE:
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
September 28, 2020
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 240 words used.
PD GENEration, Mapping the Future of Parkinson’s Disease, is a genetic test that identifies genetic mutations in genes related to Parkinson’s disease. For too long, the causes of and cure for Parkinson’s have remained elusive for people with Parkinson’s and their families. With other diseases, such as cancer, researchers have made great strides towards unlocking genetic links and personalized treatment options. With 1 million Americans living with Parkinson’s and 60,000 newly diagnosed each year, it is time to make the same progress for Parkinson’s disease.
For people with Parkinson’s, genetic testing can uncover gene changes linked to the disease. Other commercially-available genetics tests are not accessible to people with Parkinson’s. Our goal was to build a better test, offer it for no cost to people with Parkinson’s, and actively recruit a diverse group of participants so that our genetic sample was representative of many races, genders and ages. That’s why we created our test is both English and Spanish. PD GENEration tests for 7 Parkinson’s-related genes, while other tests pinpoint fewer. PD GENEration also includes free genetic counseling to review and discuss results with patients.
Then Covid hit, and people with Parkinson’s were considered especially vulnerable. While people were avoiding doctor’s offices and delaying visits to neurologists, we knew we had to reach these people where they were: at home. So we pivoted and created an at-home test kit and all the systems, instructions and marketing to support that.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Strategic thought went into the planning for PD GENEration because our Parkinson’s audience is inherently older and not as familiar with technology or advances in genetic testing. We pulled together affinity planning groups to help develop language to encourage participation, and evaluate the steps to make sure people could follow the instructions and complete the test properly from home without damaging genetic samples. We enlisted our social media advertising firm to conduct extensive audience listening efforts to help reach people on social media. We knew that during the pandemic social media would be our best way to reach our audience with the at-home testing option.
From there, we worked with our design firm to create materials to promote the campaign, including flyers, videos, postcards, infographics, radio PSAs and more. We created the materials in both English and Spanish to expand our potential audience. These had to go through IRB approval and also back to our affinity groups for feedback and comments. From there, we developed an intense digital and traditional media promotion plan to reach people at home during the pandemic. This included a variety of layers including digital remarketing ads, social media ads, earned media, print ads, podcasts, radio ads, etc.
It's estimated that about 10% of people with Parkinson’s carry a genetic mutation, so we set our goal at 15,000 participants to ensure we tested enough people with a genetic mutation to make our study statistically significant. The goal by June 30, 2022, was 3,000 participants.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2020. Even if your initiative started before 2020, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2020 only (up to 250 words):
Total 239 words used.
Our PD GENEration marketing campaign was highly successful in recruiting participants to the study. As of March 2, 2022, 3,296 participants, surpassing our goal and propelling us ahead to be ahead of schedule for our overarching goal of 15,000 participants. We have also had participation from all 50 states and Puerto Rico, helping us to ensure that our genetic sample features a diverse range of participants.
To date, 434 positive mutation cases have been identified, and 14% of participants have had a genetic link to Parkinson’s disease, higher than the anticipated 10%. These samples and results will help researchers develop better treatments for Parkinson’s patients and hopefully lead to a cure.
From a marketing perspective, our promotional campaign has been highly effective in recruiting participants. The digital and social media campaign generated 6,841 leads for participants who passed the pre-screening survey (and another 1,390 who were not qualified). For earned media, PD GENEration was covered in many media outlets which speaks to the immense value of this test for Parkinson’s research. Our paid ads drove traffic to our registration website in such a way that we could see spikes in traffic correlating to days that newspaper or radio ads ran. And anecdotally, we heard directly from many people with Parkinson’s about how important this study is to not only them, but for them to help change the future of Parkinson’s disease for generations to come.
- You have the option to reference here any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
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