HRA Pharma: Hana launch

Access to contraception in the UK has been affected by budget cuts, fragmented services and reduced GP opening times, a situation that worsened during the pandemic. The contraceptive pill is one of the most used forms of contraception, and yet widening access to women via a pharmacist was anticipated to bring both advocates and critics. When HRA Pharma tasked Brands2Life with the launch of Hana, the first contraceptive pill available over the counter, we knew that ensuring that the reclassification was favourably and fairly positioned within the media was key for launch success.

Our strategy put the emphasis on planning to mitigate the perceived risks of launching an OTC pill and exercise the appropriate response. We mapped the media, social conversations and relevant stakeholders to devise a multi-pronged campaign comprising of earned media, creative journalist gifting, and paid media partnerships to pre-brief, launch and sustain momentum around this milestone moment.

Our meticulous approach to planning enabled us to deliver a bold campaign that generated over 740 balanced media stories, reaching over 15 billion readers. We drove over 14,000 people to the Hana website, generated £6.5k in sales and the brand secured 95% market share, positioning HRA Pharma as the leader of this new category.