Ad Stars: Digitas Health (Arimidex)

LIVING DOLL
agency: Digitas Health
brand: Arimidex
client: AstraZeneca
photo from left: Rita DiStefano Schuerman, account director • Mike Wilson, director, design technology • Andrew le Blanc, associate creative director • Ilana Grossman, VP, director of marketing

Surviving breast cancer is cause for celebration. And on behalf of the adjuvant breast cancer therapy Arimidex, Digitas Health found a way to let users celebrate life and courage by creating a place online where breast cancer survivors can gather and connect. CelebrationChain.com is the first—and still the only—branded social media site for pharma, says the agency.

Visitors to CelebrationChain.com can create a digital paper doll and send it to a friend to celebrate her life and courage in the face of breast cancer. Different clothing and hairstyle options allow users to customize the doll. All told, it's a poignant way for AstraZeneca to sponsor communication among the close-knit community of breast cancer patients and their advocates.

"AstraZeneca was really forward thinking in challenging us to come up with this," says Ilana Grossman. "All the design elements were grounded in the experience of the customer. These women, they're fighters. They celebrate life. They celebrate their survivorship." In sponsoring this site, Andrew le Blanc described the client as "brave" and "caring," adding, "Here's a company making an investment for a community."

That investment wasn't just emotional, but financial as well. For every doll created, AstraZeneca donates $1 to the nonprofit group Living Beyond Breast Cancer. Since the site's launch in October (Breast Cancer Month), more than 5,500 women have visited the site; they've made over 7,500 virtual dolls for friends and loved ones.

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