Client Brief
Pfizer Global had released the results of its Global Better Sex Survey (GBSS) at an international urology conference in Paris in April 2006.  One of the largest global surveys of its type, the GBSS included interviews with more than 12,000 men and women in 27 countries. The survey was commissioned to quantify sexual satisfaction whilst gaining an insight into the unmet sexual needs and aspirations of participants.  In Singapore, Pfizer wanted Essence to devise a media programme to release the results to the media. Pfizer had access to country-specific data and were looking to localize the information for their primary target audience.

Challenge
The story could be seen as ‘old’ – it had been released to the international press almost two months before the results would be released in SIngapore. Media fatigue had started to set in – in the last six months, there had been several sex survey type stories conducted by various healthcare groups as well as businesses which the media had covered. In addition, it was important that Pfizer’s key message that the secret to sexual satisfaction was the hardness of erections came across strongly to the media, a topic that could potentially be deemed as  too ‘sensitive’ for the mainstream media.

Essence PR Strategy
Essence in Singapore devised a press conference that would capture the attention and imagination of the journalists. Media invites in the form of an upright key sitting in a box wrapped up in a ribbon and tagged “unlock the secret of better sex” was created and couriered to selected journalists.  The invitation to the press conference was placed inside the package. To bring the facts and figures of the study to life, Essence commissioned a short skit. Written by a well-known TV scriptwriter and acted out by well-known faces in drama scene, the skit, “A Hard Man is Good to Find” was used to kick the press conference off. Essence also worked with Pfizer to localize the results and compared the global results to Singapore as well as the region for greater relevancy. A Pfizer spokesperson as well as a local medical expert anchored the press conference, giving facts and figures about the study, as well as analyzing the results.

Results 

• All the major news dailies as well as wire services attended the press conference
• As a result of the wire services attending the event, the story was also covered in global media