Epocrates specializes in getting the attention of medical personnel. Recently they built an ad campaign to let pharmaceutical brand managers know how to get their target doctors’ attention. They had the unique idea of presenting the invitation as a fold-out board game with a PURL address specific to the recipient. Upon checking out the landing page, the viewer found a highly personalized message. Epocrates offered an iPhone to those who visited the landing page and registered. This drew scores of hits on Epocrates’ site. Each hit was potentially worth $90,000 to the pharmaceutical company.

Pharmaceutical brand managers have a difficult time getting the attention of doctors. The competition in this industry is fierce. Creating a fun board game attached to a personalized message sets Epocrates’ clients apart from the masses. The game passes the garbage can test, is often kept in view and keeps the pharmaceutical brand fresh in the prospect’s mind. To make this experience more meaningful, a dialog box was included in the website asking the pharmaceutical brand manager to describe the hardest hurdle that they had encountered in trying to get doctors’ attention. When Epocrates followed up on the hits that they received, they could address the personal problem that had been reported by each brand manager. Such impressive personalization would have been impossible without the accompanying PURL.