How a legacy pharma brand became a flagship

The Challenge

Women (and men aged 40 and over) spend a small fortune on over-the-counter anti-aging products. Many are aware of the ingredient, retinol, a form of Vitamin A, due to the beauty industry aggressively marketing this as an anti-aging ingredient. This growing awareness of retinoids, which reduce the signs of photoaging and sun damage, has meant an explosion in its popularity and the number of products containing it.

But at best, cosmetic creams and lotions containing this retinol ingredient can only be very good moisturisers or night creams. Stronger derivatives of this ingredient, such as prescription retinoids, deliver more pronounced results but require rigorous clinical trials, TGA approval, and a doctor’s prescription for patient access.

With RoseRx

We helped patients better understand their dermatological concerns and guided them through their treatment journey. This was made possible through several key strategies:

• An integrated tele-health partnership, allowing patients to receive treatment from the comfort of their home

• Always-up-to-date GP Finders featuring skin specialists for those preferring in-person appointments

• Real-time data tracking to optimise creative content, messaging, and reduce friction in the process

• Empathetic, AI-personalised communication

• An omnichannel approach to ensure seamless follow on engagement across platforms
  
  
  

Untapped, effective prescription treatment

Most consumers are unaware that a prescription-grade version of retinoid has been available in Australia for over 20 years. However, it cannot be marketed by name due to regulations, and until recently, there was little patient education or promotion beyond doctor recommendations. As a result, people typically didn’t ask their GP or dermatologist about it unless they had an acute skin issue, despite moderate to severe photoaging affecting a large percentage of young Australians. Retinoids increase cell turnover, shedding damaged skin cells, and may help prevent DNA damage. They also have anti-inflammatory and immune-regulating benefits. Compared to expensive beauty products, this prescription cream is relatively affordable.

Case study

The client-partner wanted to launch its first consumer awareness campaign for its prescription retinoid cream, a long-established Vitamin A product in Australia. RoseRx was tasked with linking marketing efforts to prescription sales. We targeted motivated patients and tracked their journey at every stage.

The strategy

In collaboration with Paper + Spark, we created a campaign promoting early and consistent use of the product to fight sun damage and prevent premature aging, while ensuring TGA compliance, which limited the mention of the medication's name.
The client chose RoseRx’s next best action software to enhance the campaign and encourage patients to talk to their doctors. By integrating RoseRx into the patient journey, commercial teams connected campaign efforts to clinical outcomes, speeding up results.

Results

The campaign connected marketing effort to clinical action at every stage of the patient journey.

• 63% revenue growth for the prescription retinoid brand

• 77% of engaged patients initiated an HCP appointment to discuss treatment

• 7.2% proactively asked for help navigating their skin health, a signal of genuine intent, not passive awareness

“We’ve experienced rapid growth withRoseRx. RoseRx has improved our digital and marketing capabilities and helped us provide information that’s timely, interesting, targeted and genuinely helpful for our target patients.” 

“We have redistributed our budgets to promising projects and we look forward to working with them for the oncoming year.”