Summary of the work

CONTEXT Within the IVF market everyone looked the same; once one clinic shifts creative approach, the category follows. Because all brands looked the same, and because people (wrongly) perceived all underlying science to be the same, everyone was seen as interchangeable. Unfortunately, Genea were not only the most expensive offering in the market, we were also being dramatically outspent 5:1. As a result we faced a situation of; not widely appearing when people search for IVF, not being different enough to notice when we did show up, and offering little to justify the price premium. No wonder we were underperforming the market for IVF cycles. If we couldn’t outshout them, we needed to outthink them. We needed to reinvigorate Genea, helping it rise above the noisy crowd to be seen as the front-runner in their field, and making people feel comfortable to book an appointment. CREATIVE CHALLENGE Society is fixated with natural conception as the “normal” and “best” way to conceive. By contrast IVF is stigmatised. It’s reinforced everywhere. Social media is full of airbrushed perfection and perfect pregnancies. Even the way the category talks reinforces people needing IVF to be ‘special’ and needing scientific intervention. This made those who needed help conceiving feel uncomfortable and ultimately abnormal. And as a result stopped them from talking about their struggles and reaching out for help. And then there’s Genea. For all the science and technology, we were struck by the fact that Genea goes to great efforts to make their IVF as ‘human’ as possible, focusing on what nature is already doing, with a little extra support. In talking to prospective patients it became clear that we needed to step outside the category norm and “smash the taboo around IVF and infertility” ......by showing that Genea’s IVF is a natural extension of the baby-making process. SOLUTION We made IVF as natural as sex and rewrote the story of Where Babies Come From. Breaking down taboos, we turned IVF into a joyful, sexy celebration. EXECUTION Genea’s brand line changed to ‘Genea. Where babies come from’. An empowering message that began to shift the perception that babies only come from natural conception. We literally rewrote the story of conception. We wrote a children’s story, nay a celebration, of the way 40 Australian babies a day come into the world. The book joyfully explains where IVF kids come from, making every IVF child feel included and proud. Then we turned our attention to the rest of Australia, launching a film for adults that acknowledged the provocative truth of everyone’s IVF journey, soundtracked by the iconic Salt N Peppa ‘Let’s talk about Sex’. The celebrated the different fertility journeys, and the myriad of difficulties faced, and ultimately film normalised IVFby showing it as a natural extension of the process. Now, when someone asks “Where do babies come from”, you can tell them that same story, but you can also add “they come from Genea too.”