Case Study
Breast Cancer Ad Testing with Hard-to-Reach Patients
overview
Agile Research That Shaped Breast Cancer Ad Messaging
An ad agency supporting a pharmaceutical company needed to test advertising concepts for a new metastatic breast cancer (mBC) treatment. The challenge? Conduct qualitative research with a very specific patient population—within a matter of days. With our expertise and nimble recruitment approach, we were able to field, conduct, and synthesize insights for our client’s business pitch.
THE PROBLEM
Quick-turn research with a difficult-to-reach population
The client—a healthcare-focused ad agency—needed qualitative feedback on three campaign directions promoting a first-line treatment for metastatic ER+/HER2- breast cancer. Complicating matters:
- The audience was extremely niche: patients either newly diagnosed (“De Novo”) or relapsed into stage IV.
- The timeline was compressed, with only a few days to recruit and conduct interviews.
- The insights were needed to optimize messaging ahead of a high-stakes client presentation.
OUR APPROACH
Targeted recruitment and strategic moderation for deep, actionable insights
We conducted a number of online in-depth interviews (IDIs) over three days, leveraging:
- Precise recruitment criteria: including both De Novo and Relapsed mBC patients, with a focus on diversity.
- Customized discussion guide: designed to explore emotional resonance, clarity, differentiation, and behavioral motivation triggered by each creative platform.
- Visual markup and whiteboard techniques: helping participants indicate exactly what stood out—positively or negatively—in each concept.
- Our experienced moderators: sensitively navigating participants’ personal journeys while guiding the evaluation of early-stage creative.
The client team was able to hear unfiltered feedback from the respondents in real time—enabling immediate decision-making.
The result
Concept optimization and pitch readiness in record time
This research delivered immense value by:
- Providing direct guidance to refine messaging, tone, and imagery in advance of a critical pitch.
- Helping the agency confidently recommend a direction grounded in patient resonance.
- Demonstrating our proven ability to execute oncology-focused qualitative research quickly and thoughtfully—even under tight timelines.
By completing recruitment and research within days, our team showcased its agility, empathy, and deep understanding of healthcare audiences.
proven experience
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