Each year, approximately 30,000 Americans are diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a relentless disease that gradually robs people of their ability to move, speak, eat, and ultimately breathe. Despite extensive research efforts, progress towards a cure has been frustratingly slow.
The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), the fundraising arm of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — a leading funder of public-private partnerships — has taken a groundbreaking step with the creation of Accelerating Medicines Partnership® in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (AMP® ALS).
This public-private partnership unites government entities, life science companies, academia, foundations, patient-focused groups and research nonprofits in a concerted effort to accelerate the development of treatments that can significantly improve the lives of people with ALS.
To announce the new partnership and amplify FNIH’s efforts, we crafted a video that conveyed AMP ALS’s mission and leveraged LinkedIn to target, engage and connect with people who have been affected by ALS or aid in the fight against ALS.
We chose LinkedIn as our platform to bring awareness to AMP ALS for two main reasons:
First, our target audience–including those from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, foundations, nonprofits, corporations and institutions that have an interest in health research, innovation, and public health–are active on LinkedIn and with executives who are recognized as thought leaders on the platform.
Second, given that The Partnership announcement was made during an election season, we wanted to avoid the potential bias associated with government ties or funding. LinkedIn, which does not allow for political ads, provided a neutral environment where our mission could resonate without political interference.
For this video, our creative strategy was twofold: to leverage personal stories from caregivers and patients while also incorporating key voices from The Partnership.
The five-minute FNIH AMP ALS video is anchored by a master interview with Dan and Alyssa Doctoroff, who shared their emotional ALS journey amidst the blue and green hues of their home. This set the tone and cool color palette for the remaining interviews and footage choices, blending seamlessly with FNIH’s established brand identity. The remaining interviews feature representatives from The Partnership, including FNIH, Biogen, the FDA, and others, who explain what ALS is and outline AMP ALS's goals and initiatives—all focused on the ultimate goal of finding a cure.
We posted the video on LinkedIn, tagging our 16 partners to announce The Partnership and driving viewers to the AMP ALS page on the FNIH website to learn more. This was followed by a paid social campaign specifically targeting a network of people on LinkedIn who have been affected by ALS, including those in healthcare services and research. Our media approach allowed us to reach our audience in their local markets including New York City, Greater Boston, DC and San Francisco.
The LinkedIn video generated more than 34,000 views and achieved a video view rate of 32.07%, exceeding the platform benchmark of 12.27%. Additionally, the campaign garnered over 104,600 impressions (and 159 link clicks) from the social post for the AMP ALS section of the FNIH website, where users could learn more about this effort. Website traffic increased 390% compared to the same time last year.
This LinkedIn post received the highest number of engagements (852) compared to any previous FNIH-owned social content. In the first half of 2024, the post contributed to a 138% year-over-year (YoY) increase in total impressions, a 41% YoY increase in total engagements, and a 63% YoY increase in total post clicks on LinkedIn.
