American Cancer Society Wins Ignite Health’s Charitable Giving Video Contest

Ignite Health Donates $4,000 to the Winner of “The Love War,” a Social Media Experiment that Gamifies Charitable Giving

IRVINE, California – February 17, 2012 – Ignite Health, an inVentiv Health company and leader in healthcare communications, announced today that the American Cancer Society is the winner of “The Love War” (http://www.facebook.com/winthelovewar), a social media-driven experiment that the company launched on Facebook on February 1, 2012 to encourage users to record and post personal videos that “show their love” for charities. As of midnight on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2012, the American Cancer Society received the most video posts of the nine selected charities and secured the $4,000 donation prize from Ignite Health.

“We sincerely appreciate when companies like Ignite Health apply their compassion and experience to help people in need and advance causes that seek cures,” said Shauna Levine, Senior Relay For Life Manager at the American Cancer Society. “We were amazed by the outpouring of emotion and love captured on these videos, and want to sincerely thank Ignite Health for this Valentine’s Day gift brought forward through such heartfelt caring and sharing.”

Putting the experience of healthcare professionals, patients, and their caregivers first, Ignite Health, a customer experience agency founded in 2000, is committed to pioneering innovations in communications by leveraging emerging technologies and channels. “’The Love War’ embodies the spirit of our agency,” said Fabio Gratton, founder and Chief Experience Officer at Ignite Health. “We combined our passion for health, our understanding of science and technology, and the skills of our internal Ignite Labs team to help create this unique social donation experiment.”

Ignite Labs, an internal think tank at Ignite Health, was created to help infuse constant innovation into the agency’s client work, as well as explore the possibilities of new platforms and technologies to evaluate their feasibility and effectiveness for broader applications.

Gratton added: “Everyone is talking about the explosive potential of combining game mechanics with social media, in particular, user-generated video content, but there are many variables that can impact the success of these programs. The logic behind social engagement is not always obvious. For example, what makes people do something in one circumstance doesn’t always apply to another. This is also true about technology platforms. Someone might be comfortable posting a video on their family’s YouTube channel, but not if it’s being shared on a Facebook fan page.”

For this project, Ignite partnered with VYou, an innovative social video platform that facilitates instant sharing and almost real-time video conversations. Along the way, by heightening awareness of worthy causes, this initiative created excitement for nonprofit organizations such as the American Diabetes Association, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

VYou Premium Partnership Manager, Erik Stern, said: “We enjoyed the opportunity to be the go-to technology for crowd-sourced video content. This was a very unique and well-executed example of using VYou to connect people to a worthy cause.”

Pauline Phan, President of UC Irvine’s Colleges Against Cancer, an organization that brings together college students, faculty, and staff members nationwide who are dedicated to fulfilling the mission of the American Cancer Society, added: “We loved this contest. Imagine what a better place the world would be if more companies with the imagination and wherewithal of Ignite Health devoted more of their expertise and time to creating charitable social experiences like this one.”

To further support organizations such as those featured in the contest, Ignite Health is expanding “The Love War.” While no longer a contest, the campaign is now available on an ongoing basis, allowing people to continue using online video posts to show their support for worthy causes.

About Ignite Health

Ignite Health ranks among the top 20 healthcare agencies and was a finalist in 2011 for MedAdNews' Agency of the Year. With offices in Irvine, Calif., and New York City, Ignite Health offers clients a broad range of fundamental best practices and digital excellence to create unstoppable momentum for brand success across the continuum of a brand's lifecycle. Ignite Health is an inVentiv Health company. For more information, visit http://www.ignitehealth.com.

About inVentiv Health

inVentiv Health, Inc. is a leading global provider of best-in-class clinical, commercial, and consulting services to companies seeking to accelerate performance. inVentiv’s client roster includes more than 550 pharmaceutical, biotech, and life sciences companies. With 13,000 employees in 40 countries, inVentiv rapidly transforms promising ideas into commercial reality. inVentiv Health, Inc. is privately owned by inVentiv Group Holdings Inc., an organization sponsored by affiliates of Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P., Liberty Lane Partners, and members of the inVentiv management team. For more information, visit http://www.inventivhealth.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Vince Parry
Ignite Health
646-437-4856
vparry@ignitehealth.com