We saw an opportunity, as category leader, to be the first brand to normalise haemorrhoids. Our objectives were to take on the ignorance and shame surrounding the condition, and drive growth by helping people to understand that they can treat it with Anusol.

But the taboo surrounding all things anal is a powerful and profound one. So powerful, that sufferers would rather not be able to sit down than engage with the issue. And Anusol didn’t seem a likely taboo-smashing candidate. Research found that while the brand was trusted, it was felt to be clinical, rational and dull compared to rivals. And having “anus” in our brand name was just too direct.

We took an innovative approach to insight that transformed Anusol’s marketing. Sentiment analysis of Amazon reviews found that Anusol - of all brands - had permission to bring emotion, specifically humour, to the category. We validated this insight using facial coding to understand emotional responses, rather than the category-norm of rational testing.

We took risks: we harnessed an insight that contradicted...