How a Health Tech Brand Addressed Men’s Fertility with Animation
Hera Fertility is a U.S.-based health tech company focused on informing and empowering men on their fertility journey with their partners. The company’s founders observed that while there were many resources around fertility treatment for women, men often felt excluded from the process — despite being responsible for fertility issues 50% of the time.
Hera created a program to help men be more proactively involved with family planning. But there was a catch in terms of reaching their target audience: women, not men, are often the sole researchers when fertility issues arise. When Hera approached MOWE, they needed a way to connect with a female audience — in many cases, the real decision-makers in this arena — with the goal of encouraging them to bring the men in their lives into the research, evaluation, and treatment of fertility issues much sooner.
The Client: Hera Fertility, the Male-focused Fertility Program
Hera Fertility identified a significant gap in the fertility treatment market: while women had numerous options for fertility support, men were often left out of the conversation. While competitors primarily offer testing services, Hera provides a comprehensive program that includes testing, medications, supplements, coaching, and educational content to help improve fertility outcomes.
Hera wanted to educate its audience so couples facing fertility issues would consider evaluating men’s health as a first step. Because results from men’s testing can be determined faster, couples that test and treat men first can shorten their fertility journey while preventing unnecessary costs.
The Challenge: Target Male Users and Female Decision-Makers
Hera Fertility faced several challenges in connecting with their target audience:
- Women as primary researchers: When couples encounter fertility issues, women often take on the role of researcher and, at times, primary decision-makers. On top of that, because fertility conversations typically revolve around the woman’s body, men may feel sidelined or unsure of their role in the process. This dynamic can lead to a lack of engagement from men throughout the fertility journey.
- Understanding gap: Couples need to recognize the benefits of testing men for fertility issues before women. Information about male fertility issues can be determined faster, potentially shortening the fertility journey and reducing unnecessary costs for couples.
- Sensitive subject: Fertility can be a taboo topic among men, who may feel uncomfortable discussing issues related to their reproductive health or performance.
Hera’s unique approach to fertility required clear communication to differentiate the brand in the marketplace and explain the benefits of their strategy.
The Goals: How MOWE Helped this Health Tech Brand
We developed a strategy to address Hera Fertilty’s challenges with the following goals:
- Raise awareness of Hera’s fertility program among women, who are the decision-makers for couples.
- Empathize with the audience for what’s often a sensitive subject for men while also expressing to women that they are not alone on the fertility journey.
- Educate users with longer-form content about Hera’s unique approach.
The Solution: Our Framework for Campaign Building
To address Hera’s marketing needs, we relied on a framework drawn from The MOWE Way:
1. Targeted Strategy Through a Diagnostic Analysis Workshop
Our collaborative Diagnostic Analysis workshop enabled us to gather vital information about:
- The decision-making process of Hera’s target audience and end-users.
- Issues with the traditional fertility treatment process, including the amount of time, resources, and engagement required for couples.
- How Hera’s solutions work and what differentiates them in the marketplace.
This workshop confirmed women are generally more invested in planning pregnancy, researching challenges, and engaging in fertility check-ups and treatments. Men, by contrast, often feel left out or unsure how to contribute. Understanding these nuances was crucial in developing an empathetic campaign strategy to approach couples on their fertility journeys.
2. Address the Issue and the Audience with a Two-Step Strategy
Based on the insights gathered, MOWE developed a two-step animation strategy that targeted women and men with unique videos tailored to their unique interests and needs.
Step 1: Short Awareness Videos
We produced three short, 10-to-15 second Awareness videos focused on the female audience with the goal of inspiring them to share the content with their male partners. Each was designed for distribution as both organic and paid social media content on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
Our goal with these videos was to engage Hera’s female audience and encourage them to both seek more information and share the videos with their partner. To appeal to this audience, we used a light, casual tone combined pop culture elements like the Motown hit “It Takes Two” or memes to underscore that fertility is a shared journey.
A final call-to-action encourages couples to learn more about their fertility together with Hera. We established click-through rates and share rates as KPIs to measure success.
Step 2: Educational Support / Explainer Video
The second step involved a video specifically developed to reach male users. For this audience, we created a longer, 60 second explainer video in horizontal and vertical formats. Knowing that men tend not to conduct independent research related to fertility issues, we developed this video for healthcare partners (such as doctors and clinics) to present information about men’s fertility to their patients. The goal was to educate viewers that evaluating men is a key, potentially cost-saving step in a couple’s fertility journey.
Along with being featured on Hera’s website, we suggested the distribution of the video using QR codes on printed assets like posters and brochures, driving users to watch on Hera’s landing page. We assigned view-through rates and views as the KPIs for this video.
On-Brand Animation
Our process for developing the campaign included script development, character design, style selection, voiceover, sound design, and animation. We also advised on the right strategy to distribute and promote each video to effectively target the right audience.
Throughout, we applied soft, rounded character design and muted colors that aligned with Hera Fertility’s brand. Doing so allowed us to create a light, fun, on-brand animation style that approached Hera’s audience in a sensitive and supportive way.
Audit and Adapt
Once the videos are live, we begin actively monitoring their performance. After a few months, we’ll meet with Hera to celebrate our wins and propose optimizations where appropriate. That way, we ensure the campaign continues to meet Hera’s evolving needs and market demands.
