Vein Week 2026: Taking on Procrastination

Challenges

Venous disease affects 1.9 million Hungarians, yet only one in three sufferers ever sees a doctor. Awareness is not the bottleneck: 97% have heard of the serious complications, and still 54% have been living with symptoms for more than five years. Our own national survey (1,001 respondents, April 2026) showed that 98% were affected in some way, while half would only visit a doctor if their condition got worse. Across every age group, people wait for symptoms to escalate. The real obstacle is not a lack of information but procrastination and active avoidance.

Our solution

We built the campaign around procrastination itself rather than the disease. Two expert voices carried the message: a health psychologist explained why we postpone (the head), and a vascular surgeon showed what a first examination actually involves (the legs) to demystify a doctor visit and decrease fear. A two-phase social strategy first hooked a new, less health-conscious audience with everyday procrastination content, then retargeted them and previous campaign audiences with the full medical and educational material. Thus we extended the patient journey from awareness and lifestyle change all the way to examination and treatment.

Our toolkit:

  • Campaign website with blog articles, a Vein Risk Test and a clinic finder map
  • National survey on public attitudes to varicose veins
  • 4 expert videos with a psychologist and a vascular surgeon, also published on Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer
  • Two-phase social media campaign: 16 posts, 10 stories, 24/7 community management
  • 4 influencers (Anita Ábel, Anna Peller, Mariann Peller, Zita Pataki) sharing their own procrastination stories
  • Media cooperations with WMN (vodcast) and nlc.hu (first-hand test article)
  • One press release in two approaches: general and women’s focus

Results

  • 3.7 million impressions and 1.6 million social media reach (+45% vs. 2025), with 1.7x the engagement of the previous year
  • 15 media placements including national TV and online, reaching 991,500 people
  • 642,000 video views; the surgeon’s first video alone reached 253,000
  • 8,850 website visitors and 3,146 Vein Risk Test completions (+29% vs. 2025)
  • 7.8% average influencer engagement rate, nearly double the 4.4% of 2025
  • Measurable impact on treatment: from the second week of the campaign, more patients started drug therapy, and the brand’s June 2026 sales exceeded June 2025 by 24% (IQVIA Pharmatrend, sell-out packs)