The Ultimate Itch Experience

The Context: When you ask someone with eczema , "what's the worst part?", the answer is always: Itch. This simple word is consistently cited as the most burdensome feature of their skin condition. It interrupts their sleep, affects their relationships, and makes existing a chore. People suffering from itch report scratching until they bleed. Some mention depression and suicidal thoughts. It’s more than just a symptom; itch is a scourge on their daily lives.

The Ask: To create an in-person activation, at one of the nation's largest dermatology conventions, to highlight the burden of living with itch. 

The Product: We built a room with visual, tactile, and sensory touchpoints designed for immersion and interaction. The enclosed structure was a 360º simulation of the full itch experience — using conventions like video, sound, heat, and haptics to allow attendees to experience just a bit of what eczema patients endure on a daily basis.

Sizzle Trailer

We created a looping trailer, placed strategically in a high-traffic section of the convention, to encourage attendees to visit the experience.

Video Touchpoints

Our floor-to-ceiling video touchpoints took attendees beyond understanding itch as a clinical or intellectual concept. These animated LED installations generated empathy and understanding through a complete visual and auditory immersion.

Tactile Touchpoints

At the heart of the experience were two tactile activations:

Our “Please Touch” cubby wall invited attendees to place their hands into a dark void. Those brave enough were rewarded with an opportunity to feel abrasive sensations and localized heat, with increasing intensity in each cubby.

Our “Scratch the Dome” lichenification challenge invited patients to scratch the surface of a touch-sensitive globe. This triggered a sequence of animations that represented various stages of skin damage, resolving in a leather-like state called lichenification. Each session was timed and the number of scratches were tallied.

Posters & Wall Graphics

We created massive posters introducing each section, and strategically placed them at the entrance, exit and as dividers within the enclosure. These graphics were the first components designed, and they set the style and tone for the rest of the experience. The lava imagery, rocky surfaces, peeling plaster, scratched leather, and crawling ants are a metaphorical representation of itch and scratching.

Event Videos & Graphics

Candid video of attendees at the experience, and details of ceiling graphics and logo designed for the experience.

Results

• Highest convention booth attendance in 4 years

• 4x higher attendance than sister brand in the same space

• 5,023 badge scans (over the course of 2 days)

• Average time spent: 4 minutes active engagement

• Average dwell time: 12 minutes passive engagement