Semetis has been nominated at the AMMA Awards in the “Best Media Strategy” category for its work on UPSA Digest Forte, a campaign that challenged traditional audience planning by focusing on something far more powerful: moments of need.
In a highly competitive digestive health category, most brands communicate broadly and continuously. But for UPSA Digest Forte, Semetis took a different route. Instead of asking who the audience was, the strategy focused on when consumers would be most receptive to the message.
That strategic shift became the foundation of the campaign.
A category driven by impulse, not planning
UPSA Digest Forte was launched in Belgium to help consumers manage digestive discomfort after overindulgence. The challenge was not only the competitiveness of the category, but also the nature of the purchase itself. Digestive solutions are rarely planned purchases. Consumers only think about them once discomfort appears, often after a heavy meal, a celebration, or a night out. That means brands have only a very small window to become mentally available at the exact moment consumers are looking for relief. This insight fundamentally changed the strategic direction of the campaign.
From audience-based planning to moment-based planning
During the early strategic brainstorm, one key question emerged: how we should communicate towards our audience? With a message before the excess happens, or after, when the users are feeling the discomfort.
Research quickly revealed that consumers are significantly more receptive to digestive solutions when they are actively experiencing discomfort. Solving an immediate pain point creates a much stronger emotional trigger than preventing a future one. Rather than spreading media pressure evenly across the week, the strategy focused on “recovery windows”: the recurring moments when overindulgence is most likely to happen, and when consumers are most likely to seek a solution.
This transformed the media approach from audience planning into moment planning.
Applying media recency theory in practice
The campaign strategy was strongly inspired by Erwin Ephron’s Media Recency Theory: the idea that advertising is most effective when it reaches consumers close to the moment of purchase. Instead of investing in heavy burst campaigns or broad always-on visibility, Semetis concentrated media activity during high-relevance periods, particularly from Thursday to Sunday, as well as during summer and end-of-year celebrations.
The objective was simple: ensure UPSA Digest Forte would be the brand consumers remembered when discomfort appeared. This strategic discipline influenced every media decision.
Building contextual empathy through media
To maximize memorization and relevance, the campaign combined high-attention environments with contextually meaningful placements.
BVOD platforms such as VTM GO and RTL Play provided premium local attention, while YouTube offered scalable reach during recovery moments. Social formats such as Reels and Stories helped bring the campaign’s distinctive Pac-Man-inspired creative device to life, turning a scientific digestive message into an instantly recognizable visual shortcut.
Digital audio, influencers, DOOH and face-to-face activations were all selected to align with the lifestyle habits of the target audience: socially active “bons vivants” who frequently experience exactly these recovery moments.
Rather than simply maximizing visibility, the strategy aimed to create contextual empathy: showing up naturally within the rhythm of consumers’ real lives.
Strategy first, performance second
The campaign ultimately generated very positive results with strong sell-out performance, and engagement metrics well above benchmark levels. Most importantly, UPSA gained +1.7 percentage point market share post-campaign in the digestive category, and is a positioning still maintained today by the brand. This proves that this strategy not only brought short term results, but also long term business results for UPSA.
But what makes this campaign stand out is not only the outcome: it is the strategic thinking behind it. By synchronizing media planning with recurring moments of discomfort, Semetis demonstrated how precision timing and behavioral insight can transform a branding campaign into a highly effective performance driver.
The AMMA nomination for Best Media Strategy recognizes exactly that: not simply reaching audiences, but reaching them at the moment they need you most.
Astrid Mérenne
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