Alivia Health - Glowing Relief
BACKGROUND: Our primary audience was patients, specifically Puerto Rican seniors aged 65 and older. Over 25% of the island’s population falls into this demographic, many of whom live alone due to mass migration and are responsible for complex medication regimens. 90% of these patients take daily medication and often manage five or more daily prescriptions and are especially vulnerable during power outages, where failure to identify a medication can result in hospitalization or worse.
Secondary audiences included caregivers, pharmacists, and prescribing physicians, who needed assurance that the new label was medically compliant and easy to integrate into their workflows.
This work directly impacted patient safety, improving adherence, reducing medication errors, and reinforcing trust between patients and their pharmacy. It wasn’t a campaign for attention. It was a utility for survival.
IDEA: Glowing Relief reimagines the prescription label as a symbol of safety, and a statement of what a brand can do when authorities fail to meet basic needs like reliable electricity.
Glowing Relief, the world’s first glow-in-the-dark prescription label was designed to protect Puerto Rico’s aging population during frequent blackouts. Each is coated in a unique, non-toxic varnish made from Dialuminium-Dysprosium-Europium-Strontium Tetraoxide, capable of glowing for up to 6 hours, when fully charged with ambient light, which is longer than the average blackout.
The label is printed in-store with all 11 pharmaceutical sections. By applying the luminescent varnish to the section that is applied to the bottle, the label patients need to see in the dark, we complied with a highly regulated U.S. pharmaceutical industry, making it easily scalable for seniors.
This analog innovation allowed elderly patients to safely locate and identify their prescriptions in total darkness and reducing mixups.
STRATEGY: Glowing Relief was born at the intersection of three urgent realities in Puerto Rico: chronic blackouts, a rapidly aging population, and widespread elderly isolation due to emigration. With 90% of seniors taking daily medication, and over 1.3 million U.S. medication errors annually, identifying pills in the dark became a public health priority.
As a pharmacy deeply rooted in local insight, the strategy centered on creating a solution that required no apps, training, or behavior change. By transforming the prescription label into a glow-in-the-dark safety device, care extended beyond the counter into patients’ homes—where the risk occurred.
Our PR strategy focused on relevance over reach. We activated doctors, caregivers, and patients as storytellers and proof points. “When the lights go out, safety stays on” reframed a regulatory formality into a protective measure, giving Farmacias Plaza a role no other brand had claimed.
DESCRIPTION: Puerto Rico suffers the most frequent blackouts in the U.S., with over 11.6 million outages annually. Seniors, who make up a significant portion of the population, are hit hardest. Many live alone and take multiple medications packaged in identical amber bottles, making it nearly impossible to distinguish them in the dark. The result: missed doses, medication errors, and preventable emergencies.
Farmacias Plaza and Alivia Health responded with Glowing Relief, the world’s first glow-in-the-dark prescription label. Shining for up to 6 hours, it transformed the regulatory label into a functional piece of media, embedded directly into patients’ homes and routines.
Creative challenges included sourcing a safe luminescent varnish, applying it on one of 11 pharmaceutical sheet segments for easy incorporation into pharmacy printer systems and ink adherence.
The outcome: projected to impact 1.5 million prescriptions annually, adoption by 100% of Medicare Advantage providers, and 200M+ earned impressions.
EXECUTION:
With Glowing Relief, Farmacias Plaza and Alivia Health created a new standard of care for the pharmaceutical industry beyond the store by taking into account a unique cultural context.
By embedding luminescent material into prescription labels as part of the operation, Farmacias Plaza gave elderly patients a way to identify and take their medications safely in the dark and especially during blackouts, a common, high-risk scenario in Puerto Rico.
For the employees the label was seamlessly integrated into the existing printers requiring no modification, enabling full deployment across all physical locations and the Alivia Health delivery network, ensuring coverage for patients in remote communities.
Additional stakeholders impacted included health insurance providers. Glowing Relief was approved by all Medicare Advantage providers, the public health plan used by 90% of Puerto Rico’s seniors, ensuring it was accessible to nearly all elderly patients across the island.
Over 10,000 luminescent labels were prescribed in the first two weeks.
We launched a multichannel campaign with billboards, morning show features, and social media. To connect authentically with the elderly audience, we partnered with older adult influencers and local doctors, as well build dark rooms in pharmacies for customers to experience the labels.
OUTCOME: Glowing Relief boosted brand visibility, set a new standard for elderly care, and positioned Farmacias Plaza as Puerto Rico’s most trusted pharmacy for seniors. The campaign sparked national attention, generating over 200 million earned media impressions as the story resonated beyond the island and into the mainland U.S.
With 10,000 labels dispensed in just two weeks, its rollout across all Farmacias Plaza locations and Alivia Health’s delivery network is projected to impact over 1.5 million prescriptions annually.
Since it was approved by 100% Medicare Advantage plans, the public insurance covering 90% of Puerto Rico’s seniors, Glowing Relief delivered immediate business results, driving a 10% increase in health insurance billing within the first two weeks of adoption, and 17% growth during April alone.
